All of the above
One of the blessings of studying in fellowship groups the Bible passage that was preached on the previous Sunday is that it gives us another opportunity to discover fresh insights in the same part of God’s word. In my case, I get to write the sermon and produce suggested Bible study questions, and then to meet with two different fellowship groups, so you could say I am extra blessed!
Last Sunday we were considering Mary’s song of praise, known as the Magnificat, where she speaks of the wonderful thing that God is doing in making her the mother of the Lord: “the Mighty One has done great things for me – holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him…” (Luke 1:49-50, NIV). In other words, God is mighty, holy and merciful. That is, he is bigger than our plight, not part of our plight himself, and yet cares deeply about our plight – and so he is perfectly qualified to be our Saviour.
The new insight from our fellowship group this week is that God is all of these things all the time. He is not sometimes mighty, other times holy, and occasionally merciful. He is both mighty and merciful at the same time (and also holy). We don’t often think of might and mercy being found in the same person, but then God is no ordinary person. So, we don’t have to ask, “Is God mighty, holy, merciful or whatever?” The answer is, “Yes, all of the above, all the time.”