God's Sovereignty, Mercy & Grace

Twenty four years ago this past week on September 11th, we commemorated the event we recognize as the worst of national crises that the United States has ever experienced. Four jet liners were commandeered by terrorists, destroyed the North and South Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, damaged the Pentagon and one crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. It was the deadliest terrorist attack ever to hit the soil of the USA. Nearly 3,000 people died because of this horrible attack. We still remember and give thanks for ALL those who worked hard, long and tirelessly to save lives, and clean up the awful mess created that morning! In the short-term aftermath of that day, we heard words that we hoped we would never hear as our president declared, "We are at war!"

I want to write this blog using the 9/11 calamity as a backdrop for looking at meaningful Scriptures and truth, in light of national and personal calamities. My point is to realize that God's mercy and grace are ever present in and around those calamities! Let me begin with some very significant observations.

First, WE HAVE THE FACT OF GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY! "I am the one who forms light and creates darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity: I am the LORD who does all these. . . .It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands; And I ordained all their host" (Isaiah 45:7 and 12). "All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. But HE does according to His will in the host of heaven, and among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, 'What have You done?' " (Daniel 4:35).

How many times during various calamities have we heard statements that attempt to get God "off the hook"? Such statements could be, "He didn't know this was going to happen. After all, He didn't want this to occur. This was not a part of His will," etc. We have many sincere people that have tried earnestly to cope with the reality and even the magnitude of a tragic event by just moving God off the stage. Personally, I can't even imagine a place or situation that would be more unsafe for us than a world in which God was not only the main character on the stage, but He Himself was the sole director of the production. It's one of the greatest comforts we ever can know to realize that He is on His throne, in charge of and directing every single thing that takes place! We may not fully understand what He is doing; we don't need to understand, but we must learn to TRUST Him, His motives, His actions, His will, His authority, His provisions, His love, grace and mercy and His Word! If we are very aware and alert, we can through His Holy Spirit ascertain that many times He pre-prepares (way in advance) us for what He is doing in and around us! So, instead of questioning, let's be watchful, alert and listening!

Second, WE KNOW THE GRACE OF GOD ABOUNDS! "And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for all things" (II Corinthians 9:8). "And the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus" (I Timothy 1:14). Sometimes, we look around at or experience some calamity, and we struggle to see any grace manifested. We wonder how God's grace could ever be displayed in this situation. Something we know through the authority of Scripture is that God's sovereignty displays His grace! He is always about the purpose of revealing His grace and love! We can be assured that the sovereignty of His grace and love will triumph every time and His mercy will indeed be demonstrated!

Third, WE KNOW THE SCRIPTURE IS FULLY RELEVANT TO OUR LIVES AND CIRCUMSTANCES! Despite societal shifts, the Scripture is timeless, speaking to the core challenges and experiences of humanity across different eras. In a world where truth is considered relative (what I want it to be), the Scripture provides a foundational truth to help us understand reality and live a purposeful life. "All Scripture is God-breathed (inspired by God) and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate and equipped for every good work" (II Timothy 3:16-17).

As we talked about last week, the devil tempts us to question and even doubt His Word. "Is the Bible really applicable? Is the Scripture reliable and trustworthy? Does God's Word truly speak to my needs and concerns? Can the Scriptures really comfort me in this calamity", etc.? Well, we can be confident that because God is authoritatively on His throne, orchestrating ALL things, He demonstrates that it is His good, perfect and merciful Will that is accomplished even in the midst of the worst of calamities. God's Word matters, it fullly relates and it is absolutely relevant. It is practical and suitable for the building up of men and women in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote, "And now I commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you the inheritance among all them that are sanctified" (Acts 20:32). When we are tempted to question if the Scripture can live up to our experiences, we need to sincerely ask, "Do our experiences live up to the Scripture?"

Now let's consider this Scripture: "What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory" (Romans 9:22-23). GOD'S PURPOSE IS TO MAKE HIS GLORY KNOWN! It is obvious in this passage that God's purpose is to make known His glory to the recipients of His mercy! He reveals the glory of His mercy even against the backdrop of tough calamity and even EVIL! Going deeper, look at what Paul the Apostle is referring to. The Messiah, Jesus, was rejected by many people. Yet, the Scripture teaches that God chose to extend His mercy to the very ones who rejected His Son, and even killed Him! Though God could have exercised His sovereign right, His judgment and His will to literally exterminate them, He did not! He did not immediately rain down justice on them! What a demonstration of Mercy, Grace and Patience! He patiently endured the sins and rejection of the reprobate! (See the last part of Romans 9:22.) This is a true picture of His graciousness! We trace this same attribute all the way back to Adam and Eve. When they rejected God, disobeyed Him, God did not destroy them, but He did establish a covenant of grace with them! The same was true of the descendants of Abraham. They repeatedly throughout the Old Testament refused to honor and obey God, and chose to worship idols instead. But God continues to spare them. His mercy still prevails! Think of Jesus' dealings with Judas Iscariot. Jesus knew his heart, watched his actions, and assessed his attitudes as a disciple. Jesus knew Judas would betray Him, and yet at the Last Supper, Jesus washed Judas' feet just as He did the other eleven disciples. What forbearance God demonstrates toward sinners; it's a vivid display of His gracious mercy, grace and love!

And now, what about us? You and I have sinned many times, ignored Jesus, shunned His mercy, love, grace and salvation. We have clinched our fist in the face of the Savior and the Lord of the universe by saying "I'll do it my way". And yet, He has patiently waited for us, giving us more than ample opportunity to come to Him in repentance, faith and salvation! "For while we were still sinners and helpless to save ourselves, Christ died for the ungodly" (Romans 5:6). "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (I John 1:9). Again, He has demonstrated the glory of His abundant grace and mercy!

God not only shows His glory in mercy and grace to those who have not yet received Him as Savior and Lord, but He has indeed shown His mercy, grace, love and patience to all those who HAVE

embraced and received Him! He has done and continues to do this so we'll see and understand clearly what we truly deserve (judgment), and what God has, in His mind-bloggling GRACE, given to us instead! He has bestowed to us that which we could never deserve - the Mercy and Grace of God, Salvation, Citizenship in His eternal kingdom, Sons and Daughters of The Most High King of all kings! We've been blessed with ALL this against the backdrop of sin, rebellion, hardness of heart, stubbornness, self-will and rejection of God. Those who embrace and have been embraced by the glorious mercy and grace of God now see more clearly than they ever could have before, their own sin and the greatness and glory of God's grace!

The Apostle Paul gave us some proof of God's great mercy and grace. First, GOD OPENED SALVATION'S DOOR TO THE GENTILES (all non-Jewish people). ". . .even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles" (Romans 9:24). "As He said also in Hosea, 'I will call those who were not My people. . .And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, you are not My people; there they shall be called Sons of the Living God' " (Romans 9:25-26). The Gentiles were (are) not God's Chosen People, and yet, in His glorious mercy and grace, God said He will make them His people also. Aren't we Gentiles so utterly grateful that God chose to reach out to us in offering redemption, personal salvation, eternal life and including us in the family of His people? Again, God truly demonstrated the glory of His grace and mercy!

The salvation of every sinner, Jew and Gentile, is a vivid display of God's mercy in mitigating the judgment that we all deserve, and giving us all grace that we don't deserve!

Second, Paul the Apostle taught two additional things in these few verses of Romans 9. They are prime truths!

1) GOD'S JUDGMENT IS ALWAYS JUST!

2) GOD'S MERCY ON US IS ALWAYS MORE THAN JUST AND MUCH DIFFERENT THAN FAIR! It is Mercy - Not Deserved! It is like His grace, unmerited; we have not earned it! It is always a very gratuitous demonstration of a Holy God's mind-blowing Love! Whenever you witness God judging, don't say, "Well, how can He be so cruel as to send people to hell"? His judgment is always just; not the result of cruelty! Whenever you witness or experience God's glorious mercy, think and say, "There is no earthly reason for that, BUT the Love of God, the Abundant Grace of God, and the Glorious Mercy of God, revealed through Jesus Christ!" That is the ONLY reason!

Last Wednesday, September 10th, we were confronted again with a demonic catastrophe in the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk. We are stunned, deeply saddened with heart-felt grief and emotional pain. Hard to understand, this was a true man of God, with a message from God and accomplished so much in the Name of God; yet he was gunned down, leaving his wife, children and other family members as well as the nation itself reeling in anguish. While so much could be said, suffice it to say here that God was not caught off guard nor was He absent! I can only say that in this very tragedy, God's mercy and grace will prevail! God will use this catastrophe to bring comfort to those who need it, protection and provision for those who need that and He will turn it around to bring glory to Himself! His love and presence will prevail! As Erika Kirk said, "God is our refuge and strength, an everpresent help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1)!SOV