Who is God? Pt. 3

This is the third article of my series entitled, “Who Is God.”

Everyone recognizes God as the one who forgives sins. One of the basic tenets of our faith says, God sent His only begotten Son to shed His blood for the remissions and forgiveness of sins. In fact, I John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Not one time, but every time.

God is able to forgive and cleanse us because of who He is. God’s character consists of at least 4 things. And He has complete authority over all four. That is what makes Him unique as the one and only true living God.

(1) God is the God of Mercy. Mercy is sometimes referred to as not receiving some discipline, punishment, or negative circumstance and consequence as a result of our actions. We all, as sinners, deserve to be put to death or already dead. For the wages of sin is death. Anyone reading this article is alive right now because of God’s Mercy.

Make no mistake about it, God is the source of all Mercy. God said in Exodus 33:19, He will give mercy to anyone he wants to give mercy to. It is not up to us to determine who deserves mercy and who doesn’t. When we understand we serve a God of Mercy, it enables us to be more merciful to others.

God’s Mercy endureth forever. As you live year after year, you will find that great is God’s Mercy towards you. David says, “…His mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” Think for a moment, where would you be without the Mercy of God. First Peter 1:3 sums it up best when it says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant Mercy, has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

(2) God is the God of Grace. I like to describe grace as receiving anything from God that we don’t deserve or haven’t earned. None of us deserve the free gift of Eternal Life. It is only by God’s Grace. None of us deserve God’s Salvation. It is only by the Grace of God. None of us deserve to go to heaven. We only go because of the Grace of God. None of us have earned the right to have the Holy Spirit indwelling inside of us. It is only by the Grace of God.

Through God’s Grace, we receive the favor of God. God’s favor is so good, that it will sometimes cause others to be jealous and envious of us. Many of our undeserved blessings, both spiritual and material, are because of the Grace of God.

God gives amazing Grace to the humble, not the proud. At all times God’s Grace is sufficient. Have you ever asked yourself, where would I be with the Grace of God?

(3) God is the God of Compassion. The Hebrew word for compassion means, “to love from the womb.” God has loved us from the moment He formed us in our mother’s womb. He doesn’t feel sorry for us, He doesn’t pity us. He doesn’t condemn us. He just loves us, like not one else can!!!

God’s Compassion causes Him to pick us up when we fall down. God’s Compassion causes Him to even wink at us from time to time. God’s compassion is what energizes His Mercy and Grace toward us.

We all know Jesus and God are one. The New Testament tells us, Jesus had compassion on the 5,000 and fed them. Matthew 9:36 tells us Jesus had compassion on the multitudes that followed Him because they fainted and were scattered as sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 20:34 tells us Jesus had compassion on two blind men and gave them sight. Mark 1:41 tells us Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw a Leper and healed him. Romans 9:5 tells us, just like mercy, God will have compassion on whoever He wants to have compassion on.

(4) God is the God of Longsuffering. That means He is the God of “Patience.” God is a patient God. He abounds with patience on us. The Apostle Paul made this clear when he stated in I Timothy 1:16, that God would show forth his long suffering towards him, as an example, to encourage other sinners to eventually believe in Jesus.

God is patient with us in a way like no other. He gives us time, but not unlimited time, to walk in His glory. We walk and live in the Glory of God when we consistently walk and live in His will. We walk and live in the Glory of God when we study and obey His word. We walk and live in the Glory of God when we live by the Spirit. This does not and cannot happen overnight. However, there would be a lot less judging in this world, if we all understood we serve a long suffering God.

Praise God for His Mercy. Praise God for His Grace. Praise God for His Compassion. Praise God for His Long Suffering. Just praise God for who He is!