God's Mercy

From the vast heights and chasms of Mercy, God has been dealing with humanity that lost its former glory and has since been in constant desperate need of the intervention and compassion of its creator, as a result, we see the mercy of God voicing itself resoundingly throughout scripture communicating the heart of a father to his creation from the beginning of time.

Exodus 34:6-7 says “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”

When we understand Mercy our eyes open to this cosmic attribute of God’s love and we are plunged into a revelation of God's justice system where Mercy operates as a pillar in His administrations. Psalm 89:14 says "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face."

Justice is rooted in God’s character and nature and the requirement of Justice goes beyond the punishment of sin moreover as seen in the bible it transcends to God's administration of mercy, love, kindness, fairness, and compassion. God entrenched the system of Mercy in the children of Israel at the introduction of the Turbanacle of Moses and amongst the items found in the Turbanacle of Moses was the Ark of the covenant; the lid of the ark of the covenant was called the mercy seat.

The Hebrew word translated mercy seat in English, is kapporeth, a word that refers to a sacrifice that reconciles and leads to peacemaking. Once a year, the High Priest conducted a special ceremony of forgiveness and dedication at the mercy seat.

The mercy seat as seen was a place where the shortcomings of man met the benevolence and Glory of the father; a place of transaction where man’s weakness was exchanged for the strength of God. The instruction of God to Moses was that He will meet with Moses at the Mercy seat and His Shekinah Glory filled the temple upon his presence.

Exodus 25:22 says "and there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel."

The sacrificial ceremonies upon the mercy seat were a foreshadow of our eternal sacrifice fulfilled through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We see Paul referring to Christ as a sacrifice of atonement in Romans 3: 24-26 "and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus."

From the aforementioned, we can connect the dots that Jesus is the embodiment of Mercy for us, when we face the limitations of our capabilities it is the glance of the father towards the sacrifice of Jesus that he freely and willingly grants us his mercy and the impossible becomes possible. The pain that you face invites the mercy of God, throughout scripture we see that the mercy of God never comes to men who are sufficient in themselves. Blind Bartimaeus understood that all he needed was for the mercy of God to look his way and he would be healed, he beckoned for Mercy because he knew that Mercy is the essence of who Jesus is. He caught the attention of Jesus because of an ancient system that calls for the justice of God and commands compassion and the miraculous to the scene.

Mark 10: 46 - 52 "Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him. “So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.” 50 Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. 51 “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” 52 “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road."

When you appeal on the mercy of God you entreaty God's Justice upon your situation and you authorize the presence of God to meet you. I’d like to echo the words of one minstrel who sang "Mercy rewrote my life" and affirm that indeed when mercy arrives on the scene your life will never remain the same.

You are destined for greatness: Shalom Kay King