God of Mercy!

“No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:8 NLT

Yesterday, we looked at a little bit about crucifixion of Jesus Christ and the eternal life. Eternal life refers to the resurrection of Him (Romans 6; 1 Corinthians 15). But what is the reason that He was crucified and resurrected in three days? We cannot understand this without the grace and the mercy of God. If I was God before the crucifixion and the resurrection had happened, I would probably have destroyed all people who was not obedient to my name. I also cannot understand that God has incredible patience over every people.

The reason that God has immense patience over us is because of His steadfast love. All of us have been parts of God’s creation from the beginning (Genesis 1:27) so He has been wanted to restore us—back to the Garden of Eden—by having relationship with us. This is why Jesus Christ came into the world in the human flesh and crucify Himself on the cross for our sins (Hebrews 2:14-15). God probably cannot crucify Himself while He is in heaven because He is perfect divine being. Ephesians 1:4-6 states that the crucifixion and the resurrection of Christ were planned out from the beginning and every one of us would be God’s children. Thus, God has given us right to be called His own children if we are willing to believe in Him (John 1:12-13).

I can testify that God has incredible patience over us. While I was in the high school, my friend invited me to the youth event. I enjoyed it very much so I kept asking him about future ones. I eventually joined his church around 2010 but it was for the wrong reason. I only wanted to hang out with friends and I was not thinking about God at all. However, when I was in New York, the Spirit of God empowered me to believe in Jesus. I felt God was prompting me to get to know Jesus better.

Since God has patience over us and we are created to be the image of God, He wants us to show same kind of mercy to others by offering grace to them (1 Peter 4:8). According to ‘God Questions Ministries’ mercy is defined as not punishing us as our sins deserve and the definition of grace is unmerited favour. This means not only we should love people who are kind to us, but we also should love our enemies as well (Luke 6:27-36). Apostle Paul states that love fulfills the law (Romans 13:8-10). Jesus Christ has given us two greatest commandments to obey in all times, which are loving God and loving others as ourselves (Mark 12:30-31). God wants every people to be united in Christ by loving each other (John 17:20-26). This is the reason that loving others is the important virtue we have to work on (Colossians 3:12-15). I probably need to work on it more to my family. Talking back to my mother has become a habit of mine and I want to obedient to her, that she is able to see Christ in me. 1 John 4:11-12 declares, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

Listen to ‘Hear the Sound’ by All Sons & daughters and thank God for having His mercy upon us. Meditate on 1 John 4:7-21 and Ephesians 5:1-2. Ask yourself questions today: “Am I offering Jesus Christ’s incense to others by loving others? What I have to do or change, in order to love others more?”