Mercy - Jeremiah's Vow

“O Lord, My Rock And My Redeemer” Cover – Genavieve Linkowski

Originally from Sovereign Grace Music

LYRICS

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
Greatest treasure of my longing soul
My God, like You there is no other
True delight is found in You alone

Your grace, a well too deep to fathom
Your love exceeds the heaven’s reach
Your truth, a fount of perfect wisdom
My highest good and my unending need

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
Strong defender of my weary heart
My sword to fight the cruel deceiver
And my shield against his hateful darts

My song, when enemies surround me
My hope, when tides of sorrow rise
My joy, when trials are abounding
Your faithfulness, my refuge in the night

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
Gracious Savior of my ruined life
My guilt and cross laid on Your shoulders
In my place You suffered bled and died

You rose, the grave and death are conquered
You broke my bonds of sin and shame
You rose, the grave and death are conquered
You broke my bonds of sin and shame

O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer
May all my days bring glory to Your Name
May all my days bring glory to Your Name

Lent 2022 | Day 13: Steadfast

²² The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

The prophet Jeremiah said in his great lament that the steadfast love of the Lord and his mercies are new every morning.

This is an amazing thing to consider. What does this mean in light of the fact that God never changes? It certainly cannot mean that there is something different in God. So we must consider that whatever is new, is new for us.

It is a common mistake made by many followers of Jesus to believe they have “a grasp” of who God is. This is truly poor thinking on our part. But what do I mean? Only that when we assume we have an extensive understanding of Jesus or of God we are setting ourselves up to get something wrong.

So Jeremiah said that the love of the Lord and his mercies, they never cease, they never come to an end, and yet they are new every morning. I take this to mean that as we journey with God we discover new aspects of his mercy and love we had not seen or experienced before. Each of these discoveries reminds us of how great and mysterious God is.

When we assume we have an extensive understanding of Jesus or of God we are setting ourselves up to get something wrong.
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As we continue to grow in our understanding of faith, we should always remember what God is doing in us, around us, and through us is going to expand our understanding of who he is. In a sense, we should be perpetually surprised about what God is able to do. Not because we have called into question his ability. But because we marvel at the fact God could do so much with so little.

This is not meant to diminish us in any way. It’s only to acknowledge the difference that exists between who God is and what we are. When we live our lives with a proper perspective of who God is we will not have to fight against our pride as much. We can lean into a posture of humility before God and with others. We won’t be so concerned with our failures or shortcomings. We will just try to trust God more. To get out of his way so that he could have his way.

The fact God is steadfast should be a source of comfort to us. But I think too often we find that discouraging. And I’m not sure why. It could just be we have a hard time accepting there is anything that is actually unchanging in our lives or in the world around us.

As we continue in this season of Lent I am reminded that I can find comfort in God’s steady and persistent character. May that be something we remember more intentionally in the coming days and weeks. Let us be thankful that God does not change.

Lent 2022 | Day 11: Mercy

Mercy has often been defined as not getting what we truly deserve. I find this to be a helpful definition. But it only paints a part of the picture.

The Christian life calls us to look at the world around us through new eyes. It is an intentional effort to re-program our thinking to be more consistent with the character of God. But this can be challenging. Oftentimes in more ways than one. Our past histories and our present struggles can cloud our ability to see what God was doing and may still be at work doing.

This is why we must be a people marked by mercy. We have been the beneficiaries of God’s mercy. We have received that which we did not deserve. And more to the point that which we could never have earned.

It is an intentional effort to re-program our thinking to be more consistent with the character of God.
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The grace of God gives us what we do not deserve. And that is only one side of the story. The second side, the side that we are discussing today, is what God has kept away from us. It can be easy to think at times that what God kept from us was not as bad as what we have been experiencing. But the problem is this is not true.

The penalty of sin upon us is eternal separation from God. To be completely and totally outside of the presence of God. And while there are some who would reject that hell exists, they would misunderstand what hell is in doing so. The imagery of the New Testament can be graphic and describe things that are quite horrifying. But the physical imagery of fire and of rotted flesh truly pale in comparison to the idea of being separated from God.

This permanent state of separation is the result of a complete and utter rejection of the salvation God has provided through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. To speak of God as imposing upon us for all eternity a will, a love, a grace, a mercy that we have rejected would be an indictment against God’s character.

God does not desire to force upon us what we do not desire for ourselves. But to then claim that it would be unjust for God to not allow those who chose this separation to have it is somewhat odd. Those who have stepped out of this world and into the next rejecting God are not being denied access into his presence. They are entering into the next life getting what they wanted. To regret that decision once there could be described as suffering from a form of spiritual “buyer’s remorse.”

God has given us ample time and sufficient testimony in the creation and within our own hearts to make a choice as to where we will be. If we heed the call of the gospel in repentance from sin we will not only have God’s grace applied to us but we will experience the mercy of God over us.

The relationship between God’s mercy and the subject of hell has too often been detached and even dismissed. But the reason we need not only God’s grace, which makes us ready for heaven, and God’s mercy, which changes the trajectory of our eternal destiny, is that we could address neither of these predicaments without God. When we receive God’s grace we are redeemed from the effects of sin. When we receive God’s mercy we are restored to a relationship with God from the penalty of sin.

When we understand these fundamental differences and yet related realities we will grow in our appreciation for what God has done to bring us into a closer relationship with him.

In this season may we learn to rejoice for what God has not only promised but what God has accomplished.

For this God who has been rich in mercy has rained it upon us not only generously but beyond our ability to comprehend.

⁴But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesian 2:4-7 NKJV

Lent 2020 | Day 31: “Innocent”

In the cross of Calvary, God’s judgment has fallen and the verdict has been given. The penalty of sin is death and Jesus has died for the guilty.

In the cross of Calvary, God’s judgment has fallen and the verdict has been given. The penalty of sin is death and Jesus has died for the guilty. The verdict was punishment and in the shedding of Christ’s blood, those who deserve damnation are adopted and given an inheritance.

This is the mystery of the Christian faith. The just God justifies the wicked and ungodly, declaring them innocent.

I can honestly say that even after all of my years as a Christian, when I think about this exchange is just doesn’t make sense. It is does not make sense for a holy God to do this. But then I remember he is also good.

The wrath of God is truly terrible. And yet, his grace is able to cover the sins of the entire world.

The perfect balance of all of these attributes within the Godhead is a mystery that cannot be properly understood. That none of these characteristics of God’s character are in conflict with each other is beyond comprehension.

Everyday I struggle to be consistent. To be even tempered, sober minded, kind, and gracious. And every single day I fail. Why? Because my sin nature is in competition with the new nature given to me by Jesus.

And still, God look at me through the filter of Jesus blood and does not condemn. God does not look at any of us and throw up his hands in disgust. The verdict has been given and God will not go back on his word.

We didn’t deserve, and we may even find reasons for why God should revoke his grace, but he never will. We have been declared innocent even though we were guilty as sin.

Hallelujah!

“Faith is…” Series, Pt. 3 | Faith is… Rejoicing in the Mercy of God

⁶ The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸ The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹ He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
¹⁰ He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
¹² as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
¹³ As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴ For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

(Psalm 103:6-14, ESV)

Psalm 103 is one of those places in the bible where you are confronted with an unrelenting truth about God. Grace has commonly been defined and understood as God’s unmerited (undeserved) favor from God toward us. Grace is what God gives to us when we don’t deserve it. But, there is something else that happens in that exchange. At the moment of salvation mercy is extended, and mercy is something different all together.

Mercy is different because mercy is what God withholds from us when it is EXACTLY what we deserve. Don’t miss that. There is something that we all are guilty of and should be judged for. No one escapes.

My thought today is that faith is REJOICING in the mercy of God. The first time that I truly understood that God’s mercy was something worth rejoicing in was as I was reading and studying through the apostle John’s first letter. In 1 John 2:1-2 John is trying to help his readers understand the security and comfort that comes from Jesus being our advocate, our lawyer, in God’s court. As I read these words I was struck by the tenderness with which John writes these words.

¹ My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ²He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (ESV)

Right there, in the second verse we find this amazing and revealing reason for our rejoicing. Jesus is our PROPITIATION. This is one of those words that is not used very much any more (if at all). It has been translated “atoning sacrifice” or “the sacrifice for our sins” or some other variation. While this is technically correct there is one significant problem. One of the most important components of what Jesus did for us is missing.

Jesus atones, takes the blemish of my sin from me, by dying. When Jesus was crucified and he was killed, my sins were put on Jesus in such a way that he became guilty FOR my sin–and the sins of the whole world! This is the basic understanding of atoning. Jesus paid the price for my sin. But, the act of propitiation has another idea included. When Jesus atoned for my sin he also gave me something that I could not get for myself.

When Jesus was placed on the cross for my sins, God pronounced his judgment on all sin for all time and unleashed the unrestrained fury of his wrath upon his Son.

When Jesus was placed on the cross for my sins, God pronounced his judgment on all sin for all time and unleashed the unrestrained fury of his wrath upon his Son. God did not hold something back in reserve for us so that He can hold it over us. God has finished punishing sin. What is missing is the application of that punishment to those who never accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. You see, in order for me to receive grace Jesus had to die in my place. In order for me to experience mercy God had to pass my judgement onto Jesus.

God’s wrath has to be appeased. This is why an atoning sacrifice was needed in the first place. Now, this sounds like God has an ego problem. God has to be happy. But, this is the fundamental problem that we have to overcome. The problem is not that God’s ego was bruised by sin. God’s character is what was violated. The demand for punishment is never determined by the offender. Even in our flawed and broken justice system we try to find a punishment that “fits the crime.”

So, what then is the proper punishment for offending an eternal, holy and pure God? Is it not an eternal, profane and despicable hell? When my simple sensibilities are wounded, I want retribution. But, when God is the one offended, somehow God should not seek recompense. Why? God is gracious, some will say. God is good, others will argue. God is love, comes the reply. But, God’s goodness, grace and love are expressions of another more basic reality of God’s being–God is holy.

Worship is the only proper response to Jesus being our propitiation.

Jesus stands between me and a holy God and he received and endured the full thrust of God’s wrath. When this truth penetrates your mind and touches your soul…you will be changed. You can not continue living and working and attending church as if what Jesus did was just something to be thankful for. No, worship is the only proper response to Jesus being our propitiation.

Only when we appreciate what God should have done too us because of our sin will we rejoice in God’s mercy toward us. When we can understand how bad our sin really is we will begin to see that mercy is also a form of grace. Only a loving and gracious God could withhold his well deserved day in court and extend mercy.

Faith is rejoicing in the Mercy of God. Have you stopped to give God thanks today? Do not miss another chance to do it.