NO ONE LIKE GOD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf. They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the Lord our God and will be afraid of you.”

“Who is a God like You, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.”

Micah 7:16-20

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today, we finish our study of the Book of Micah with a message we all need to cling to, a message that has spanned the ages since the dawn of creation.

What is the message?

It’s simply this:

There is no one like God.

It’s the final message to an Israelite people who had seen and would again see the unmatched power of God on display, a power God leveraged in judgment but also in restoration and renewal. It was a power He used to correct and a power He used to deliver. It was a power that had no equal, a perfect power that elevated God above all creation.

Did I mention that there is no one like Him?

As we turn to the final verses of Micah 7, we find this theme at the center. Look again at these words again:

“Nations will see and be ashamed, deprived of all their power. They will put their hands over their mouths and their ears will become deaf. They will lick dust like a snake, like creatures that crawl on the ground. They will come trembling out of their dens; they will turn in fear to the Lord our God and will be afraid of you.”

“Who is a God like You, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago.” Micah 7:16-20

The people of Israel had sinned against God and in turn they would pay the price for those sins. God would send His judgment upon them, bringing enemy forces from Assyria and Babylon to plunder and run roughshod over what was once a holy and powerful nation, one feared by its enemies.

Why were they feared?

Because Israel served the one true God and there was no one like Him. Certainly, none of the false gods worshiped by Israel’s rivals could do anything when facing off against God Himself. Neither could any mere mortal human, no matter their level of authority and position of leadership. The bottom line was that every nation was subordinate to God and would be “deprived of all their power” if they chose to oppose Him. They could either come to the Lord willingly or He would send consequences against them in response to their wickedness, consequences which would drive those enemy nations to a place where they would “turn in fear to the Lord”

Note that there are other traits mentioned in our scripture passage that distinguish God from anyone or anything else. They include:

1. His authority to pardon sin.

No one has ever been able to pardon themselves from the sins they have committed. No one. We are all destined for destruction and annihilation for our transgressions.

So who changed that narrative? Who saved us from the death sentence iniquity brings?

You got it. Only God because there is no one like Him. Only He could save us and so He made the way for all mankind to have the opportunity to be pardoned by sending His Son Jesus to die in their place. Thus, all one had to do was believe Jesus was their Savior and they would be saved, rescued from death and ushered into life (John 3:16).

Only God could do that.  

2. His forgiveness of transgressions.

In order to pardon our sins, God had to first forgive us for our transgressions, transgressions that He despises. In our verses today, we’re told He treads on our iniquities before hurling them into the depths of the sea. This wasn’t easy for God to do given His hatred for sin but He did it. Later, Jesus, while receiving mocking and derision while crucified on the cross, would look down on those mistreating Him and ask God to forgive them for they knew not what they were doing (Luke 23:34).

And God did as His Son requested. He forgave the sinners who His Son died for.

Oh, if we could only forgive like God. But then again, there is no one like Him.

3. His anger which doesn’t prolong.

It’s not that God fails to get angry at His people. Just read a little of the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, and you’ll see He does for sin can generate His wrath.

But here’s the thing that separates God from anyone else.

He gets over His anger. In other words, He doesn’t remain angry forever like some human beings might who harbor hatred against others for life, sometimes even from generation to generation.

The scriptures tell us that God does not stay angry forever and we should give thanks every day for that truth.

4. He delights in showing mercy.

Note here that God doesn’t feel compelled to show mercy to His people as if He is obligated to show mercy in some way. Rather, the word of God today from Micah tells us the Lord delights in showing mercy to others.

Try and find anyone else who does this as consistently as God. You won’t find someone because there is no one like Him, no one who delights in showing mercy as He does.

5. He renews His compassion for His people over and over again.

Look at the behavior of the Israelite people in the Old Testament and you will see a cycle form over and over again that begins with sin that prompts God to send a warning to His people through a messenger such as a prophet. The people would ignore the warnings given them and continue to sin, prompting God to send the punishment He promised. Then, once the people were in the midst of their consequences, they would cry out to God, confessing their wrongs and asking for His forgiveness.

Guess how God responded each time?

He showed His people compassion and He did so repeatedly. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find anyone else who was as compassionate as God on so many occasions. Indeed, there is no one like Him when it comes to the matter of compassion.

6. He is faithful.

Try and find anyone in your life who has been perfectly faithful. Even the best person you could bring to mind would pale in comparison to the faithfulness of God because only He is perfectly faithful. No matter these words were written about Him in the Book of Lamentations, words that speak of the prior discussed compassion, His faithfulness, and the last quality we’ll look at, His love:

The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. Lamentations 3:22-23

7. He never fails to show love to His people.

For the ages, ranging back to even before Abraham and through present times, God has been defined by His love. It was a love that did not wish for His people to perish but to have everlasting life so He offered up Jesus as the final sacrifice ever needed for the atonement of sins (John 3:16), the Lamb of God sent to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). To experience the perfect love of God forever, all one has to do is to believe in His Son and receive His salvation promise.

Indeed, as we find in the words of 1 Corinthians 13:8:

Love never fails.

And it doesn’t because it comes from a God who never fails, a God who is perfect in every way, a God who is with us and for us.

There is no one like Him.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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