Coty Pinckney summarizes God’s incredible, sovereign mercy that we see in Genesis and beyond…
God’s Sovereign Mercy
Certainly man’s sinfulness is a key theme of Genesis. But God shows great mercy in response to man’s sinfulness. This appears first in chapter 3, in what God does NOT do. He would be justified in killing Adam and Eve at the moment they eat the forbidden fruit. But God does not kill them. Similarly, He does not kill Cain after he murders his brother in Chapter 4, nor Noah and his family in chapters 6 to 9.
But God’s mercy is even greater than that. He not only shows mercy, but promises mankind a redeemer! God promises to raise up a man who will put an end to evil. As He says in Genesis 3:15 when speaking to the serpent,
And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Genesis 3:15 NIV
This promise of a redeemer is THE major theme of the Bible. This theme continues through the history of Israel, until Jesus is born, dies, and resurrected. The last book in the Bible, Revelation – which we will study beginning at the end of January – tells final installment:
The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. Revelation 11:15
In Genesis after 3:15 we see this theme in microcosm, in particular stories. Consider first the covenant with Noah after the flood. God says,
I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Genesis 8:21
Did you get that? God says He will NOT curse the ground BECAUSE the intention of man’s heart is evil. It seems like the opposite should be the case: if man’s heart is evil, God should zap them! Instead, God is saying, “If I wiped out mankind every time man exhibited his sin nature, I would just repeat an endless cycle of sin and judgment. That is not my purpose in the flood. The flood does not deal with sin. The flood instead is a picture, a warning to mankind of the final judgment of sin. I will save a remnant from that final judgment – and this remnant will fulfill the purpose of humanity – to glorify God. And I will send my Redeemer to cover their sins.”
Where else in Genesis do we see the theme of God’s sovereign mercy in microcosm? To Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when they sin again and again. The Bible doesn’t hide their sins – instead, it details them, it elaborates on them: Abraham runs to Egypt right after his arrival in the promised land, fearing famine; Abraham lies about Sarah, saying she is his sister – not once but twice. How does God react to this sin? He has a pagan king rebuke Abraham – but then that same king gives him riches! Abraham sins, but God graciously sees that he benefits nevertheless.
Abraham later sins in listening to Sarah’s doubts about God’s plan to give Abraham offspring through her. When she suggests that he have sexual relations with her maidservant Hagar in order to father a child, he agrees, leading to the birth of Ishmael. How does God react to this sin? He makes Ishmael into a great nation! And He continues to fulfill His promise: when Abraham and Sarah are too old to have a child, God miraculously gives them Isaac.
That very child of the promise, Isaac, later sins in trying to resist God’s plan to fulfill His promise through Jacob, not Esau. Isaac tries to bless Esau on the sly, without telling Rebekah or Jacob. But when Jacob deceives him, and receives the blessing despite Isaac’s best efforts, God opens Isaac’s eyes to his foolishness, and he repents. God once again shows great mercy.
And what about Jacob? He sins again and again and again – we can’t even list them all:
· Conniving with his mother to deceive his father;
· Showing obvious favoritism towards Joseph over his other sons;
· Becoming bitter and angry towards God after Joseph disappears.
How does God react? With sovereign mercy. As we saw in last two sermons, by the end of his life, Jacob fully trusts God. He is even willing to give up seeing Joseph again if God wants him to stay in the promised land.
But God’s sovereign mercy perhaps shines through most clearly in the story of Joseph’s brothers, the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. We already read verse 15 of today’s text, noting how the brothers feared Joseph would punish them for their sin after their father died. They thus send a message to Joseph:
“Your father gave this command before he died, 17 ‘Say to Joseph, Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Genesis 50:16-17
How doe Joseph respond?
Joseph wept when they spoke to him. 18 His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” 19 But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? 20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. 21 So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Genesis 50:17-21
“You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.” Here God takes the evil inclinations of man’s heart, such as those described in Genesis 6:5, and uses them for the good of His people and glory of His name. Most notably, He uses their evil actions to save them and their children.
Furthermore, Joseph’s understanding of God’s sovereign design frees him from anger and bitterness. He is free to forgive – knowing that God exalted him and benefited him through their evil actions.
So do you see why we label this section “Sovereign Mercy” and not just “Mercy”? God displays His sovereignty over all that happens – even the evil plans of evil men. He guides and superintends all events to bring about His good purposes. He is sovereign. He is king.
In addition, God is also sovereign over who receives His grace. He chose Abraham – why? There is no explanation in Genesis. God chose him simply because He chose him. Indeed, the book emphasizes God’s sovereign choice again and again, frequently in His choice of the younger brother over older siblings: Seth over Cain, Isaac over Ishmael, Jacob over Esau, Ephraim over Manasseh. God certainly didn’t choose Abraham and his descendants because of any foreseen good works – they are all sinners! But as Paul writes concerning God’s choice of the patriarchs in Romans 9:
When Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, 11 though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad- in order that God’s purpose of election might stand, not because of works but because of his call- 12 she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” 13 As it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” 14 What shall we say then? is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! 15 For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. Romans 9:10-16
Thus God’s great mercy is a sovereign mercy – He chooses individuals. He saves them despite their kicking and screaming. He works all things together to bring them to Himself. And He shows this so clearly in the lives of Jacob and his sons.
Also, don’t miss the obvious point that God shows this sovereign mercy not to a class of people, not even to all those physically descended from one man, but to individuals. This is one reason why Genesis has so many long lists of names, of genealogies. God is showing us that He cares about individuals, He works through individuals. And thus there is hope for you, an individual.
God shows us this throughout the book, but He underlines this truth in a lovely way here at end. Look at 50:24, where Joseph is speaking to his brothers:
I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Genesis 50:24
This is the first of 27 times in the Bible that the refrain “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” is used. Perhaps the most important of these occurs only a few pages later in your Bible, Exodus 3:6. God appears to Moses at the burning bush and chooses to identify Himself as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” Many of you are so familiar with that phrase that the astounding truth communicated doesn’t hit you. God does not say, “I am the God of all the universe, the God who created the heavens and the earth.” Nor does He say, “I am the God who has promised to send a Redeemer for all mankind through the descendants of Abraham.” Both would be true. Both are precious truths. Both are major themes of Genesis and Exodus. Indeed, both are implied by the statement God does make.
But God chooses to identify Himself as “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob.” He is saying, in part, “I am the God of individuals. I care about individuals. I love individuals. I choose individuals.”
Our God is not the god of deism – a god who creates and sets the world in motion, but then is so transcendent that he cares not one whiff for what goes on. He is not a god who leaves the earth to stew in its own juices. No. He is a God who loves, who is involved, who chooses. He is the God who made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – and will fulfill them, in part through Moses. He is the God who has raised these individuals to be with Him – and who will raise you also, if you are in Christ.
So we have seen that God is the Creator. Man is a sinner. Yet our God is a God of sovereign mercy, who shows that mercy to individuals.
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