“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Heb. 4:16
The bible teaches us that the Throne of Grace and the Throne of Judgement are the same throne. God doesn’t have two thrones he sits upon. He gives grace and establishes justice from the same throne. It’s beautiful to come to the knowledge of this. God in His complete perfection and wisdom can offer both mercy and enact swift justice in perfection and harmony. For some of us, it’s hard to grapple with this immense reality. We would like to think we would have the capability to be able to know when to extend mercy and when to establish Justice. But we are too finite to be able to do this. Nor do we fully comprehend. This is why HE is God, and we are not. With this truth now as our foundation let’s explore the throne of God.
One of the observations I have made of being a follower of Jesus, that intrigues me, is when we become aware of our sin and shortcomings. The first instinct for many of us is to hesitate to come to Jesus. In other words, we don’t come to the throne to receive the mercy we need. But another thing, I also see amongst those who say they are followers of Jesus, is that when others wrong us, we so easily climb up on that throne to edict our own judgments about the individuals who have hurt or wronged us. Jesus shared many parables about this reality. Matthew 18 records this teaching from Jesus.
23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. 28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. 29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ 30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. 32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.33 Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
Jesus made it very clear what the Father has asked us to do here on earth. We don’t have the capacity of wisdom needed to judge every person here on earth, perfectly. But we can forgive everyone here on earth, completely. Let me explain it this way as it concerns the throne of God.
“Being merciful allows me to sit with Him on the throne to receive his benevolent love and grace and give it away. Pride and unforgiveness asks Him to step down from His throne so I can sit and rule on it.”
This is why God opposes the prideful. He will not relinquish His throne. He’s the only one worthy to sit upon it. Jesus is the perfect one. The spotless lamb who is worthy to both give mercy and justice. I want to be known for boldly entering the throne to receive mercy, not to pass judgments. I want to be near to Jesus to receive love and affection, not tell Him my own opinions of what should happen to myself or others. I want to hear His voice as a whisper due to the nearness and tenderness of my heart towards him. This is what Paul was encouraging his readers to do. Boldy entering because we belong with our Abba.
Our choice today is do we boldly enter to receive mercy and grace and then give it freely, or do we boldly enter to enslave and judge others today? Either or, we are still boldly entering. One choice makes us aware of His beauty and majesty, the other makes us aware of our own fear and insecurities. I choose the first.
Selah
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