HIS LOVE, HIS MERCIES, HIS FAITHFULNESS - PART 5

MONDAY 15 APRIL 2024

HIS LOVE, HIS MERCIES,

HIS FAITHFULNESS - PART 5

God's steadfast love is embedded in His divine fatherhood and the gracious exchange of His affection with the children of His demonstrated love given birth in Christ Jesus. This is what Johannine literature written by John the Evangelist greatly contemplated and said, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!..." (1 John 3:1 NIV). Truly, I appreciate the way the NKJV rendered it, which reads, "Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!" More below!

Reference: Lamentations 3:22-23 English Standard Version (ESV)

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

The next segment in the above versified reference to be expounded by my humble self is:

His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.

This is another distinct attribute of Supreme Deity put forward by Jeremiah, which was also demonstrated to the Jews and Gentiles. What do I mean by that? The Bible says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16 NIV-UK).

Now watch this:

For God so loved the world...meaning the world made up of both Jews and Gentiles.

That He gave His one and only Son...meaning the demonstration of His steadfast love.

That whoever believes in Him...meaning the proposal which is open to all and sundry.

Shall not perish but have eternal life...denoting a unique sense of eternal union with Christ Jesus and the quality of life that accompanies the union.

This eternal union with Christ is synonymous with the Scripture: Hosea 2:19 which reads, "I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion" (NLT). Under this metaphorical sense, the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, and to make the proposal possible and available to both Jews and Gentiles, the Lord Jesus destroyed the barrier - the dividing wall of partition between both - and then offered salvation to everyone. To that effect, Titus 2:11 reads, "For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people" (NLT). "All people" denotes the Jews and Gentiles.

If you respond to the proposal, "Whosoever will believe in Christ" (John 3:16 Paraphrased), then you become born again and one spirit with the Lord Jesus Christ, and based on this spiritual union, we have become His body. So eternal life promised in John 3:16 is annexed to the "believing" and "union" acts, which result in newness of life, and the full manifestation of our eternality (existence beyond time) - is waiting to happen when Jesus returns for His ready bride.

Coming back to the discussion of our next segment, which is God's mercies, I want to call our attention to the truth that within the context of the Sinaitic revelation given to Moses, the Lord God Himself proclaimed and emphasized in Exodus 34:6 that He is compassionate and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in faithfulness and truth.

This indeed is God's moral character in relation to His people. So attributed to His Supreme Deity is the uncommon feature "mercy" which specially and practically distinguished the practices of God's people in the Old Testament from that of the heathen nations surrounding them. With this veritable notion, we can fully comprehend why the Psalmist prompted God to recall His instinctive attribute by saying, "Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old" (Psalm 25:6 ESV). 

On the bargain, it is not so surprising that it was the next attribute based on God's goodness that was considered by Jeremiah who knew the history of God's dealings with His people. His mercies never come to an end, and they are very new every morning. In line with this verity, Petrine epistle enlightened us of our new identity as follows, "...you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy" (1 Peter 2:9-10 NKJV).

As chosen and special people of God, we have obtained this mercy in Christ beyond measure. Stay tuned for more on God's mercies in part 6. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Psalm 25:10; Isaiah 30:18; James 3:17; 1 Peter 1:3.

Exuberant Declaration:

My life is full of God's grace, truth, wisdom, mercy and faithfulness, which are of the nature and necessity of my living faith in Christ Jesus. Blessed be God!