Psalms 85:10
God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4), and Jesus is the embodiment of that mercy. On the cross, Jesus took what we deserved, so while the Father was not merciful to His own Son, He cannot help but be merciful with you and me. It has been well said that mercy is you not getting what you deserve while grace is you getting what you don’t deserve. In both cases, Jesus took care of us by paying for the judgment meant for us and giving to us the glory meant for Him.
God’s righteousness demands holiness and perfection, which is why the law could never bring man to fulfillment. No man has ever been able to keep the law in its entirety, thus all men are declared guilty and sinners. Jesus lived sinless and died sinless, thus becoming the first human to whom the law had no hold. Since holiness and perfection had been met, Jesus could lay His own life down as the sacrifice for all of us hopeless law-breakers. Now, when we accept Jesus by faith, we are declared righteous in the eyes of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
With God’s demands for righteousness having been met in Jesus, peace was the end result. At Calvary, righteousness and peace met together in the form of the crucified Christ. God had been appeased for a man had lived righteous and following His violent death for the sins of the world, peace would be the resultant emotion. This is why Paul said, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
The Psalmist takes this allegory a step further, showing us that righteousness and peace have kissed one another. This makes the cross a beautiful picture of love, not a gut-wrenching scene of blood and death. True, the cross was the violent sacrifice of the Lamb, but it was also the marriage of righteousness with peace forevermore. You and I are free to be at peace, because the Lamb was at war!
Jesus embodies mercy and He called Himself “the truth” (John 14:6). These two qualities met in the form of Jesus and they can never be separated again. When you speak of Christ’s mercy, you are speaking of Him as truth. It is absolutely true that He cannot be anything but merciful to those who accept His love and favor. It is also true that when you see His mercy in your life, you are seeing the Ultimate Truth.
Mercy and truth in their combined forms are manifested in one other important word: grace. Remember, grace is not a doctrine; it is a person and His name is Jesus. The law was given (denotes distance) by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Where the law was cast at you from the mountain (and it is still hurled at us by many pulpits), grace always comes to you.
Notice that truth must line up on one side or the other. Truth is either lined up with the law or with grace and the Word makes it clear that it is with grace. This shows us that all truth is “grace truth”. While the law is “true”, only grace is “truth”. If you want to see mercy and truth, look past the veil of the Law and see what only grace (Jesus) can offer.
God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4), and Jesus is the embodiment of that mercy. On the cross, Jesus took what we deserved, so while the Father was not merciful to His own Son, He cannot help but be merciful with you and me. It has been well said that mercy is you not getting what you deserve while grace is you getting what you don’t deserve. In both cases, Jesus took care of us by paying for the judgment meant for us and giving to us the glory meant for Him.
God’s righteousness demands holiness and perfection, which is why the law could never bring man to fulfillment. No man has ever been able to keep the law in its entirety, thus all men are declared guilty and sinners. Jesus lived sinless and died sinless, thus becoming the first human to whom the law had no hold. Since holiness and perfection had been met, Jesus could lay His own life down as the sacrifice for all of us hopeless law-breakers. Now, when we accept Jesus by faith, we are declared righteous in the eyes of God (2 Corinthians 5:21).
With God’s demands for righteousness having been met in Jesus, peace was the end result. At Calvary, righteousness and peace met together in the form of the crucified Christ. God had been appeased for a man had lived righteous and following His violent death for the sins of the world, peace would be the resultant emotion. This is why Paul said, “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).
The Psalmist takes this allegory a step further, showing us that righteousness and peace have kissed one another. This makes the cross a beautiful picture of love, not a gut-wrenching scene of blood and death. True, the cross was the violent sacrifice of the Lamb, but it was also the marriage of righteousness with peace forevermore. You and I are free to be at peace, because the Lamb was at war!
Jesus embodies mercy and He called Himself “the truth” (John 14:6). These two qualities met in the form of Jesus and they can never be separated again. When you speak of Christ’s mercy, you are speaking of Him as truth. It is absolutely true that He cannot be anything but merciful to those who accept His love and favor. It is also true that when you see His mercy in your life, you are seeing the Ultimate Truth.
Mercy and truth in their combined forms are manifested in one other important word: grace. Remember, grace is not a doctrine; it is a person and His name is Jesus. The law was given (denotes distance) by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Where the law was cast at you from the mountain (and it is still hurled at us by many pulpits), grace always comes to you.
Notice that truth must line up on one side or the other. Truth is either lined up with the law or with grace and the Word makes it clear that it is with grace. This shows us that all truth is “grace truth”. While the law is “true”, only grace is “truth”. If you want to see mercy and truth, look past the veil of the Law and see what only grace (Jesus) can offer.
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