Sermon # 38 - The Grace And Justice Of God Series

For today’s meditation we will look at Jonah 4:2, “And he prayed to the LORD and said, “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” (ESV)

Jonah was the prophet of God who received the word of God. God instructed Jonah to preach against the city of Nineveh. Not wanting to obey God, Jonah boarded a ship to Tarshish that was battered with a severe storm. After being stopped on this journey, and having ended up in the fish’s belly, Jonah finally obeyed God, and went to Nineveh to preach against that city. The people of that city along with the king repented, and turned towards God. God chose to forgive the people of that city, and refrained from the judgement He had pronounced on them.

This act of God saddened the prophet Jonah, and it was at this point that Jonah declared what He had known about God. Jonah knew that God was gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, and that He would also relent from disaster.

Every time we repent and turn to God, we can be certain that we will receive the grace and favor of God. The question that we need to ask is, ‘Is God only a God of mercy and grace as Jonah declared, or is there another side of God that Jonah did not comprehend?’ Let us try to understand who this God is, whom we worship. A faulty understanding of who God is can result in much confusion in our lives.

The way God revealed Himself to Moses

We read in Exodus 34:6-7, “The LORD then passed in front of him and called out, "I, the LORD, am a God who is full of compassion and pity, who is not easily angered and who shows great love and faithfulness. I keep my promise for thousands of generations and forgive evil and sin; but I will not fail to punish children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents." (GNB)

On the one hand God is full of compassion, pity, not easily angered, and one who shows great love and faithfulness. He is also a God who keeps His promises to thousands of generations. God further reveals Himself as one who forgives evil and sin. However, the next part of the verse mentions that God will not fail to punish sin where God declared that He will punish even to the third and fourth generation for the sins of their parents.

Since many people are unaware that God will punish sin, they deliberately continue in their sinful ways. They know God, and are taught from the word, but fail to remember this part of God’s character. When a man sins against God, we must be reminded that God does not ignore it, but would instead punish sin. It is true that God will forgive us when we repent and confess our sins to Him, but on the other hand our willful sin, and disobedience God will surely punish.

God the Father sent His son Jesus into the world to take the sins of all mankind on Himself. Jesus took our sins on the cross, and brought us redemption, so that we have a way for our sins to be forgiven.

It is important we have a proper balance of the two natures of God, namely that He is gracious and forgiving, but that also He is righteous, and will punish those who do wrong. An improper understanding of who God is will surely make us falter in our faith. Some think that God is only loving without any justice, and hence will never punish us for any wrong doing. There are others who strongly believe that God will punish, and hence have an understanding that God is harsh in His dealings. Both are faulty understandings about God. God is a God of love, but He is also a God of righteousness, and therefore He will have to punish sin and wrong-doing. All of His chastening therefore is entirely for our good, and is based on His great love.

Jonah had this erroneous insight about God that made him disobey God, and also justify his actions later on.

Let me explain this to you through an incident in the Old Testament.

God graciously delivered the Israelites

We read in Exodus 6:6-7, “So tell the Israelites that I say to them, 'I am the LORD; I will rescue you and set you free from your slavery to the Egyptians. I will raise my mighty arm to bring terrible punishment upon them, and I will save you. I will make you my own people, and I will be your God. You will know that I am the LORD your God when I set you free from slavery in Egypt.” (GNB)