Lord, Have Mercy

Scripture tells us that mercy triumphs over judgment. We typically think that instruction is for us on how we are to conduct our lives. That is true, but it has another meaning. It is the revelation of how God relates to humanity. In a single moment of time He could destroy all who violate His laws, but instead, He occupies a higher and more powerful position called mercy. His end goal has always been mercy, never judgment. Without mercy none of what He promised can work. That is why He sent Jesus to carry our judgment and to execute His plan of mercy.

God began His relationship with our ancestors in a garden. It was a place of freedom framed within the boundary of obedience. We chose the bondage of sin instead of the freedom offered by God. At that point, we were hopeless to self-redeem without the mercy of God creating a plan of intervention. The only way God could return us to a place of freedom was through the merciful sacrifice of Jesus. The moment the first drop of His blood was shed the Mercy Seat in Heaven was sprinkled with the blood of God and our freedom was once again possible. 

The writer of Hebrews said, “And we have come to Jesus who established a new covenant with his blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat; blood that continues to speak from heaven, “forgiveness,” a better message than Abel’s blood that cries from the earth, “justice” (Hebrews 12:24 TPT).

In our attempt to seek justice in society through acts of judgment as the remedy for humanity’s ills, we miss what God ultimately desires to release on Earth. Mercy is a higher revelation than our attempts at justice.  While it is good to pursue justice and just causes, at some point the real breakthrough will not come by balancing the scales of justice, but by extending mercy to the guilty.

“For I will demonstrate my mercy to them and will forgive their evil deeds, and never remember again their sins”(Hebrews 8:12 NLT).