The Pleasure of the Lord

Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. - Micah 7:18

One of the most familiar passages of Scripture known to Christians is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

For God so loved…

Although those words are simple, their depth has been examined in sermons and Bible studies for generations. God so loved - that He gave.

As Micah says, “Who is a God like You?”

Who is a God who would love His enemies so deeply that He would make a way for them to become His children? He has not dealt with us according to our sins, which warrant death, nor punished us according to our iniquities (Ps. 103:10). Why?

Because He Delights In Mercy.

"For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him" (Psalm 103:11).

William Gurnall (1616-1679) once wrote: “If you ask a fisherman why he stands with his hook in the water all night he will tell you it is because he enjoys fishing. Now you know why God waits for sinners - months, years - preaching to them; He delights in forgiving them by HIs grace and mercy” (William Gurnall 1616-1679).

Think about that. God delights in mercy.

And that brings us to one of the most profound statements in Scripture.

Yet It Pleased

"Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin,

He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,

And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.

By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,

For He shall bear their iniquities” (Is. 53:10-11).

The pleasure of the Lord. Have you ever pondered that statement? It pleased the Lord to bruise Him.

Not because God takes pleasure in suffering. Not because the Father was indifferent to the agony of His Son. Rather, it pleased Him to accomplish through the sacrifice of Christ what could not be accomplished any other way: the reconciliation of sinners back to Himself.

God forgives to make His own heart glad. Christ came to restore sinners to God and His ministry is called “the pleasure of the Lord.”

God’s pleasure was not in the pain of the cross, but in what it would accomplish. The Father willingly gave His Son. His Son willingly gave Himself. And through that, the guilty could be forgiven, the lost could be found, and those who were enemies could be reconciled back to God.

Therefore, God expresses great joy when sinners accept His Son, when they accept His peace - because He delights in being merciful. He pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage. He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy.

This is the pleasure of the Lord!

He made a way because He desired us. For God so loved - that He gave.

What Other Gospel Offers This?

Tell me then…what other religion or worldview on the face of the earth offers you this?

What other message tells you that the God you have sinned against is the very God who has made a way for you to be reconciled to Him?

Yet, I’m increasingly shocked at what I see Christians lured toward today:

• Recasting the “God of the Old Testament” as an angry, harsh God who is somehow different from the God revealed in Jesus (Col. 1:15, 2:9).

• Blending a Biblical worldview with other worldviews until we end up with a different gospel and, ultimately, a different Jesus.

• Build Christian versions of New Age ideas and practices, attempting to make the Gospel more appealing by borrowing from systems that have nothing to do with the truth of Scripture.

But we don’t need to improve the Gospel. We need to believe it.

The God of the Old Testament is the same God revealed in the New Testament. The God who judges sin is the God who delights in mercy. The God who is perfectly just is the God who provided the perfect sacrifice. There is no contradiction.

At the cross justice and mercy met. And the One who paid the price was the One whom God Himself gave.

This is why we must guard the Gospel so carefully. Because when we change who God is, we change the message of salvation.

God is holy. We are sinners. We were separated from Him. And God Himself made the way home. He did not wait for us to become worthy. He did not wait for us to clean ourselves up. It pleased Him to send His Son.

So when you wonder if God could possibly forgive you, remember Isaiah 53. Or when you wonder if your sin is too great, remember the cross. When you wonder what God’s heart is towards a repentant sinner, remember Micah: “He delights in mercy.”

This is the Gospel. This is grace. This is mercy. This is love.

This is the pleasure of the Lord.

God Bless You Today,

Carole

Listen to Isaiah 53 (feat. Shai Sol) by Aaron Shust here.