God Is Merciful

July 21, 2025 / by Dirk May

Imagine that you are a King. The subjects of your realm are in a great rebellion against you. You quash the uprising. Without question it is your right to exile, imprison, or even execute the lawbreakers.

The Living God faced this situation. However, His response was shocking. The Lord opened a way to bring back the rebels into right relationship with Him.

The devil might say “no skin off God’s back”. He can just look the other way and forgive the wayward subjects. Yet, this overlooks the righteousness of God and the deep cost. The Godhead had to send the Son, Jesus, from the grandeur and Holiness of heaven to the lowly earth, as a man. The Father had to agree and watch His son suffer and die a horrible death, and the Holy Spirit had to dwell in man.

No cost to man, supreme cost to God. This is what is called the mercy of God. Titus 3:5 “He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit.”
More than an abstract theological concept, an academic pondering, the mercy of God should shake us to the core and cause us to live differently.

First, when we look in the mirror we will see the devastation of sin and ask the Lord to remove any longing we have for it. Second, our lives should be full of thanksgiving and joy. From exile to close relationship with our Maker, Savior, and Comforter. From bondage to freedom in Christ. From death to real life. Third, our lives should be marked with the same mercy of God toward others. Jesus gave the parable of the one who was forgiven a great debt, and in turn refused to forgive the minor debt of another. Would we fail to forgive the wounds another man might inflict on us, in the light of God’s great mercy toward us? Fourth, our prayers should be populated with requests for God’s mercy on others. We are surrounded with family members, co-workers, friends, and neighbors who need God’s mercy of salvation. May we cry out for them to the One who is willing and able to supply His endless mercy.

Brothers and Sisters, let us live in the joy of God’s mercy.

Dirk May serves as an elder and Small Group leader. He enjoys spending his free time laughing with his wife, Sue, and playing with their grandchildren.