God Is Merciful Series

God Is Merciful

Robert F Collins

When I grew up in the church, I remember having a basic understanding of what Christians believe and what I thought Christianity is all about: basically, that Jesus is the Son of God, that he died for us, and that he rose from the dead. But I did not understand what that meant for me. Why did I need a Saviour, and what was the point of the gospel in my life? I think many people today face this same type of disconnect. Some may even have a greater difficulty approaching God because of how they view him. When they think of God, they think of a distant super being that is not relevant to their lives or even a harsh God of judgment and wrath. But the very foundation of the gospel is just the opposite. We have a merciful, loving Father who wants to be close to us and be involved in every area of our lives. That is why Jesus came: to rescue us and bring us back to God. Life as a follower of Christ is not a religion but a relationship. Most of us need to lose our religion to gain a real relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That begins by knowing who God is, what he is really like. He is not the harsh, judgmental God who is out there somewhere. God loves you as an individual; he cares deeply about you and wants the best for you. God is merciful.

1. Perfect Love

The Bible says we were created for God’s glory (Isa. 43:6, 7). For many people, the word glory can sound kind of mystical. But all it really means is that God created us, that he loves us, and that he designed us to honour him with our lives. We should live our lives in such a way that we reflect God’s worth and value to us. He doesn’t need us to glorify him because he is on some ego trip. He is not like man in that respect. God is God. He is just fine all by himself. He is the all-sufficient one and does not need anyone or anything to add to his perfection. He is already perfect, awesome, amazing, and omniscient. God wants us to glorify him because of what it does for us. By experiencing all the wonderful aspects of who he is, we can enjoy a taste of eternity and his eternal attributes right here on this earth and in our everyday lives. He wants to have a relationship with us so he can show us the plan and purpose he has for our lives, one that will give true happiness and satisfaction. When we surrender our lives to Jesus Christ and glorify God, we become happy and fulfilled. It is that simple.

Most people spend their whole lives searching for fulfilment and happiness but never find it. Without God, everyone feels an emptiness they long to fill, not realizing that only God can meet this deepest need. This is why people do crazy, selfish things and end up hurting themselves and each another. They are trying to find happiness in things that cannot satisfy. True happiness is realized only when a person lives for God’s glory, not for himself. Before I came to Jesus, I was all about feeling good. I tried everything possible to make me feel good, but it never lasted. I did all kinds of crazy things, trying to fill the void inside myself, but those paths always led back to emptiness. Before I was willing to surrender my life to Jesus, I had questions about whether God could truly make me happy. I mean, of course I also wanted to go to heaven. I knew that was part of the package deal, and I certainly didn’t want to go to hell! But what I really wanted to know was if Jesus could make me feel good. Could I really be fulfilled? Could Jesus make me happy while I was on this earth? Happiness was my quest. And if we dig down deep into our own hearts and are honest with ourselves, we all want happiness. We pursue happiness every day. It is the way God designed us. It is one of our deepest desires, and I wanted to know if God could truly make me happy. When I looked at Christians, they just seemed boring! Compared with what I was doing, they never seemed like they were having fun. They were never out doing drugs, getting wasted, sleeping around and all of the things I considered normal. So to me it looked like they weren’t having any fun, but of course I was just looking at them from the outside. I didn’t understand what was going on inside of them. I didn’t understand what happens when you begin to feel Jesus and experience God. When we accept God’s mercy and forgiveness, we begin to value God. The reality sets in that we were headed to hell, but now we are headed to heaven. As we feel how much Jesus loves us, we can hardly believe it. We feel joy, peace, even excitement. We begin to walk in the reality of the mercy of God, and it satisfies our souls.