Greg has been showing us how our desire to judge others and ourselves actually prevents God’s love from flowing in us and through us toward others. The primary text has been Gen. 3 with the story of Adam and Eve and the two trees. 
Greg has been showing us how our desire to judge others and ourselves actually prevents God’s love from flowing in us and through us toward others. The primary text has been Gen. 3 with the story of Adam and Eve and the two trees.
Sermon Series: Love & the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil
i wonder if “mercy” is all we can see and understand if we don’t know and understand “Grace”.
After all, Mercy is a legal position that wouldn’t be out of place in a court of law.
Mercy can only be given to those who totally agree with the accusations made against them, and offer no excuse for themselves.
In a legal sense, Mercy is to NOT get what you deserve.
When we stand beneath the tree of knowledge Mercy is assumed to be what you just received if you didn’t get the judgement you deserved.
Contrast this perspective with living our lives from the tree of life where we understand we just received is Grace, an expression of God’s love.
When we receive Grace, we are receiving what we could never deserve.
Mercy is a function of the law and a decision of the judge, and grace is the relationship we have with our Father.
I have come to this perspective after understanding my own position as being a left wing extremist living in the shade of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
I sometimes feast at the tree of life and love of our Father, but even after receiving his abundant overflowing love and grace I returned to the judgement tree to find “rest” in legal reasoning.
There is no rest there, there is only extreme left wing judgements.