Tender Mercy

Love may be a noun (a person-place-thing) but it is also a verb (an action). In her book The First Songs of Christmas, Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth writes, "You have no idea how much God loves you."  "How much" someone loves is most commonly measured by how that love is ultimately expressed or demonstrated. Zachariah captured the motivation of God's sending Jesus to earth, "Because of the tender mercy of our God, with which the Sunrise (the Messiah) from on high will dawn and visit us." (Luke 1:78). The Greek word for "tender" is where we get our English word for spleen - an organ buried deeply inside the body; described also as the "bowels of compassion" (1 John 3:17). Jesus' life on earth was filled with moments such as "His heart went out to her" and "He was moved with compassion" - each time He acted in His compassion. His greatest (and willful) act was on The Cross - fulfilling The Father's will to pay our sin-debt and free us from sin's reign. There, in the midst of the horrors and pain and humiliation of The Cross, is tender mercy. "O the deep, deep love of Jesus - Vast, unmeasured, boundless free - Rolling as a mighty ocean - In its fullness over me - Underneath me, all around me - Is the current of Thy love - Leading onward, leading homeward - To my glorious rest above." (Samuel Trevor Francis). Let us rejoice this Season in God's love expressed in tender mercy.