Hi Everyone
Here is “I Have His Mercy” - the next part of the "Who I am in Jesus Christ" study, under the topic of "I am Loved and Accepted Completely in Christ".
Do share it as you are blessed!
Chris
I Have His Mercy
How many of us are still leading lives trying to make sacrifices for our sins? Perhaps we are
- Trying to feel better than someone else because of what (we think) we do for God
- Doing “Christian” things so that we feel God’s approval
- Dealing with a sense of God’s disapproval and a desire to run and hide when we sin or feel like we fall short
If so, we need to understand more of His mercy for us.
Who’s the One Making You Guilty?
Is it the Holy Spirit’s role to convict us of sin and make us feel all guilty? Put it this way, any feeling that makes us want to hide from God is NOT from God! God always covers our shame – from making skins for Adam and Eve, to the best robe for the Prodigal Son, to the Blood of Jesus Christ. But didn't Jesus say that the Holy Spirit convicts of sin?
Let’s take a closer look at that passage of scripture:
John 16:8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
See? Sin, righteousness and judgment. They were right… no wait, look close at the verses following…
9 of sin, because they do not believe in Me;
He is not convicting us of sins anymore but only one sin – the sin of unbelief in Christ as the Redeemer. Unbelief is the only sin today that will send a man to hell.
10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more;
Righteousness, because Jesus will have gone to the Father to plead our case with His precious blood. We are made righteous in Him (2 Cor 5:21).
11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. (NKJV)
Judgment, that the ruler of this world (that’s not you or me for sure) is judged. The judgment is not about us, but about the devil. He is the ruler of this world. He is the one who kills, steals and destroys (John 10:10).
In fact, the verses that follow are so in line with the name Jesus gives the Holy Spirit, the Helper, the Comforter (John 14:16)
John 16:12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
He will tell us things to come that we might be prepared.
14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. (NKJV)
He will glorify Jesus, taking what is Jesus’ and declaring it to us! This is the finished work of Jesus, that we may lay hold of eternal life (1 Tim 6:11), lay hold of that for which Christ laid hold of us (Philippians 3:12). All the goodness and the glory that Jesus had comes into us in the form of the Holy Spirit.
On the other hand…
The Devil - The Accuser
We see clearly from scriptures that the devil has aptly been given the title of “the Accuser of the brethren”.
Revelation 12:10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. (NKJV)
So we need to be clear about who gives the guilt and who gives the forgiveness. There is a case for being brought to repentance, the chastising of the Spirit, but that always brings about repentance and a deeper walk with God, not a turning away to run and hide. We see this in the book of Acts where the devout Jews being preached to at Pentacost realized that they had crucified their long-awaited Messiah.
Acts 2:37 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” 38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (NKJV)
This is the heart of God – to draw His children to Him, not cast them away. Anytime we have feelings of running away from God, rest assured these are not from God, but from the Accuser.
God Always Desires Mercy
Since the day of our Father’s pained question to Adam:
Genesis 3:9 Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” (NKJV)
He has sought to have this relationship restored. The heart of God desires relationship, not appeasement:
Hosea 6:6 For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, And the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. (NKJV)
We see this again in the story of the Prodigal Son:
Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. (NKJV)
For those who believe in Him and in the finished work of Jesus, the best worship we can give is a right heart and giving heed to the word.
Matthew 15:8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. 9 And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” (NKJV)
From Adam and Eve…
God’s desire from DAY 1 is mercy. God’s treatment of Adam and Eve in sending them out of the Garden was for mercy:
Genesis 3:21 Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. 22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23 therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. (NKJV)
Adam was now a fallen man. In eating of the tree, he would live forever in this fallen state! Sickness, disease, lack, confusion, strife and every other evil was on its way and living forever in such a state would be unthinkable.
See also how God treated Cane after he killed Abel?
Genesis 4:13 And Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; I shall be hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that anyone who finds me will kill me.” 15 And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him. 16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. (NKJV)
Cain for sure had a twisted view of God already, like many of us who might imagine God as the old man with a lightning bolt about to strike who He pleases. God did not drive him away. In fact, God put a mark on his head for mercy’s sake, that he might not be killed. Yet Cain did not understand this, and guilt drove him to leave God’s presence.
Jesus Showed Great Mercy
God’s mercy always sets people free. We see in the Gospel of John how our Lord treated the adulterous woman brought before Him:
John 8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Now early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people came to Him; and He sat down and taught them. 3 Then the scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, 4 they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act. 5 Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?” 6 This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. 7 So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” 8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. 9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 10 When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” (NKJV)
Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit are not the accusers. It was the devil, or men used of the devil, who were accusing her. Jesus showed mercy, but knows that sin is detrimental to us.
Sin has consequences. Sin will prevent you from living out the victorious life Jesus died for you to have. It won’t send you to hell anymore, but it will keep you bound and trapped. You will miss out on the rewards. You will miss out on the hope of your calling!
If we don’t feel like sin is making us miss out on a lot today, it is because we don't realize our hope of calling (Eph 1:18) and are not expecting to live a victorious, meaningful life for the Lord. It means we don’t know what we were made, and more importantly, what we were saved for.
I want to be careful of every area more and more that my life may be victorious to glorify the Lord.
Mercies Daily Sets Us Free
Mercy sets you free like a net to a trapeze artist!
Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. (NKJV)
Psalm 103:17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, (NKJV)
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (NKJV)
1 Peter 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, (NKJV)
We don’t get to the hope when we don’t depend on His mercy, on His love for us. When we depend on our own strength, because we think we messed up, we don’t get to take advantage of this living hope.
Come Boldly to Mercy
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (NKJV)
Don’t act out of fear of God’s anger for He does not see us in anger, but in mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:13) and perfect love casts out all fear (1 John 4:18). Come all who are weak and heavy burdened. Get rest. Guilt is not rest. Fear is not rest. Come to Him and cast your cares on Him.
1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (NKJV)
How do we humble ourselves under God’s hand? His solution is in the Word! Believe in the Word and trust Him to take care of it all!
Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (NKJV)
Those who constantly feel the need to perform, to appease God, are heavy burdened and have no rest. He gives us rest.
If our lives are heavy and burdened, we need to come to Him and depend on His mercy!
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