dread jesus
Mercy and Grace
Mercy and Grace
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever (Psalm 136:1).
God is love and His love is filled with His infinite goodness and overwhelming holiness. In His goodness He shows us His immeasurable compassion and in His awesome holiness He reveals Himself as the Righteous Judge.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In love He fashioned all things and for His pleasure He created it. All things that were created were good and were created holy unto the Lord. All things that God has created were filled with the Spirit of His glorious person manifesting His goodness in holiness. All things were created in Him, one with Him. On the sixth day God created man, He created them male and female. He created them in His own image and according to His likeness. God is love and the light of man. He beautifully fashioned Adam and Eve as creatures of light in Him, one with Him. In them were life and their life was the light of the earth. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. They were created very good, holy unto the Lord moving and living through the Spirit of His glory.
In His love God blessed them to be fruitful and to multiply and He gave them dominion over the earth that they may share in His joy. As king, God appointed Adam head over all of His creation. Adam was created the son of God (Luke 3:38). Adam was in God, one with God. He lived and moved and had his being in God. He walked with God in the cool of the day, in the presence of His holiness. He knew God as Father and related to Him as His son. God found fulfillment in Adam and Adam found fulfillment in God. Because Adam was created in the image and likeness of God he could return the same quality of goodness and holiness toward Him. God knew Adam and Adam knew God.
Adam and Eve were perfectly fashioned as creatures of grace manifesting intense compassion and goodness toward God, each other and creation under their domain. In doing so they found fulfillment in God, each other and creation under their rule. As creation sense Adam and Eve’s passionate care and goodness toward them, they found fulfillment in them. In Eden the spiritual and natural realms were one because God is one and in Him is no division. All creation was in Him and He was in them. There was no toil or sweat. The earth yields its full potential because it was blessed and it was void of fear. An overwhelming cloud of the goodness and holiness of God filled the face of the earth. Every kind of animal responded compassionately and in holy reverence toward Adam as he named and blessed them. How blessed it was to live in an atmosphere where Adam unceasingly heard angel voices far off worshiping God. God was the covering of Adam and Adam was the covering of Eve and all the earth, a covering of infinite compassion and goodness.
The infinite love and goodness that Adam experienced in Eden was God’s grace expressed toward him and toward all of creation. Adam’s compassion and goodness toward Eve and creation was pure grace because he lived and moved and had his being in God. He was alive to God in spirit, soul and body. The grace of God is His underserved favor that He gives as a free gift. Although Adam experienced God’s grace he did not know God as the gracious One. He could not distinguish between deserving a wage and that of a free gift. He did not know sin at the time.
Adam also did not know God as the merciful One. Mercy is the removal of well-deserved punishment for offences committed in the past, present and to be committed in future. It is the pardon of a life lived through the dictates of the flesh. The works of the flesh includes both lawlessness and human failure to perform perfect good because of its imperfection. All of fallen man’s nature, both good and bad, is an offense to the all-perfect God because he has fallen from perfection and from eternal life which was in God. Man’s best efforts independently from God are unacceptable to Him. Sinful flesh is no source of joy or a fountain of fulfillment to God. How could Adam know mercy made manifested in goodness and holiness if he had not fallen from grace? How could he know the merciful One if he did not know sin and evil? Prior to his transgression he did not know he was naked and he could not relate to fear because he was not acquainted with the concepts of man’s sin and God’s righteousness and judgment. He did not know what it was to suffer. At that time he had not yet partaken of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
In Eden Adam was a partaker of God’s grace but not His mercy. Adam manifested the grace of God to the earth but not the mercy of God.
The unchangeable God’s goodness and holiness has never changed. When Adam transgressed against God, God cursed the ground for his sake. Because of sin Adam caused changes in the structure and laws of the universe. God has never changed. The earth started to corrode, thorns and thistles came forth and through toil and sweat a living is earned. All cattle and beasts of the field were cursed not yielding fruit to its highest potential. In pain women are bringing forth children. The universe was torn apart through Adam’s transgression separating the spiritual and natural realms. Adam being confined to the natural realm, not having excess to the Fountain of Life that dwells in the Spirit, died to God in spirit, soul and body. He was a branch cut off from the olive tree. Adam introduced sin, suffering and death to the earth. He lost the capacity to relate to God as a son and to know Him as Father. His fond memories of being a son of God evaporated like dew in the heat of the sun leaving him with vague memories like in a blurred dream. As creation was subjected to futility, delivered into bondage and corruption and sensing that man started to destroy the earth the whole creation started to groan and labor with birth pangs in hope for their release from futility and for the manifestation of the sons of God. Fervently they longing back for the passionate care and goodness they received from man and to find once again boundless fulfillment in God. From that time onward all of creation needed the mercy of God.
By coming to know sin God revealed Himself as the merciful One and as the Righteous Judge. By coming to know hardship God revealed Himself as the God of grace. Nevertheless, God’s mercy and goodness endure forever. God has never changed; man through sin caused all changes for worse in the universe. All of a sudden Adam found himself an imperfect human being because he has fallen from the glory of God. His environment had also changed from a once perfect utopia into an imperfect desolate peace of earth with a different structure operating under natural laws that is void of Spirit. He had to learn to relate to the God of goodness that has never changed, as a fallen creature in an imperfect environment of the cursed earth. He also came to know Him as the Righteous Judge. God’s righteousness demands justice. How sin has changed his life! He discovered that if He wanted to eat he must toil and sweat. In spite of this dreadful way of living God is still good and holy and His goodness and mercy endures forever. God never changed but man has undergone metamorphoses, changing into sinful flesh. Eve gave birth first to Cain, then Abel and then Seth and every time she was in terrible pain. It did not make sense to her but God is good and His mercy triumphs over His righteous judgments. Then they understood that because of sin everything has changed for worse but God in His compassion and holiness has never changed but remains the same today, tomorrow and forever.
Through sin Adam and Eve lost their innocence. As they grew in the knowledge of good and evil guilt and regret set in because they became aware of the implications of their transgression against God. Then they started to relate to God as fallen creatures in a broken world through knowledge of good and evil, which is death. They have fallen from their oneness with God. On account of their sin God forsook them just as He forsook Christ on the cross on account of our sin.
To obtain favor from God man learned to bring sacrifices and offerings to Him. Cain brought a grain offering to the Lord and Abel an offering of the first born of his flock and of their fat. God respected Abel and his offering and Abel found favor with God but God disrespected Cain and his offering. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks (Hebrews 11:4). It was not the type of offering that offended God but how they approached God that made Him to accept or to reject their offerings. Abel brought the first born of his flock, the best of the flock, as an offering to God. This attitude showed that he came to God in sincere faith giving glory to Him. He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Sincere faith is the doorway to God’s favor. God has never stopped being compassionate toward man and being holy in His glory but sin twisted all things on earth including the heart of man.
Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground. There is nothing wrong with a grain offering. Nevertheless, God disrespected Cain and His offering. He most probably did not bring of the first fruit of the harvest or the best of the crop as an offering to the Lord. Such an attitude indicates that he wanted to gain God’s favor through mechanical rituals void of Spirit and not through sincere faith. He offended God with his insincerity. He had no heart for God. Cain was very angry because God favored Abel but disfavored him. In response to his anger God warned Cain that sin lies at the door but encouraged him to rule over it. Sin does not consist of isolated deeds but is the fallen human nature, which on its own merits is void of faith and love. Sinful deeds are the fruit of a corrupted heart. So, God encouraged Cain to rule over his sinful flesh through sincere faith in God. He had to overcome evil by doing good with an upright heart, which is works of faith.
Because of Cain’s unrepented heart he ultimately killed his brother. God, the Righteous Judge cursed Cain from the earth because his brother’s blood cried out to Him from the ground. The Lord drove him from the face of the ground, doomed Cain to be hidden from His face (presence; favor) and doomed him to be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth. The law brings wrath but where there is no law there is no transgression. If he had no knowledge of sin there would have been no transgression and God would not have judged him. Cain had some knowledge of good and evil. He was aware of the transgression of his parents and the glorious life they experienced in the presence of God. He understood the meaning of the sacrifices and offerings he and Abel burned before God. God also warned him about sin. God was also merciful to Cain by giving him the mark the Lord set on him, forbidding anybody to kill him. Though God showed him mercy He withdrew His unmerited favor or blessing or grace from him. God is no respecter of person and fallen man should treat the Holy God with respect in this broken universe that operates by certain sets of rules. He upholds all things by the word of His power to the glory of His name.
Since the transgression Adam and Eve could no longer hear the sound of the Lord God as He walks in the cool of the day because their senses were dead to Him. Then men began to call on the name of the Lord. For the first time ever man began to pray. They called out of darkness to Him who lives in dazzling light. He is the Light of the earth, the Light of man.
When men began to call on the name of the Lord to find favor in His sight they understood that they had to relate in reverence to the unseen God. Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam heard Adam’s account of living with God in the Spirit and the account of Cain and Abel. He must have decided that he wanted to live continuously in the presence of God. He demonstrated to those without the law that without faith it was impossible to please God. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him. Before he was taken he had this testimony that because of his faith in God, he pleased God (Hebrews 11:5). Through the Spirit of Christ that was in him he testified of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow (1 Peter 1:11). He believed God and overcame the fall of the transgression through faith. Because he overcame, God gave him to eat from the tree of life (Revelation 2:7). Since he put out his hand and ate from the tree of life he lived forever (Genesis 3:22). Through faith in God Enoch overcome, partook of the tree of life and then God took him so that he never tasted death.
When God established the covenant of the law between Himself and Israel the relationship changed again. The same imperfect people in the same broken universe had to relate to God according to His covenant He made with them. The first covenant was a covenant of works. Through the works of the law they had to obtain favor from God. If Israel would diligently obey the voice of the Lord to observe carefully all His commandments then the Lord will bless them. If they do not keep all His commandments and statutes, curses will come upon them and overtake them because God is the Righteous Judge (Deuteronomy 28). But showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Exodus 20:6). The responsibility was with God’s people to uphold the Law He gave to Moses.
Because the law of God is perfect and spiritual it was impossible for imperfect man in his sinful flesh to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law. Walking according to the Spirit and not according to sinful flesh is the only way to fulfill the righteous requirement of the law.
Imperfect priests were ministering daily and brought imperfect sacrifices repeatedly that could never take away sin. The same imperfect sacrifices that Israel offered year-by-year could not make those who approach perfect. The blood of animals (bulls and goats) could not remove sin. The law was only a shadow of goods things to come, a pointer to Christ. Elijah, the prophet that stood in the presence of God, who lived under the law had a similar testimony than Enoch that lived without the law. Through faith he fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law, which is good and spiritual and God showed him mercy and blessed him. Elijah saw the Lamb and High Priest of God that was slain from the foundation of the world. He believed God and it was accounted to him as righteousness. Seeing in the Spirit the witness Jesus received that he is pleasing to the Father he pursued the same goal, which is to please God through faith. When he received the same witness, he was made perfect as he was shaped into the same image as the Son of God and lived on to attain to the resurrection from the dead. God took him so that he could not be found amongst the sons of men when the sons of the prophets searched for him. Through the works of the law nobody ever received a witness that he or she was pleasing to God.
Moses knew what he was talking about when he said, “Oh that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!” (Numbers 11:29). He knew they would see through the Spirit of Christ in them the grace that would come to some future generation (1 Peter 1:10-11). He had the hope that the Lord’s people would come to an understanding of the significance of the pattern of things that God has shown him on the mountain. He knew that through faith in God and the power of the Spirit they could fulfill the righteous requirement of the law, taste of the Tree of Life and never die. God never gave them a choice between good and evil but between life and death. If they could choose life they would live and not die. This proves that since Adam’s transgression man has had excess to God through faith.
Why did God institute the old covenant in the first place if He knew in His foreknowledge that He would have to replace it with another covenant? He had to proof to every man that he is a liar and that God alone is the truth so that no man could glory in His sight. The old covenant has been put away, for it has utterly failed since sinful flesh could not fulfill the righteous requirements of the law. At best the law brings us to the knowledge of sin and is a pointer toward Christ.
When the new covenant in the blood of the Lamb was made between God and Jesus on behalf of the redeemed the relationship between God and man changed again. The law could not reconcile us to God but now we have a better hope through the blood of Jesus to draw near to God. The Father entered into a covenant with His Son, on our behalf, where He gave Him a people for His own possession. Jesus, for the Father’s sake, had to fulfill all the requirements of the law and made it honorable and for the people’s sake borne the wrath of God against their transgressions. Then the Father will forgive, once and for all, their transgressions, change their natures by writing His laws in their hearts and sanctify and make them perfect. For man to be a partaker of this covenant man has to believe in God and jesus christ whom He sent. Man will then become one Spirit with Christ and God will place him in the body of His Son. Then God will call them His people.
The Son of God fulfilled His part of the covenant on the cross. In doing so, mercy was granted to all that believed and those that will still come to the faith in God and in His Son, the lord jesus christ. This is a covenant of pure mercy and grace. The only thing required from man is faith in God. Let no man without faith suppose that he will receive any grace or mercy from the Lord. The just shall live by his faith.
As the covenant stands now, it is a one-sided covenant of pure grace and nothing else but grace. The Lord Jesus Christ has fulfilled His side of the covenant 2 000 years ago. As it is an eternal covenant the Father will have to keep His side of the covenant forever. One can only relate to God through faith, hope and love. Thoughts, words and deeds void of faith are sin and thoughts, words and deeds without love counts for nothing even if you give your body up to be burned for christ’s sake.
Paul that lived under the covenant of grace pressed in through faith in christ that he may attain to the resurrection from the dead. His faith created the substance of immortality in the Spirit. However, he testified that he never attained to it in the natural or being made perfect in the natural. I believe if God did not destined him to die the death of a martyr he would have been translated like Enoch and Elijah because of his kindred faith. He was fully convinced that what God had promised He was able to perform. Though he died, I believe on account of his faith he will be counted with those in heaven who never tasted death but were translated before the appointed time. Faith defies the dimensions of time and space.
Trust and love can only developed in a relationship where you know God as Father and He knows you as son. He will come to know you when you seek Him with all of your heart. He will know your heart when you pray, reading the Scriptures because the Holy Spirit is the One that will take of Christ’s and declare it to you. He will know you when you wait on Him and He will sense the adoration in your heart when you worship Him. He will sense virtue going out of Him when you believe Him and sense the warmth of your love when you reach out to Him. He will be glorified when you do the will of the Father. He will be joyful when He finds fulfillment in you. It will be tragic if He will never find you somewhere involved in the Father’s business, which is doing His will that He may come to know you. Then as Righteous Judge He will say to you, “I never knew you, depart from Me you worker of unrighteousness.” A life isolated from Him is suicide.
From the above we can summarize that God has never changed. Sin changed man and his environment in which he live. Since the transgression, regardless the dispensation or covenant, it is impossible to please God without faith. When God is pleased with man, God favors man. It is only faith that procures treasure in heaven.
When perfection has come, love will remain as in Eden for the love of God has never changed. Our humble bodies will be changed into the likeness of His glorious body. We will put on the glory that the Son of God had before the worlds were made. The groaning of all creation will cease as they put on perfection and relate to the sons of God again in kindness and gracious thankfulness. All things will be restored and perfected beyond their former beauty and glory, holy unto the Lord. Knowledge will grow dim and disappear as we walk again with Him in the light of His glorious grace and holiness. All creation will once again find its fulfillment in God and in each other as it was in the beginning. The latter glory of the house will be greater than the former just as the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ eclipse the glory of Adam.
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