Justice and Mercy

I was going over some of my old sermon notes this morning, and was reminded of just how beautiful the cross of Christ is.  This passage is from the Old Testament, where we see countless glimpses of the glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ.    

Exodus 34:6-7    “The Lord passed before him [Moses] and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, BUT who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” 

Now,  wait a minute!  God just said that he was merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.  God just said that HE LOVES ME!  How can he now say that he won’t “clear the guilty”, which is, ME?  

The first part of the verse proclaims God’s mercy, and the second part proclaims his justice and holiness.  I love this verse, because it’s where JUSTICE and MERCY meet.  They meet at the cross.  In no other religion do you have a God who can be perfectly merciful and perfectly just at the same time.  This is why God sent His Son to die and rise again.  The cross, as John Piper says, is “the blazing center of the glory of God.”  It is where he shows his holiness and his love at one time.  

Blessed be His Name.