Isn’t it awesome that God is so merciful? After all, we all mess up, and who doesn’t need a God who understands and provides out of His mercy and grace another chance to work things out? It is really difficult to live in this world and not become influenced or stained by it. Thus, we need a God who is full of mercy and grace! Instead of surrendering as a failure, I can be made new and have a whole new outlook on things!
Isn’t it awesome that God is so just? After all, there are so many things in this world that are shady and deceitful! How many times are we taken advantage of because someone has their own agenda and will take whatever means they deem necessary to accomplish their goal? Sometimes it is hard to know what standard to live by, but having a God who is just helps me determine morality, truth and what is right because I have a measuring stick with which to evaluate things.
We serve a God who is both just AND merciful!!! Consider the way God presents himself to Moses when He reveals His glory to him on Mt. Sinai, as recorded in Exodus 34:6-7:
6 Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations."
Do you see both the justice and mercy of God portrayed as He speaks to Moses? God says these things about Himself!!! The context of this proclamation is that God is angry enough to destroy the Israelites due to their sin with the golden calf, but Moses begs Him to continue walking with them. Moses has returned to Mt. Sinai with two tablets of stone to have the 10 Commandments inscribed on them and he will return to the Israelite camp with a glow that frightens the people as a result of his time in the presence of God. Even the physical representations of tablets of stone (Law) and the glow (presence of God) show both characteristics of His nature!
How do these two characteristics work together? Does His justice override His grace, or does His grace override His justice? Is it possible for the two to work in balance? This morning, as we look at the story of Cain and Abel, we are able to see both aspects of this great God we serve. The justice of God will not accept Cain’s sacrifice, while the grace of God will warn him of sin crouching at his door waiting to have him. The justice of God will hold Cain accountable for the murder of his brother, prohibiting him from using the ground to grow crops and making him a wanderer and a vagrant, while the grace of God will protect Cain from someone finding him and killing him.
Perhaps this is what makes our understanding of God and His ways so difficult at times. It is hard to balance these two characteristics! When I swing to the side of justice, I struggle with what God does through His grace (Why would God protect a murderer?). When I swing to the side of grace, I struggle with God’s justice (Why wouldn’t God accept Cain’s sacrifice?) Yet, God exhibits both characteristics with great balance. Isn’t it awesome that God is so merciful and just!!!
To listen to sermon, click Serving God on My Terms.
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