Vicarious Grace and Mercy

Introduction

Most video games you have lives. Typically 3 lives before you have to start over. I know you remember it’s 1991, you’re play Mario on Nintendo and you one life left, you are on the 5th level and at the edge of your seat and low and behold you are blessed with an extra life, now this is not a promise that you won’t die if miss time a jump, or run into a piranha plant, but if you do die you’ll have another change and won’t have to start all the way over.

This is what God did through Jesus, because of sin and rebellion God could have destroyed the world and started over, nonetheless God understands that His honor, power, grace and mercy can go a long way!

God has made covenants with us for a very long time. With covenant comes obedience, nonetheless let us remember that the power of the mercy and grace of God is not just for us but for the world to see so that they might acknowledge and understand the beauty of God’s nature as well. We have a weekly reminder of holiness and forgiveness every time we come together to worship the Lord. A reminder of His Holiness because we are aware of what He is constantly doing in our life. A reminder of forgiveness because we know that we are not perfect, we know that we have fallen short yet here we are again to have another opportunity to get this correct with God. Sometimes God does not just give us another chance because He loves us, which He truly does, but sometimes God grants us grace and mercy for the people watching who may not be believers, who may not be Christians. Grace impacts everyone!

Popularity and Accountability Does Not Always Mix

It’s always interesting that the people who do not listen to you will come to you when they know you have the answers.

Here are the leaders of Israel who have condoned rebellion, who have oppressed the people and now because their leader who had been in captivity for 7 years needed an answer from the Lord.

Ezekiel 20:1-3 “It came to pass in the seventh year, in the fifth month, on the tenth day of the month, that certain of the elders of Israel came to inquire of the Lord, and sat before me. Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Have you come to inquire of Me? As I live,” says the Lord God, “I will not be inquired of by you.” ’”

You can’t disobey and act in a sacrilegious way and expect a divine answer.

Jeremiah gave a similar sentiment, Jeremiah 14:11-12 “Then the Lord said to me, “Do not pray for this people, for their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence.””

You might want an answer of grace but will receive an answer of consequence when we do not do what God has asked us to do.

The bible says I will tell you nothing! This did not make Ezekiel popular but it made the children of God hold themselves accountable for their sins. “Make them realize how detestable the sins of their ancestors really were”.

It was not just the disobedience it was the fact that these acts had turned into practices and a lifestyle that God never approved. Detestable or abomination, repulsion, focusing on things that are rejected by God.

Being honest is not always going to put a smile on the faces of those who are rebelling but if God called you then you have to have the faith that He will protect you.

Do Away with Revisionist History

Typically when we do not want to do what is right we will justify our inability to repent by looking at those who came before us to find an excuse of why we are the way we are.

God’s punishment of the present day Israelites was not a reneging on his oath of the ancestors. This had nothing to do with God and His promises but more a problem with the fact that Israel had fastened themselves to a lifestyle that was contrary to the will of God. Ezekiel 20:5 ““Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “On the day when I chose Israel and raised My hand in an oath to the descendants of the house of Jacob, and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt, I raised My hand in an oath to them, saying, ‘I am the Lord your God.’”

Israel completely turned their back on God, and in response God shows them that I have the power to punish you meanwhile being gracious enough that the same people you are trying to be like will adhere to my promises because of my grace and mercy!

Israel has no excuse. Historically they have no excuse, this is the same God that gave them an extra life by parting the Red Sea, this is the same God that gave them the land of promise by providing them with a way out of bondage and residence in the land of Caanan. Sometimes we get comfortable because God keeps bringing us out of the pit of turmoil! Do not get comfortable, with blessings come great responsibility and one of the responsibilities is obedience. “Each of you throw away the abominations and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt”.

Disobedient But Looking for an Answer

God makes his covenant clear, God makes his expectations clear when we do not follow them accordingly we have no one to blame but ourselves. “But they rebelled against Me and would not obey me, they did not cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt.”

When we disobey we put God in a tough position. As tough as this text is to digest I must be thankful for the mercy shown, He could have destroyed this nation! Just like He could have let me die in my sin, but I’m thankful that because of His name’s sake and all the people that still have a chance, He gave me another chance.

“But I acted for My name’s sake, that it should be profaned before the Gentiles among whom they were, in the sight I had made Myself known to them, to bring them out of the land of Egypt” (v.9)

When we disobey it does not just impact us but it is a direct representation of God. How can we say we love God, proclaim we believe in a God that sent His son to die for us, tell others why they need to come to worship and turn around and live like God has done nothing for us.

It truly looked like Israel was mocking God. The same God that brought them out of bondage, the same God that protected them from enemies, the same God that gave them manna, quail and blessings from the sky was the same God they were rebelling against.

The problem is we rebel against the wrong things because we look at God’s instructions as shackles when in all actuality it’s freedom and liberation in God.

Nonetheless let us pay close attention to His mercy! God’s power is so vast that sometimes He extends His grace on us so that those who aren’t a part of the kingdom will see that Grace and find refuge in the same God that they may have thought did not apply to them.

Conclusion

Our rebellion, our sin and even the crucifixion and false imprisonment of Jesus and many disciples has led to God reaching places that the world thought were unreachable.

Because of sin God could have destroyed the very people that crucified His son, but it was that same instance in which the centurion stated truly this man is the son of God.

Because of injustice Paul and Silas were locked away in prison but it was the same instance that put Paul and Silas in a place where all they could do is worship, that worship led to the interruption of suicide, the release of prisoners and salvation to come to a prison guard who thought his life was over!

Thank God that even in my rebellion God can make himself known to someone who may not have known the goodness of God and appreciate His goodness when we can’t! I know we can reach back to Genesis and see the plan God had through His son for the world, but just like we’ve been included from the beginning rest assured that the people we don’t think God includes HE CAN!