2 Corinthians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
One of the dangerous thoughts that can creep into Christianity is that Jesus is loving but God the Father is angry. However, the Bible paints a different picture, where the Father and Son are one. True, God the Father and God the Son have different roles in this salvation picture, but they are in unison.
To help cement this truth in our minds, we want to take a look at the mercies of God the Father. We have recently seen that Jesus is compassionate. Likewise, God the Father is merciful. In fact, He is the Father of mercies, which portrays that God the Father naturally and continually gives out mercy upon mercy. Every mercy that we experience in our lives comes from God the Father. Even stronger, every misery or pain we experience has a mercy from God the Father.
Writing in 1651, Thomas Goodwin gives us some helpful insights, “There is no sin or misery but God has a mercy for it. He has a multitude of mercies of every kind. … If your heart be hard, his mercies are tender. If your heart be dead, He has mercy to liven it. If you be sick, He has mercy to heal you. If you be sinful, He has mercies to sanctify and cleanse you. As large and as various as are our wants, so large and various are His mercies. So we may come boldly to find grace and mercy to help us in time of need, a mercy for every need.”
Because the Father and the Son are one, we should never imagine that God is stingy or unwilling to give out these mercies. Just as Jesus responds with love and sympathy to our weakness (see Hebrews 4:15), so also your Heavenly Father responds with mercy to our weakness. As Jesus responds with compassion and love to our troubles and stress, so also your Heavenly Father responds with mercy to our troubles and stress. Jesus is gentle and humble; your Father is merciful.
What is the most impactful part of this lesson that you want to recall during this week?
God the Father and God the Son are one in their love for me, their compassion and mercy for me.
I know that I am loved by God, and He is always there for me. I don’t know all that He is doing, but I know that He is doing good for me.