Look What I Missed

Mercy = not getting from God what I do deserve

Grace = getting from God what I don’t deserve

God’s mercy means that because of what Jesus has done, I don’t get the eternal death, the punishment, and the judgment that I do deserve to get.

God has shown His mercy and given His promise. Revelation 20 speaks of a “second death” in a “lake of fire,” This is what I truly deserve to experience because of my sin and rebellion against God.

But, Jesus was “pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds” (Isaiah 53:5).

We have no reference for the kind of mercy that is shown by God and made possible through Christ. That kind of love and mercy is inexplicable until it has been experienced.

It reminds me of not truly understanding the depth of heart-giving love until I found the one with whom I would share my life with in marriage. And even then, I think I grow to love more through the years of sharing life together.

Or, I’m not sure I fully understood the grip that sacrificial love would take hold on a heart until I held my children for the very first time. Looking down at the bundle of newborn helplessness and realizing instantly that I would give my life to protect and guard this new soul God had blessed us with.

We don’t know love until we experience the depth of it through marriage.

We don’t know sacrifice until we embrace the challenges of parenthood. We don’t truly understand mercy until we come face to face with the wretchedness of sin in the mirror and the blessedness of the words of Jesus, “Neither do I condemn you.”

The mercy is liberating but also peace-giving. Why? Because in Christ we no longer carry the weight of unforgiven sin because all of our sin has been paid for and washed clean. Liberating.

Furthermore, the punishment that our sin deserves, the “second death,” the “lake of fire” is no longer part of our future and no longer the destination of our existence. Is that punishment deserved? Most definitely. Is it received? Not for a second because of the mercy of God who loves us so much and the payment of Jesus who most perfectly displayed that love. Peace-giving.

I know people don’t talk a lot about this anymore, but according to the Bible, the destination for anyone who still carries his or her sin is this place of “second death” in the “lake of fire.” That is what we all justly deserve, and many will experience that. But, everyone has the opportunity to experience the mercy of God through Christ when we come to Christ, acknowledge our need for Him, and surrender to Him.

You can do that today. Call to Him. He will hear you and respond to your cry of faith.