Kenneth Copeland - The mercy of God

Contents

The Nature of God

S ince the Garden of Eden, God has had to deal with man at an arm's length because of the glory surrounding His being. It would overwhelm man if God appeared to him in the full manifestation of His power. He once revealed to Moses that no man could look into His face and live. He illustrated this by allowing Moses a glimpse of Himself from behind. He said, "I will put you in the shadow and cleft of a rock. I will hold My hand over your face as I allow My goodness to pass before you." Mercifully, God protected Moses from the intense power that radiated from His face, knowing that even the shadow of His presence would be too much for him.

However, this distance between man and Himself was not in God's original plan. He had created Adam and clothed him in His own light and glory. Adam did not know he was naked. Before he sinned, all he knew was the fire of God's glory around his body; but after the Fall , Adam lost that fire and could no longer fellowship with God in His presence as he had before. For if he had, the glory of God which consumes all sin would have consumed him as well.

God wanted to restore our relationship with Him, so He could walk and talk with us like He did with Adam.

His desire is to have fellowship with us. He sent Jesus to the earth to pay the price for man's sin. Through Jesus, the glory of God came wrapped in human flesh so that once again man and his Creator could have contact. Jesus was born, of a virgin, without sin. The Holy Spirit hovered over Mary and there was conceived in her a holy thing. Jesus was born not of a natural man, but God Himself caused life to come into Mary's womb. God's life flowed into His human body. The glory of God did not consume Jesus as it would have sinful man. Instead, it became a flowing stream of healing that radiated from the person of Jesus. A vivid illustration of this is the account of the Mount of Transfiguration where the clothes and face of Jesus literally shone with the glory of God.

Today, we are no longer limited from being in the presence of God's glory. The New Covenant tells us very plainly that the God who shined out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give us the knowledge of the light of the glory which shines in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6,7). God put His glory in us, and He did it because His mercy endures forever. His mercy was greater than all the sin in the whole world.

When Jesus, God's Son, said, "Let this cup pass from Me ," the Father could have done so. God could have said, "I will not bring all the sin of fallen humanity on the one righteous thing that has walked the earth since the Garden of Eden"; but God's mercy and enduring compassion was greater than what was about to happen to His Son. Mercy overcame.

Jesus followed the example of His Father. He was always moved and led by compassion. He never acted on His own motives and ideas. Compassion and mercy dictated to His mind even when His body was suffering. It welled up within Him and produced joy, and it was for this joy that Jesus endured the shame of the cross.

Tender Compassion

Jesus experienced the same compassion that causes a mother or a father to overcome the fear of personal harm for the sake of their child. A father will take on all the forces of hell and wade into odds far greater than himself when his family is threatened. His mercy and compassion is far greater than any danger he sees with his eyes and hears with his ears.

I will never forget the time when my daughter, Kellie, came and sat down on my lap. She was only three years old. I was looking at something else and she took her two index fingers, placed one on each of my cheeks and turned my face around to her face, which was right up in mine. As she pulled me closer she said, "Daddy, I love you. At that moment in time, if I owned the moon, I would have given it to her!

God will respond to His children when they express their love for Him, just as naturally as a parent will respond to his child who says, "I love you." The Word says that we get the similarity of our parenthood from God. Our role as parents is a model of the relationship we have with our heavenly Father. That means that we are never going to get anywhere shaking our fists in God's face, but when we get before Him and say, "I love You . You are the

King of my life, and I will go anywhere You tell me to go, and I will do anything You tell me to do," God will respond to us compassionately.

When we take our place as His children, He will always take His place as our Father. God Almighty is the biggest love pushover in the whole world. He is fully aware of our every sin. He sent Jesus to the cross rather than to condemn us, and He hasn't changed. He is still looking for opportunities to show His mercy.

In 2 Chronicles, chapter five, He directed the children of Israel to put singers out in front of the army. They sang, "God is good. His mercy endureth forever." They were really saying to the enemy, "God loves us anyhow and you had better keep your hands off of us!" In response, God moved on the enemy army before the Israelites got to them because they declared His mercy.

Notice also, that when the children of Israel began to shout about God's mercy, the place where they were gathered filled up with the glory of God. The presence of God was so powerful that the priests could not stand on their feet to minister. Verses 13 ,14 say,

It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick , and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

Reason for Worship

Mercy is the reason we worship God. It motivates us to walk holy before Him. It gives us confidence that we can come before Him without fear. We can rest in knowing that the mercy of God is greater and stronger than anything else. It has unlimited endurance. Psalm 136 declares this. It says,

O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever: The sun to rule by day: for his mercy endureth for ever: The moon and stars to rule by night: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him that smote Egypt in their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever: And brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever: With a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him which divided the Red sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever: And made Israel to pass through the midst of it: for his mercy endureth for ever:

But overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red sea: for his mercy endureth for ever. To him which led his people through the wilderness: for his mercy endureth for ever.

To him which smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: And slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth for ever: Sihon king of the Amorites: for his mercy endureth for ever: And Og the king of Bashan: for his mercy endureth for ever: And gave their land for an heritage: for his mercy endureth for ever: Even an heritage unto Israel his servant: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who remembered us in our low estate: for his mercy endureth for ever: And hath redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever. Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever.