Mercy and grace in the life of a believer cannot be overemphasized. That is why in this piece, we will be looking at something we are familiar with, a concept that is a foundation in the body of Christ. Everyone coming into the kingdom must encounter this concept to actually live the life of the kingdom. The Holy Spirit wants to reminds us again of this concept, and to help us better make use of the availability of the gift and the grace of God that is available in this concept. So, we will be looking at two things; the place of mercy and grace in the life of a believer.
I am sure by now each and every one of us will understand that we are saved by faith and we know that it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are all saved. It is not anything we worked for but the gift of God. He gave it to us. But beyond that the Holy Spirit wants to help us to understand the fundamentals, that will help our conviction to be stronger in the understanding of the concept of mercy and grace. Our observation will start from the book of Ephesians 2 verse 4 to 5. Particularly I will love to read verse 4 in the Amplified version, but I will read first from the New King James Version.
It says: “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” The Amplified Version puts it this way; “But God, being [so very] rich in mercy, because of His great and wonderful love with which He loved us.” Now, this Ephesians 2 verse 4 to 5 introduces us to a particular solid concept, it says “God is rich in mercy.” I am sure many of us are familiar with the fact that the mercy of God is new every morning, that the mercy of God is abundant, and when God was going to introduce Himself to Moses He said “I am God; merciful and gracious.” He made him understand that I am a God that extends mercy to my people. But Apostle Paul in Ephesians 2 verse 4, made us understand why God actually extends His mercy. Does God just feel like human beings and just feel like being merciful?
It said “because and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love.” Meaning that the foundation upon which God use to extend mercy is love. Without the love of God, there can’t be the gift of God’s mercy. The reason why God is rich in mercy is that mercy is a channel through which God satisfies His love which is great, intense and wonderful to mankind. So, you look at yourself and you wonder why you qualified for the mercy of God, not because you have done anything spectacular, or because God loves your face or not, what qualified you is that love.
That’s why I love it in the amplified classic when in that Ephesians 2 verse 4, He said to us; But God so rich in His mercy, because; this because usually introduces us to the reason for something. Because, the reason why God is so rich in His mercy is because of and in order to. These two words and combination is very strong. Because without the introduction of this we won’t understand the basis. The Bible says because of and in order to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love which He loved us. God looked at the world and said; how do I satisfy my love for mankind? How can I show mankind that I love them? Then God became rich in mercy.
Do we understand it? There are several Scriptures we are going to read that will help us better understand how that mercy is a way of satisfying the intense love that God has towards you. So that you understand that mercy is not for unbelievers. Mercy is not just for sinners, the love that God has towards you and I as believers is extended, its satisfied, its fulfilled in mercy. John 3 verse 16, I will also like to read it in the Amplified Classic Version. It said; “For God so greatly loved and dearly priced the world, that He even gave up, He even released, He even allowed that His Son, is only begotten Son, unique Son be given up.”
Meaning that to satisfy the love that God has for the world, God released for Himself a Son. How do I express to my people that I greatly loved them? How do I express to my people that they are priced? I give up a precious possession, I give up a dear and unique personality. And that’s why Jesus died. God’s love was satisfied in giving up Jesus. So, what does the gift of Jesus exemplify? I want to continue reading that John 3 verse 16 in the Amplified. “So that whosoever believes in Him, trust in Him, clings to Him, relies on Him, shall not perish, shall not come to destruction, shall not be lost, but shall have everlasting life.”
Now, what is the basis for John 3:16, the love of God. The love of the Father was the reason Jesus was given up, then when Jesus was given up, what appeared to us was grace. We did not deserve Jesus, we did nothing to benefit from the giving up of Jesus, but for the love of God to be satisfied Jesus was given up. And when Jesus was given up, grace appeared. How was Jesus given up? Does Jesus given up in the Spiritual, that God just said Jesus you know I love this people so much, just go I give you to them? Was that how Jesus was given up? No! The Bible says Jesus came down to the earth, God was made flesh, He took on the form of a sinful man, He took on flesh and blood, are we getting it?
Jesus was given up by God not in the spiritual sense but in the physical sense. And that’s why when Jesus came on the scene, He had to have flesh and blood to be able to satisfy the love of God for us. Because if Jesus was not given to us in flesh and blood, the love of God will still not be satisfied. Because, there was something God was looking at. There was something God was aiming for. If you go to the book of 2 Corinthians 13 and verse 14 you will see when Apostle Paul was saluting the church, He said the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. Meaning that whenever Jesus appears, grace appears. And that grace was given on the platform of the Fathers love which qualifies us for fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
That’s how that link works. So, the love of the Father, is the basis for the gift of Jesus. I want us to see a Scripture in John 6, there is a strong narrative that we want to read in John 6 and we will read about 10 verses in that John 6, we will read from verse 47 and we will stop at 57. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. Is that not what we read in John 3 verse 16? Whosoever believes in the Son will have everlasting life. But how do you encounter this everlasting life? How does it come to you? How do you benefit from it? Verse 48 Jesus said; 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. So, Jesus is telling us how. He said I am the living bread, I came down from heaven, if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh. This narrative is powerful, it is the foundation of our believe, it’s the foundation of our trust and faith in what God has done for us.
It said the bread that you will eat and have everlasting life is my flesh. He said the one that I brought from heaven. Because Jesus does not come with flesh. The Bible says the word became; the word was not flesh; the word became flesh to satisfy the love of God. So, the Bible says; Jesus speaking here, He said I am the living bread if anyone eats this bread will live forever and the bread I shall give is my flesh. No other bread. So, when I am talking about the bread of heaven, the bread of life, that bread is my flesh which I shall give for the life of the world.
What was Jesus saying here? He said I will give my flesh for the life of the world. So, we will realize that what Jesus did was redemption, it was to buy us back. So, He came and transacted with His flesh and blood to satisfy the love of God. So, He said which I shall give for the life of the world.” Verse 52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” do you know that there are some people in the world even unbelievers that are like the Jews, they are asking this question, how can I partake of the flesh of God. How can Jesus say He will give me of His flesh to eat?
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the Flesh-Jesus emphasizing it, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Jesus said unless; meaning that it is a prerequisite. To enjoy the life that is in God, the life that God wants to give to the world, that is resident in God, for heaven to transact with the earth, there is a medium through which that transaction will take place and it will take His flesh and blood, not just any flesh and blood but His flesh and blood. The flesh and blood of Jesus. So, Jesus made this emphatic statement; unless!
Believers, unless you partake of the flesh and the blood you have no life in you. What does this mean? What is the import of this? Is it just flesh and blood as in cannibalism? Is it just the symbol of communion that we take? Or is there something Jesus is explaining that is deeper than this? The Bible makes us to understand in Numbers, that the life of a flesh is in its blood. Meaning that the blood is a conveyer of life. And remember when Jesus was going to come, Jesus was not produced by the sperm of any man, the body of the Christ, of Jesus Christ, that God used, remember it’s the same Jesus that died and resurrected and ascended into heaven.
That body that produces flesh and blood was not a product of a man. He was not born of the will of man but of the will of God. So, that blood was not just an ordinary blood but it was the blood of God. It was as though God was shedding His own blood for mankind. So, when Jesus was saying until you drink my blood and eat my flesh you have no life because this is the medium through which God was going to connect back man to Himself. And that’s why as believers, until we understand this; how the blood and the flesh of Jesus is the prerequisite of the life of the kingdom, we will not truly live and have that life.
What’s the importance of the flesh and blood? Let’s go ahead in verse 54, Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life. What is eternal life? Eternal life is the life of God, a life that has no end, a life that cannot be terminated, a life that cannot be stopped, a life that continues to exist. And what did Jesus say? And I will raise him up at the last day. Verse 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. What does man need to survive? Food and drink! Jesus said; my flesh is food indeed and blood is drink indeed. What is Jesus saying here? You qualify for the life of God by blood and my flesh. What gives you access to my blood? Mercy!
What is mercy? Every man was doomed for destruction, doomed for death, because the Bible says through one-man sin came and the wages of sin is death. Then Jesus came, flesh and blood and He came to interrupt the system of death. He came to interrupt the doom of man, He came to stop the advancement of the kingdom of darkness, and He presented His blood as an offering. That’s why every time you go through the book of Revelation you will that Scripture that said before the throne the Lamb is as though slain. Because it’s the posture that Jesus has taken forever. That’s why in Hebrews 4, where the Bible was attesting to the fact that the blood of Jesus is the blood of sprinkling, it speaks better things.
What does the blood speak? It speaks mercy. That’s why if Jesus had died without them piercing Him for His blood to reach the earth, it will not have been complete, the Scripture will not have been complete, the love of God would not have been satisfied. And that is why you will see that everything that was prophesied about Jesus came to pass especially as concerning His death. If He had to drink vinegar they had to give Him. if His bones will not be broken, nobody was going to break His bones. If they had to pierce Him with a spear for His blood and water on His side to drip on the earth, it had to happen because that is how the love of God is fulfilled.
When Abel’s blood was shed, it was shed on the earth. And the blood speaks, the Bible says it speaks vengeance. When the blood of Jesus was shed on the earth, that blood is also speaking and what is that blood speaking? Mercy! I want us to see 1 John 5, “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. Placing emphasis on the blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7 For there are three that bear witness [b]in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one. 8 And there are three that bear witness on earth: there are three that bears record, that testifies as witnesses on the earth, what did we see in the Bible? It says; The Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.”
So, the blood bears record, bears witness, testifies, its speaking on the earth. What is that blood speaking? Mercy! That is why the opportune time for salvation is not in heaven but on the earth because it is on the earth that the blood is speaking. No matter how grievous the sin of any man is, as long as that man is on the earth that blood speaks mercy. No matter how far gone you must have fallen, that blood is speaking mercy. No matter where you are right now, no matter the position of things or the battle is against you, that blood is speaking on the earth, mercy. So, mercy is not just one of those things that we just say Lord have mercy, mercy is what the blood speaks. That’s why Jesus was saying in that John that we read, I want us to back because we are not done. I want us to see that the blood is speaking. So, if the blood is speaking concerning you, who can speak against you.
That’s why the Bible says now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Why? That blood that speaks vengeance, that speaks defeat, that speaks death, is not what is representing you, there is a law in Christ, there is a law of grace in which is embedded in it is mercy speaks concerning you. That’s why the Bible says we have an advocate, His blood is speaking on the earth, He speaks in heaven. That’s why Cece Winans under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit sang that song mercy said no. this one is not going to hell, this one is not doomed for destruction, this one will not be lost. Mercy said no! because the blood is speaking. Over you and I the blood is speaking, it’s the lie of the devil that brings condemnation. And its ignorance that keeps us in the perpetual cycle of condemnation and guilt because the blood is speaking. The Bible said we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So, we are going back to John chapter 6 to finish up. Verse 56.
Now we have spoken about the blood, the blood speaks mercy, and Jesus went further to say in 56, He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. it’s now deeper than the blood speaking, it said I am also in you speaking. That’s fantastic, it said I will not just be speaking externally, I will abide in you and also be speaking. No wonder we are given the Holy Spirit that speaks within us. The Bible says the Spirit of God witness with our spirit that we children of God, that we are not condemned, we are not forsaken. We are not doomed for destruction; we are not lost; we are children of God. It said He who eats; what qualifies you for this experience is that you eat. What qualifies you for this experience is that you drink. And what is the symbol of eating and drinking is believing. John 3 verse 16 says for whosoever believes, trust, relies, clings to Him are those that eat and drink. It says;
They will not perish, they will not be destroyed, but hey will have eternal life. It said because I will abide in them. Verse 57; As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.” Those who feed on me will live because of me, this is grace. Jesus said the same way I enjoy the grace of the Father; I have called you to enjoy my grace. What is the grace our Lord Jesus Christ? That you feed on Him and live because of Him. anytime you are living because of Christ you are enjoying the grace of Christ. No wonder Apostle Paul said I am what I am by the grace. He said I am only living because of Him, the life I now live, I live by faith, I live by in the son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me, I live by grace.
Believers we live by grace; grace is the life we live because of Christ. Grace is our experience that is possible, that becomes a reality in our lives because of Christ. Without Him we are nothing. That’s why Apostle Paul said I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. I can do all things because I am a partaker of the life of Christ. The sacrifice of the flesh and blood of Jesus is the alter upon which the love of God is poured. The Bible says; that the love of God has been shared abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. What does the Holy Spirit come to do? To reveal Jesus, see how much Jesus loves you, cares for you, sacrifice for you. See how important He is to you. That’s the responsibility of the Holy Spirit, and in that the love of God is poured out.
So, believers, the place of mercy and grace cannot be over emphasized, it is the foundation of our work, building and the pillars that make that building stand, and He is the one that actually make the building stand the test of time. And that was why when Jesus was giving a parable about two houses; He said one is a wise man one is foolish, He said the foolish one decided to build his house on the sand, He said when the storms came, and the winds blew and they beat against that house, great was the fall. He said but the wise one is the one that founded His house on the rock, on the foundation that has been laid that no other can be laid Christ Jesus. And He made Christ Jesus the foundation and the pillar, the storms came, the rain came and the wind blew and beat against the house, the house kept standing.
Mercy and grace is the place of our victory as believers. The devil will come with the winds of life, the rains of life, the storms of life, what will keep you standing is your understanding of mercy and grace. That this life is not my own, I am living by the sheer mercy and grace of God. This understanding is vital, this understanding is important, there must not be a time as believers that we must not be sufficient on our own. The foundation of this life is laid in mercy and built by grace. Any believer that forgets this is ready to fall. The foundations of our lives in the kingdom is founded on mercy and built by grace. That’s why James said; don’t tell anybody that I am coming tomorrow, He said say by the grace of God. Because tomorrow is by the grace of God. Next year is by the grace of God.
This is life we now live it by faith in the son of God who loved us and gave Himself up for us. It’s by grace. We must understand that it is a fundamental of our work. I want us to read Hebrews 4, I will read verse 16, how do we approach the throne of God? “Let us therefore come boldly; we come boldly because we have understanding, we come boldly because we are grounded and rooted in love. It said; to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace; so, understand that mercy is foundational. That we may obtain mercy first and find grace to help in time of need.” I was meditating on this and I told the Holy Spirit, I said this is just beautiful, do you have a time that is not the time of need? Meaning that every time, this is how we should come. Because, every time is the time of need.
So, every time we must come boldly to throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace. So, every day of our lives we are obtaining mercy and finding grace. That’s the life we are called to. Boldly daily we come to the throne of grace, obtain mercy and find grace. That’s how to keep running, that’s to keep standing. Obtain mercy and find grace because every time is the time of need. All our lives we have been called to this. Obtain mercy, find grace! Romans 9 verse 16 to 18. “So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. It is not your willingness; it is not about how fast or smart you are; it is of God that showed mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.”
So, mercy is Gods prerogative. So, if God loves you so much and shows you mercy don’t take it for granted. He shows mercy, He said I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. It’s My prerogative. So, we must never take the mercy of God for granted, it’s a privilege.
Psalm 51 verse 1 to 2. “Have mercy on me O God according to your loving kindness.” The mercy of God is according to His love. One of the things believers must learn to do is to receive the love of God. And that is one thing we fail to do. Receiving the love of God is receiving the mercy of God. He said have mercy on me according to your loving kindness, according to your love. The mercy of God is according to His love. So, if the mercy of God is abundant that’s how His love is. If the mercy of God is new every morning, that’s how His love is. His mercy is according to His love. According to the multitude of your tender mercies blot out my transgression. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin according to your loving kindness. So if you have been doubting the love of God, His mercy is a proof that He loves you. His mercy is a proof that He loves you.
2 Timothy 1 verse 9, “Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.” The grace of God has been given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. How awesome is God. So, the love of God has been extended to us before time began. Because mercy and grace is an extension and expression of God’s love. The Bible says while we were yet sinners, Christ died, God had given Jesus in the hope that we might look for Him through Christ. So, the love that God has for you is not because of anything that you have done or how you came. God is not pitying you, God is not trying to sympathize with you, that’s why He is loving; He loved you before time began.
His grace has been extended to you before time began. So, the love of God is satisfied in the place of mercy and grace. How many of us are willing to receive the love of God, you are willing to accept and receive the love of God, because sometimes we struggle with this; how am I sure God loves me? If God loves me why am I not living in Banana Ireland? Why am I not the one driving hummer jeep? We must learn to appreciate the tangible, do you know how tangible mercy and grace is? They are too tangible to be ignored. Anyone that ignores it, ignores it at His or her own expense.
