Which came first?
The cross, or mercy and grace?
I recently heard someone say, leading up to Good Friday:
The cross makes grace possible.
The cross makes mercy possible.
This makes it sound like there was no grace or mercy before Christ’s death on Calvary. But does that match the biblical witness?
God is already described and merciful and gracious in multiple passages in the Old Testament.
And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, (Ex. 34:6, KJV)
For the Lord your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your ancestors, which he confirmed to them by oath. (Deut. 4:31, NIV)
…Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you….(Deut. 13:17, NIV)
David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.” (2 Sam. 24:14, NIV; see also 1 Chron. 21:13)
But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. (2 Kings 13:23, NIV)
If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him. (2 Chron. 30:9, NIV)
But in your great mercy you did not put an end to them or abandon them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. (Neh. 9:31, NIV)
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. (Psalm 6:0, NIV)
Remember, Lord, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. (Psalm 25:6, NIV)
Answer me, Lord, out of the goodness of your love; in your great mercy turn to me. (Psalm 69:16, NIV)
Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath. (Psalm 78:38)
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. (Psalm 86:15, NIV)
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. (Psalm 103:8, NIV)
The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; (Dan. 9:9, NIV)
So, rather than the Jesus’ death on the cross making mercy and grace possible, it was God’s mercy and grace that led Him to send Jesus to die for us. The cross didn’t somehow placate God’s wrath, making it possible for Him to love us; rather, it was because He loved us that He gave His one and only Son to die for us (John 3:16; Rom. 5:8).