“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3)
Though the Bible mentions mercy hundreds of times, and clearly is is one of the attributes of God, but today, I rarely hear the word mentioned. Could it be that we don’t understand mercy?
Definition: The Greek word for mercy, ‘eleos’ means ‘compassion, pity, clemency’. God is merciful in that He withholds the punishment we deserve and shows compassion and pity toward us. Mercy is the withholding of a just condemnation.
The real meaning of mercy is that God looks at our failure and still see a future.
All through the Bible we read of the mercy of God. It is mentioned hundreds of times. The writer of Hebrews tells us to “come boldly to the throne of graces to find mercy in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:15-16).
God feels compassion towards us. You could say his mercy motivated his grace. God saw us in our great need. He had compassion on us. God does not stop with feelings of pity and compassion. He is motivated to act, to relieve our misery. This is where God introduces grace.
Grace gives me what I don’t deserve (forgiveness)
Mercy holds back what I do deserve (judgement)
Apart from Jesus we are all sinners. Without Jesus, we are lost in our sins. Apart from Jesus we have no hope. Without Jesus we will all face judgement. But The mercy of God provided a way for our sins to be forgiven.
“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.” (Titus 3:5)
As followers of Jesus, we are to display the character qualities of God in our own lives. Since God has shown us mercy, we are to be merciful to others. This is why in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful.”
Today’s Challenge: To whom is God asking you to show mercy?
We as believers have received an huge measure of God’s mercy. We have been forgiven a debt of sin we could never repay and have been blessed with daily mercies we could never count. Now God wants us to show the same kind of mercy to others, to have the same compassion, to demonstrate the same love, and to act and serve others in their time of distress…even when they do not deserve it.
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8)
Discussion Questions:
Recommended Resource: The Prodigal Prophet: Jonah and the Mystery of God's Mercy by Timothy Keller
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