Bella Vista Church of Christ
LIFELINES
April 3, 2002 Randall Caselman
Steadfast Love Of The Lord
The end came in 586 BC. Nebuchadnezzar breached the wall in April. Those inside fled by night, only to be captured by the army. A month later, the temple fell and the captives departed. Difficult times for God's people. Are you facing difficult times? The truth is we all are. We will all visit the cemetery, the hospital, the courtroom, or make an ambulance run before long. The book of Lamentations is a five-chapter lament for the Holy City, her people and the temple. Yet, the prophet writes:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning. Regardless of how difficult times are, how bad things become, His mercies never stop.
New Every Morning.
God's mercy is seen through nature. This is our Father's world--all nature sings His song,
The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork. As spring closes around us, I hope you can see God in this fresh, new life. He has created and provided just what we need--food for our hunger, water for our thirst, sleep for our tiredness, sight for the eyes, sound for our hearing. Indeed, He holds the whole world in His hand.
God's mercy is seen in His love. Perhaps no Bible writer speaks of God's love more than John. Twice he makes the statement, God is love. Man's greatest need is salvation, redemption. Paul says,
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
God's mercy is seen in His faithfulness. God is eternally dependable. Abraham and Sarah had trouble with His faithfulness. They doubted, so they decided to help Him by generating a promised son through Hagar. In Matthew six Jesus said, "The birds and the flowers depend on God being faithful." Question: Do we?
We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. Believe it. Accept it. Live it. God is faithful.
God's mercy is seen in His discipline. God is a God of correction. It is essential to His nature as a Father. Love is tough. Discipline is never easy. God uses our trials to remold, remake and refine our character...
You may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (I Peter 1.6-7)
God mercifully treats us as sons, because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son. (Hebrews 12.6) God help us to see His hand in our difficult times. William Penn wrote, "No pain, no balm--no thorn, no throne--no gall, no glory--no cross, no crown."
God's mercy is seen in His forgiveness. Luke chapter fifteen is about lost sheep, lost coins and lost sons. Our focus in this story is always on the prodigal when it should be on the forgiving father. Our God is a forgiving father. We have trouble with forgiveness. God wants to give it away; we want to earn it. Sometimes we are like Jonah--"I can't believe it. You brought me half-way around the world, scared me to death in a storm, got me thrown overboard, spent three days in a fish's belly, and now you're going to forgive these Gentile Ninevites?" Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!
There used to be human sacrifices offered on the island of Formosa. Their famous Governor Guang Xu who ruled for 40 years tried to get his people to abandon such sacrifices, but late in his reign the people became restless--they demanded a sacrifice. The governor said, "Tomorrow, go deep into the forest. There you will find a man tied, wearing a red robe and a mask. Kill him. Offer him as your sacrifice." The next day, they did as instructed. In their haste, they killed too quickly. As they removed the mask, they discovered they had slain their own beloved governor. It is said in Formosa there has never since been a desire for human sacrifices.
Outside the city of Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified as a human sacrifice for us. When we remove the mask of the cross, we see Jesus was none other than our merciful God in the flesh.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning.
Randall Caselman
