JESUS DOES NOT STOP WITH MERCY; HE ALSO RESTORES

Audio for the following may be found here. You may also listen to podcast episodes here.

JESUS DOES NOT STOP WITH MERCY; HE ALSO RESTORES

            I have heard it said that the church is the worst about shooting their own wounded while they are down. Perhaps, many believers have experienced this firsthand. In such cases, which are likely more common than people care to admit, the church reveals her flaws where a message of mercy is preached and yet its application ends there, i.e. the mercy of God is not exuded through the people of God but rather proclaimed as a mere verbal message. To be imitators of Jesus, however, believers should realize that Christ does not stop with mercy, for he also restores. Scripture is replete with the message of not only God’s mercy but also his restoration.

Galatians 6:1 English Standard Version (ESV)

6 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Hosea 6:1

6 “Come, let us return to the Lord;
    for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
    he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.

Job 42:10

¹⁰ And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.

1 Peter 5:10

¹⁰ And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Psalm 51:12

¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
    and uphold me with a willing spirit.

Zechariah 9:12

¹² Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope;
    today I declare that I will restore to you double.

Joel 2:25-26

²⁵ I will restore to you the years
    that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
    my great army, which I sent among you.

²⁶ “You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
    and praise the name of the Lord your God,
    who has dealt wondrously with you.
And my people shall never again be put to shame.

At the heart of God’s mercy is his restoration and conformity to the image of Christ. To model the love of Jesus then is to not stop with a mere message of mercy but continually offer mercy even when it is not deserved and we do not want to give it, for the purpose of one’s restoration. With Christ as our model, there are three imperatives to a continuation of mercy through restoration.

Jesus Means What He Says

            Jesus means what he says. He does not give false hope claiming that no one is beyond his reach only to turn away someone who seeks him because of his or her sin. Unlike humanity, Jesus preaches a message of forgiveness but does not stop there, for he, in fact, grants forgiveness and continues to invest in his children for the purpose of conformity to his image. When Jesus says, “…neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more,” (John 8:31) he emphasizes God’s continual work of mercy in his people’s lives. Said another way, God does not grant mercy as one-time act but continues to give it to his people with the aim of their restoration.

            As Christians, we should offer the same kind of mercy to others, especially those in the body of Christ. When a brother or sister fails, we should not only act quickly to forgive but also make clear that our goal is the person’s restoration. Rather than say that we forgive someone but continue to show resentment toward that person, we should truly forgive them in an unparalleled manner and do everything possible to bring about their restoration. If we do not do so, we do not mean what we say or imitate the example of Christ. Jesus, however, means what he says and does not stop with mercy but continues toward restoration.

Jesus Not Only Gives Mercy but Also Provides Righteousness

            Jesus grants mercy but also provides righteousness; he forgives his people in mistakes, even the most massive of errors, which often cause others to write off someone. Jesus offers the hope of change. Perhaps, many believers claim that Jesus can forgive anything including the most heinous acts; yet, to believe such a claim is to act in accordance with it; otherwise, we present merely empty words. Jesus truly changed some of the vilest people imaginable in scripture and continues to do so today. The difference in what Jesus did and what many Christians do in only proclaiming the mercy of Christ (with little to no action beyond such a claim), however, is the extra mile of seeing one through to restoration.

            Consider church discipline as an example. Certainly, church discipline is biblical and should be employed on occasions. The purpose of church discipline, however, as presented in Matthew 18, is restoration. One should not be disciplined as a punishment only for God’s people to abandon him or her; that person should be corrected to the point of restoration. The Apostle Paul teaches that Jesus became the sin of his people so that his people might become his own righteousness (2 Cor 5:21). Jesus loves his people so much that he offers mercy and provides his own righteousness. Jesus’ mercy then does not stop with the cross but continues to a point of change and restoration.

Jesus Does Not Accept People Where They Are; He Meets Them Where They Are but Loves Them Too Much to Allow Them to Remain

            I have heard it said that Jesus accepts people where they are. Nonetheless, I would change that saying to the following: Jesus does not accept people where they are but meets them where they are because he loves them too much to allow them to remain the same. Reflecting upon Christ’s mercy then, God’s people should respond with a changed life. If restoration is the goal, God’s mercy has a result, i.e. if restoration is not complete, perhaps, one has not experienced the mercy of God. Restoration is the consequence of God’s mercy. Dietrich Bonhoeffer discusses the concept of cheap grace in his The Cost of Discipleship. Cheap grace is likely far more common than many believers realize because most professing Christians employ cheap grace by preaching the mercy of God without emphasizing the danger and destruction of sin; God’s grace, however, emphatically changes and restores people. If God did not love his people, he would allow them to remain the same; conformity to Christ, however, is the greatest joy a person can have. God surely meets people where they are no matter their mistakes; yet, he does not allow them to remain there but restores them. This is love; this is mercy; and this is mercy’s purpose: restoration. Jesus does not stop with mercy but aims toward restoration.