His Delight

Mark Dunagan
06/09/13 - Sunday Morning

His Delight

One of the wonderful things about the Bible is that in it God gives us a beautiful picture of His nature.  One of the aspects of that nature that is a healing balm to the weak and heavy laden soul, is that God is merciful and gracious. 

• “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth” (Exodus 34:6).
• “The Lord is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression” (Numbers 14:18).
• “The Lord is compassionate and gracious….He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10).
• “Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession?” (Micah 7:18).

God the Giver

“To say that God is gracious means that it is His nature to give of Himself and of His bounty to His creatures” (What the Bible Says about God the Redeemer, Jack Cottrell, pp. 369-370).  God is not only generous with physical blessings (Acts 14:17), He is likewise generous with such things as giving wisdom to those who ask (James 1:5 “who gives to all men generously”), and giving the ultimate sacrifice for our sins (Romans 8:32 “He who did not spare His own Son”).   Throughout the Bible God is the One giving, encouraging, urging, exhorting, blessing, and expressing patience and long-suffering (Isaiah 1:18).  Though at the very center of God's nature we find an amazing giver, the essence of any sinner is that of a taker, for to live in His world and soak up His blessings without thanking and serving Him—is certainly to be a taker.

He Delights to Extend Grace

God would far rather forgive the humble, than punish the unrepentant:

• “For Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive” (Psalm 86:5).
• “He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love” (Micah 7:18).  And in the next verse such unchanging love is manifested in forgiving the sins of the repentant.
• “Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).
• “Do I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, rather than that he should turn from his ways and live?” (Ezekiel 18:23)
• “But is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
• “For if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness.  For He does not afflict willingly” (Lamentations 3:32-33).

How wonderful the last line, “He does not afflict willingly”, that is, He does not afflict from the heart.  When God judges, and repeatedly He reminds us that punishment will come to those who do repent (Exodus 34:7; 2 Peter 3:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9), God clearly does not enjoy or find pleasure in the process.  God would much rather forgive, extend mercy and see the sinner reconciled.  Isaiah 28:21 refers to God’s acts of punishment as His “strange” or “alien” work.  On the one hand, it is a punishment that people refuse to believe will happen, and especially in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel refused to believe that God would punish them if they rebelled.  On the other hand, the verse may suggest, as noted above, that when God must punish after repeated second chances, it is something considered strange or alien to Him.  It is not something that He wants or desires to do.

Grace and My Salvation

There was a time early on in Jesus’ teaching when after seeing a miracle, Peter said to Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” (Luke 5:8).  Such grace as we have talked about seems too good to be true or at least, not something available to a sinner like me.  As we observe so many choosing the wide path to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14), and we likewise see people who have known the truth depart from it (2 Timothy 4:10), it is tempting to think that in a sense the deck has been stacked against us ending up saved.  We might even think, “After all, what is the real, honest chance of me making it?”  Reflect on this:

The Stacked Deck In Our Favor

In a sense, yes the deck has been stacked, but not against each one of us, rather, it has been arranged in our best, possible favor.  Consider the following:

• We are each created in God’s image (James 3:9), with eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  Therefore, our natural setting is to think about spiritual things and the after-life.  We don’t have to “create” a believing part of us—that is already there from day one.  In fact, the thing that people really have to work at, is becoming an unbeliever.  Romans 1:20-28 details the effort that people expend to get God out of their heads.  To move always from God is a choice to harden a certain part of me on the inside (Ephesians 4:19).   When people move away from God, at any age, the often unspoken decision is simply “I want to live for myself”.
• No matter where you or I live on the planet, we are surrounded by an overwhelming amount of beautiful order and complexity that essentially screams, “There is a God!” (Romans 1:20).
• Jesus died on the cross for all of us, so that no one has been excluded from God’s offer of salvation (1 Timothy 2:6).
• God patiently waits for each individual, giving them time to repent (2 Peter 3:9).  His attitude of graciousness and willingness to forgive those who sin against Him is universal; He has the same desire to forgive all people.
• God has sent the gospel out to the entire world, and it has come to me as well (Mark 16:15).
• And I have observed, that God’s offer of salvation is often presented to individuals at various times in their lives, and at some of the best possible times.  Just talk to anyone who has obeyed the gospel, and hear their story, and you will see how good the timing was.  The gospel was often presented in the environment of a loving home, in a good congregation, from good friends, when they were searching, or from a love interest.  Just remember the manner in which the gospel was presented to the eunuch (Acts 8), or Cornelius (Acts 10), or to the Jailor (Acts 16) or Lydia (Acts 16) and the timing was always just right.

 The Only Limitation

Titus is told, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men” (Titus 2:11).

• We learn here that grace is not limited by some sort of predestination in which God decided to exclude certain individuals from the offer of salvation, for God does not show such favoritism (Romans 2:11).
• Yet neither are all men going to be saved in the end, for there exists something that does limit the application of such grace: our chosen response to it.
• God does not limit the evidence of His existence.  He did not limit the sacrifice of Jesus (John 3:16), nor the spread of the gospel (Matthew 28:19).  The only thing that limits the application of grace is the decision of the individual not to serve or obey God.
• Since you and I have the final decision whether to be saved or not, there is no good reason why we should not be saved—for who, in a right frame of mind would choose to exclude themselves from such a gracious offer?  If people do refuse, don’t let their poor choice deter you from rejoicing and obtaining your own chance to be saved (Acts 13:46-48). Let’s choose Christ!  And keep choosing Him every day (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)!

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net