God’s Mercy Your Gateway to Reign in Life (2) 

So we said something yesterday about the mercy of God. Yes, the mercy of God has pardoned us. Jesus came to take our infirmities. He suffered for us. Isaiah 53 says He was wounded, He was bruised, and because of what He did, we can be forgiven.

No matter who you are—no matter what you’ve done—God’s mercy speaks for you. The blood speaks for you.

But we also realized that mercy did more than just pardon us. Mercy took us to another level. It changed our status. It changed our nature.

We started with Ephesians 2:4. It says God, who is rich in mercy, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ. God quickened us with Christ. He gave us the same life He gave to Christ.

When God created man, His intention was that man would reflect Him. So His mercy was not just, “Let me forgive their sins and leave them as they are.” No. Mercy was also about transformation.

It’s like a parent correcting a child. At first, the child keeps making mistakes and needs constant correction. But there comes a time when the child matures and begins to live at a higher level of understanding. That’s what God’s mercy does. It not only forgives—it matures and elevates.

Yes, if we sin, 1 John 1:9 says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There is forgiveness. There is cleansing. But beyond that, mercy brings us into a new state where sin is no longer our nature or constant struggle.

Colossians 1:13 says God delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. He didn’t just deliver us—He translated us. That means a change of realm, a change of status.

Let me use an illustration.

Imagine a widow who is broke and constantly borrowing money to survive. She owes a large debt and creditors are harassing her. Then someone comes and pays off her debt completely. That’s deliverance.

But if that’s all that happens, she may soon borrow again.

Now imagine that after paying her debt, the person empowers her to start a business and teaches her how to manage it. Now she is not only delivered—she has been elevated. Her status has changed. She is no longer a borrower; she can become a lender.

That’s what God’s mercy has done for us. It didn’t just cancel our debt of sin. It gave us a new nature.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The peak of the finished work of Christ was to make man new—to give man the life of God.

Under the Old Covenant, even the best kings still fell. They tried, but their nature was still flawed. That’s why Hebrews says we have a better covenant established on better promises.

Romans 6 explains this clearly. It says we were buried with Christ and raised with Him to walk in newness of life. Verse 6 says our old man was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be destroyed.

Notice this: Jesus didn’t just die for your sins as separate acts. He died to end the sin nature itself. It wasn’t just your actions that were the problem—it was the old “you” that produced them.

So His death was your death. The old man was crucified with Him.

When He was raised, there was a new you.

That’s why the Bible says, “Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin.” It doesn’t just say reckon that your sins are forgiven. It says reckon yourself dead to sin.

Just as Adam’s sin affected all of us—even though we weren’t physically in the garden—Christ’s death and resurrection affect all who identify with Him.

When you begin to see yourself in His death and in His resurrection, something changes. You activate the fullness of God’s mercy in your life.

You say:
“I was crucified with Christ. That old nature ended there.
I was raised with Christ. I now walk in newness of life.”

Romans 6 says Christ being raised from the dead dies no more; death has no dominion over Him. Then it says, likewise, you also.

That means what is true of Him is true of you in Him.

So when the enemy reminds you of your past—“You used to struggle with this. You used to behave like that.”—you answer, “That was the old man. The old man died with Christ.”

This is why Easter is not just a yearly celebration. Resurrection is a daily reality. Every day you live in the consciousness that Christ was raised—and because He was raised, you were raised.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul argues strongly that if Christ was not raised, our faith is in vain and we are still in our sins. But Christ was raised. And because He was raised, you are no longer in your sins. You are in a new life.

Ephesians compares Christ and the Church to a marriage. The two become one. 1 Corinthians 6 says he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

Christ joined Himself to us in death—taking our sin. And in resurrection, we are joined to Him in His life.

That’s even the power of communion. When we take it, we remember what He did—how He destroyed the nature of sin and ushered us into the nature of God.

So now we say:

“God, thank You for Your mercy.
You didn’t just pardon my past.
You ended my old life.
You gave me a new nature.
You made me righteous.
You made me alive in Christ.”

That is the powerful aspect of God’s mercy.

Let’s take our confessions together:

Jesus is my Lord.
I was crucified with Christ.
I died with Christ.
I was buried with Christ.
I suffered with Christ.

Right now, I am justified with Christ.
I am made alive with Christ.
I conquered Satan with Christ.
I conquered sin, sickness, and disease with Christ.

I have been raised up together with Christ.
I am seated together with Christ in heavenly places,
far above all principality and power and might and dominion
and every name that is named.

All things are under my feet because I am in Christ.
Jesus’ righteousness is my righteousness.
Jesus’ perfect health is my health.
Jesus’ wisdom is my wisdom.
Jesus’ nature is my nature.
Jesus’ life is my life.

God bless you.