God is an independent and self-existent being, the Creator of the whole universe, the source of all life. Unlike all created beings, whose life is limited by time, that is, there is a moment in history that marks the beginning of their existence and a moment that marks the end, God has no beginning and no end. All created beings are temporal beings, but God is an eternal being who transcends time. And thus says the Lord of Hosts in Revelation 1:8, “‘I am the First and the Last,’ says the Lord God Almighty, who is, who was, and who is to come.” God existed before ages; He existed in eternity past. God has always lived and will live forever. So time is not an issue for God. He is not limited by time; He is not bound by time, but rather He controls it. God transcends time – time itself being created by God.

Before God there was no one. Thus says the Lord in Revelation 22:13, “I am the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Before God created the universe, He had always existed and He will remain for ever while the whole universe passes away. God breathed into existence the whole creation; in six days He created all things. But He has set a day when He will fold all things up like a coat and discard them. The universe is disposable, it is temporal. God made it and He will dispose of it at the due time. But He himself will remain; He will live for ever. Psalms 102:26-27 says, “O LORD, You live for ever; long ago You created the earth, and with your own hands You made the heavens. They will disappear, but You will remain; they will all wear out like clothes. You will discard them like clothes, and they will vanish. But You are always the same, and your life never ends.”

Nahum 1:2-3 says, “The LORD God tolerates no rivals; He punishes those who oppose Him. In his anger He pays them back. The LORD does not easily become angry, but He is powerful and never lets the guilty go unpunished.” Christ’s mercy triumphs over judgement, but rebellion brings about God’s curse. Whatever we sow in this life, we will reap the fruit on the day of harvest. If we sow the wind, we will reap the storm. If we sow in the field of the Holy Spirit, from the Spirit we will receive eternal life. The same treatment we administer to those around us will be given to us on the Day of Judgment. If we have been merciful to others, God will be merciful when judging us. But He will withhold his mercy from anyone who has not been merciful to his neighbour. As James 2:13 highlights it, “God will not show mercy when He judges the person who has not been merciful; but mercy triumphs over judgement.”

Through stories of rebellious people who got consumed by the fiery wrath of God, the Lord warns us of the danger of human rebellion. Jude 1:5-7 gives us a recap of some of those stories. It says, “The Lord once rescued the people of Israel from Egypt, but afterwards destroyed those who did not believe. Remember the angels who did not stay within the limits of their proper authority, but abandoned their own dwelling place: they are bound with eternal chains in the darkness below, where God is keeping them for that great Day on which they will be condemned. Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, and the nearby towns, who indulged in sexual immorality and perversion: they suffered the punishment of eternal fire as a plain warning to all.”

God’s mercy is an open door to his grace. Those who rebel against God reject God’s mercy and grace, and so remain under curse. Because they make themselves enemies of God by rebelling against Him, they become the objects of His wrath. God unleashes his wrath upon them and condemns them. But those who turn to the Lord receive his mercy and grace. Their sins are forgiven and they are no more condemned. For God’s mercy triumphs over judgement. Anyone who throws himself on the mercy of Christ escapes judgement; he is saved by God’s grace through his faith in Christ. Rebellion against God is like a gangrene that spreads throughout the entire body and casts one’s soul straight into hell. It enslaves one’s conscience and brings the soul under God’s curse. It shuts the door to God’s mercy and grace and opens the door to hell. Rebellion against God brings about damnation. As 1 Samuel 15:23 says, “Rebellion against Him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry.” 

The story of the people of Israel who rebelled against the Lord in the wilderness is the story of anyone who rejects God’s new covenant sealed by the blood of Christ. In the same way the rebellious people of Israel couldn’t enter the Promised Land, those who reject the Lamb of God cannot be partakers of God’s redeeming grace; they cannot receive eternal life. They will die in their sins and go to hell. If you hear God speaking to you today through his word, do not harden your heart. Do not keep on trying his patience. For the day is coming when He will withdraw his hand of mercy and pour out his wrath upon anyone who rebels against Him.

The Lord says, “Do you think I enjoy seeing an evil person die? No, I would rather see Him repent and live.” (Ezekiel 18:23). As 2 Peter 3:9 highlights it, “The Lord is not slow to do what He has promised, as some think. Instead, He is patient with you, because He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.”

God is patient and merciful. But that does not mean He will never punish those who try his patience over and over and refuse to repent of their sins. For instance, the message sent by the Lord Jesus in Revelation 2 to the church in Thyatira displays God’s patience in dealing with people. But this message is mainly a lesson to us and a warning to anyone who indulges in sinful practices and refuses to turn to the Lord in repentance. The Church of Thyatira was reproached by the Lord for tolerating Jezebel, a woman who, by her teaching, encouraged Christians to practice sexual immorality and to eat food offered to idols. The Lord showed patience towards this woman by giving her time to repent, but she refused to give up her perversion. So in his address to the church, the Lord warns Jezebel and her followers, He threatens to kill them if they continue their evil practices. Thus says the Lord in verse 21-23: “I have given her time to repent of her sins, but she does not want to turn from her immorality. And so I will throw her on to a bed where she and those who committed adultery with her will suffer terribly. I will do this now unless they repent of the wicked things they did with her. I will also kill her followers, and then all the churches will know that I am the one who knows everyone’s thoughts and wishes. I will repay each of you according to what you have done.”

The story of the Pharisee who prays in Luke 18 describes exactly how the Lord treats those who think they are good and so do not repent of their sins. The Lord uses the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector in this chapter of Luke to separate those who have a high view of themselves (like the Pharisee), from those who humble themselves and cry out to the Lord for mercy, recognizing their sins and their need of Christ the Saviour (like the tax collector). The Pharisee in his prayer says: “I thank you, God, that I am not greedy, dishonest, or an adulterer, like everybody else. I thank you that I am not like that tax collector over there. I fast two days a week, and I give you a tenth of all my income.” (Luke 18:11-12). Unlike the Pharisee who has a high view of himself, the tax collector recognizes before God that he is a sinner, he has great contrition for his sins. The tax collector has a contrite heart and resents himself for offending God – it is written: “The tax collector stood at a distance and would not even raise his face to heaven, but beat on his chest and said, ‘God, have pity on me, a sinner!’” (Verse 13). And the Lord declares in verse 14: “The tax collector, and not the Pharisee, was in the right with God when he went home.” It is written: “Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life.” (Proverbs 22:4). Proverbs 15:33 says, “You must be humble before you can ever receive honours.” Proverbs 28:13 says, “You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you.”

This is the command of our Lord in Luke 6:36, “Be merciful just as your Father is merciful.” Because the Lord is merciful, we too ought to be merciful towards one another. As Paul highlights it in Titus 3:3-5, “We were once foolish, disobedient, and wrong. We were slaves to passions and pleasures of all kinds. We spent our lives in malice and envy; others hated us and we hated them. But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour was revealed, He saved us. It was not because of any good deeds that we ourselves had done, but because of his own mercy that He saved us, through the Holy Spirit, who gives us new birth and new life by washing us.”

The mercy of God is a precious gift, essential to our existence, essential to our relationship with God. For without the mercy of God there is no hope for life; without God’s mercy reconciliation would have never taken place between man and his Creator. Anyone who is not a recipient of God’s mercy is doomed. However no one can earn it or control it, for no one deserves it. It comes from God and is graciously granted to anyone God chooses. Thus says the Lord in Exodus 33:19, “I show compassion and pity on those I choose.”

God is merciful and He freely forgives anyone who genuinely seeks Him. In Isaiah 55:1-3, “The LORD says, ‘Come, everyone who is thirsty – here is water! Come, you that have no money – buy corn and eat! Come! Buy wine and milk – it will cost you nothing! Why spend money on what does not satisfy? Why spend your wages and still go hungry? Listen to Me and do what I say, and you will enjoy the best food of all. Listen now, my people, and come to Me; come to Me, and you will have life! I will make a lasting covenant with you and give you the blessings I promised to David.”

Christ became sin for us and as the result of his mercy and love, we have been made recipients of God’s grace; we have been reconciled to God the Father through the sacrifice of our Lord on the cross. And as the Apostle Paul says in Romans 5:17, “All who receive God’s abundant grace and are freely put right with Him will rule in life through Christ.”

God’s mercy refers to his loving-kindness towards men, to the care and protection He provides to those in need and to his forbearance and forgiveness of sin. In other words, God attends to people’s physical needs, He is tolerant and patient in enduring sinners and He also grants forgiveness of sins to those who believe in his Son. This is manifest throughout the Scripture and in our everyday life. Psalms 103:8-12 gives us a broad description of the mercy of God – it says, “The LORD is merciful and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love. He does not keep on rebuking; He is not angry for ever. He does not punish us as we deserve or repay us according to our sins and wrongs. As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is his love for those who honour Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our sins from us.”