Hi there, hope your day is going well. Let’s dig into today’s study
We shall examine the ways of God. First of all let me start by attempting to explain what I mean by the ways of God. What are the ways of God, or what is the way of God? God’s ways refer to how he relates with us. It involves how he reveals Himself to us through his word, creation, using other people and divine encounters and experiences. His ways are evident in the way he guides us (Psalm 32: 8, Isaiah 58:11), provides for us (2 Corinthians 9:8, Philippians 4:19) generally, his interaction with us, causing him to reveal his loving nature to us.
His nature on the other hand has to do with his attributes such as his love (1 John 4:16), omnipotence (Psalm 115:3, Jeremiah 32:17) omniscience (1 John 3:20), holiness (1 Samuel 2:2 Isaiah 6:1-5), faithfulness (Deuteronomy 7:9, 2Timothy 2:13), Kindness (Isaiah 54:8, Galatians 5:22-23), etc. The Bible records in Isaiah 55:8-9 that God’s ways are not our ways.
So, what exactly does his way mean? Let’s start by examining one of such ways he relates with us today, through his grace and mercy. What does the grace of God mean? Largely, God’s grace is explained as his unmerited favor towards us because of his love for us. One might wonder, what is it about life that warrants God’s unmerited favor or grace? Well, first, God chose to create us. He did not have to, but he did. The Bible in Genesis 2:5-9 gives an account of how God created man from the dust of the earth. In Colossians 1:16, the bible records that man was created for his pleasure, having said that it does not mean that God created man on a whim just for whimsical pleasure but out of a desire to relate with man and to give man the opportunity to relate with him too so that man may know his love. God’s very nature is that he is full of love and longs to share that love with his creation Genesis 1:27-31. In the bible, you will read accounts of celestial beings in heaven that worship God Day and night (Revelation 4:1-11), so it is not that God lacks company, but his very nature is creative, and as such He created us, man, as part of that nature to share his love with us.
Another thing is that God made us in his image and his likeness (Genesis 1:26-27). The image of God does not refer to the physical or bodily aspect of our being but rather to aspects of our human nature that are non-physical or spiritual. Qualities like our rationality, morality, emotions, and the capacity for relationships that enable us to commune with ourselves, creation, and God explain the nature of God in us. Why would he do that, you might ask? so that man could seamlessly relate to God. It is worthy of note that no other of God’s creatures in the story of creation in the book of Genesis was made in the image of God. God gave us his image and likeness, so that we could relate to and with him easily.
His mercy, the Oxford Dictionary defines mercy as compassion or forgiveness that is shown towards someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm. God’s mercy is evident because man fell from the temptation in the garden (Genesis 3). But despite that, God has been and is still relating to us in love. In Genesis 3:21, he made clothes for and continued his fellowship with man. The difference was that now, man had a fallen or corrupt nature because of sin (Romans 3:23, 1 Samuel 15:22-23) from the fall but that has never deterred God from relating in mercy and grace with us.
After the fall, there was an instance where God told Cain to repent so he would have mercy in Genesis 4:6-7. For context, read Genesis 4. Cain was upset because God rejected his offering and accepted that of his brother, Abel. Showing that God continued relating with man out of his mercy even though now we had a fallen nature that was rebellious towards him. He offered guidance to Cain by telling him to repent from his intentions and offer a more acceptable sacrifice so that he would have mercy because sin was lurking at the door of his heart. Cain chose to rebel and refuse God’s guidance and murdered Abel (Genesis 4:8). But God still showed him mercy by protecting him Genesis 4: 15. That is mercy if there ever was, because anyone who kills someone in the world, we live in would not be given such grace and mercy but like I explained earlier, God’s ways are not our ways, they are higher and harder to understand than our ways.
Another way God relates to us in grace and mercy is through the giving of his son Jesus. The Bible says in John 3:16, that God loves the world, the world refers to the people and the corrupt practices that characterize our earth today. In his loving way, God sent his son, Jesus who was without sin to die for this world which is full of sin and corrupt practices. How did the world repay God? pretty much like Cain, by rejecting his offer of grace, love, and mercy and killing Jesus. Yet God still loves the world, just like he did in the time of Adam, and Cain, the time Jesus came to die for us and the current day we are in today, which refers to the day you are reading this blog as well.
This means that God still relates in love and mercy with us the way he always has been with Adam and Eve, Cain, and all the people since then including those that murdered Jesus and you and I with all our corrupt practices. He is still warning us and guiding us by telling us that if we repent of our sins and follow his ways of mercy and grace then we will be accepted, but if not, sin is crouching at our door and will devour us. If we repent, by accepting his son, Jesus into our hearts, the bible says he will accept our hearts as an acceptable sacrifice, and we will be accepted into his kingdom and not perish. But if we choose to ignore him like Cain, then sin will devour us, and we will be lost forever.
Since we do not know how long we must live on this earth, it is better not to postpone or defer the call of salvation, so we are not lost forever. The Bible says in John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
So, my dear friend, what are you waiting for? Is the Lord calling you today? Do you feel a tug on your heart, a conviction in your soul, please do not turn away from the Lord, because the truth is that we do not know how long we each have here on earth. Just say, “Dear Jesus, forgive me my sins, I accept you as Lord and Savior of my life. Please come into my life and cleanse me, I surrender my life to you, please save me in the name of Jesus”.
That’s all, if you have said this prayer, then you are born again, saved into the kingdom of almighty and everlasting God. What you need to do is find a Bible-based church, where Christ is preached as lord and Savior, and be planted there so you can grow thereby, God bless you.
Please feel free to get in touch and I am more than happy to pray for and with you. God bless and see you at the next study.