The Forgiveness and Mercy of God

THE FORGIVENESS AND MERCY OF GOD

Mario D'Couto

   When I look at Salvation history, I am always intrigued by the fact that in the Bible we see two 'faces' of God. We all believe that God's love is made manifested in the highest form in the personhood of Jesus Christ but yet there seems to be this kind of difference wherein we see that in the Old Testament, God comes across as a 'tyrant' as a strict policeman who is there, ready to punish people when they do wrong. Contrasting this with the personhood of Christ, we see a different picture of God. In Jesus Christ, we see the manifestation of God's unconditional love, a God who loves and cares for us irrespective of who or what we may be. Thus, given this 'duality' in the nature of God, how do we reconcile these two views?

   In the first place, we must understand that God is a mystery and hence, we will never fully understand Him. However that does not in any way imply  that all is lost or that everything is hopeless or that we will never be able to understand Him at all. Hence, we may never know why would God have to be that way. My personal take on the issue is that perhaps, this contrast is quite obvious to show that in as much as God is a loving Father, He is also a Just Judge. We see God in the Old Testament regretting (as in the case of the book of Genesis wherein He laments as to why he created humankind) or showing anger (as when the Israelites did not obey Him) and yet there are instances where God shows His love for Israel as is found in the book of Hosea or the many times when He sent his prophets to bring back the children of Israel. In fact, in the book of Isaiah, there is a beautiful line that goes thus, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow" (Isaiah 11:18) or in the book of Jeremiah, "They will all know Me, the least no less than the greatest .... since I will forgive their iniquity and never call their sin to mind" (Jer 31:34) in the book of Ezekiel, "I shall cleanse you of all your defilement and all your idols" (Ezek 36:25). From all this, it only goes to show that God is not a  tyrant as some may think nor is He a God who 'punishes.' Given our free will, we are capable or bringing destruction upon ourselves. Besides, the 'punishment' of God is actually one of the ways by which He draws us closer to Himself for although it may seem bad apparently, yet, if one is blessed with the eyes of faith which is actually the grace of God, he or she will realize that there is more to it than just the painful experience.  

   Forgiveness is something personal. It drops from heaven at a point when one's conscience is fully aware of having done evil. The sacrament of reconciliation is nothing other than the evangelical word of forgiveness. It is the only way the world can remain a real word, a personal communication and not be reduced to a memory of an inner call. For the word in the Scriptures is not only the word which holds true throughout the ages of the eternal God; it is the word which goes on living till the end of the ages of the risen Christ. Thus God's love and mercy is not a one - time affair but it extends throughout eternity for God is love and where there is love, there is God.     

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