“God must be punishing me.” You’ve probably heard this statement before. Many people view God as a Cosmic Blacksmith ready to strike them with a hammer when they mess up. They think He’s waiting up in heaven, lightning bolt in hand, ready to smite them for the smallest mistake. When things go wrong in life, they immediately conclude that God is mad at them. This conclusion fits their notion of the Cosmic Blacksmith. But that’s not the God we find in Scripture. Yes, God is perfect in holiness and justice. Yes, there are times when God does strike down the wicked. However, the fact is God has a completely different posture toward His people.
Thankfully, Scripture teaches us that God is merciful and gracious. David writes in Psalm 103:8, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” He goes on to say that His love for us is as high as the heavens are above the earth. He has compassion for us. When God forgives us, He removes our sins from us as far as the East is from the West. God is a forgiving God to His people (Psa. 99:8). Scripture even says that God desires mercy (Hos. 6:6). Think about that- God likes to forgive you! It’s not a burden for Him. It’s not something that He gives reluctantly. He eagerly desires to forgive you. God invites us to come to Him because He is merciful and gracious.
God’s mercy is often translated as “loving-kindness” or “steadfast love” in the Old Testament (Psa. 5:7; 6:4; 13:5; etc.). This term denotes God’s covenant faithfulness to His people. As Lamentations 3:22-23 says, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” These verses describe God’s relationship with His people. His loving-kindness toward us will never cease. His mercy is endless and fresh every day to meet our needs. God is great in His faithfulness to us because He is merciful. Even when we sin for the hundredth time, He will forgive us.
God’s grace is very similar to His mercy but has a slightly different meaning. Mercy is God withholding from us what we deserve (His wrath). Grace is God giving us what we don’t deserve (His goodness and blessings). Salvation is the greatest gift of God’s grace. Romans 3:23-24 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Although we sinned against God, He provided redemption through Christ so we could be justified. Ephesians 2:8 reiterates this truth, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” God gave us righteousness when we deserved wrath. God gave us freedom when we deserved death. God gave us heaven when we deserved hell. That is grace!
God’s mercy and grace are not just one-time benefits. It’s not that we begin the Christian life by grace but then finish the job by works. Paul refutes this idea in Galatians 3 by arguing that the Spirit of God started, preserves, and will finish our salvation by His power and grace. The whole Christian life, from justification to sanctification and ultimately glorification, is all by God’s grace (Phil. 1:6; Rom. 8:29-30). As we face the ongoing battle with sin, we can trust God’s mercy to forgive us when we mess up. We can rely on God’s grace to change us and give us victory. As we seek to please God with our lives, we must remember that our good works are only possible by God’s grace (Eph. 2:8-10; Phil. 2:12-13).
God is not a Cosmic Blacksmith ready to smack you with a hammer. He is gracious and merciful. So why do we often view Him in this way? Our view of God will determine our view of life. If we view God as someone out to get us, then we won’t trust Him, and we’ll fail to obey His Word. But if we see God as our Merciful and Gracious Father, we will begin to trust Him. When life gets hard, we won’t doubt His grace. When we mess up again and again, we run to Him because He will receive us with open arms. Our God is merciful and gracious.