Jonah Albrecht…Trinity 3….July 6^th, 2025…Micah 7:18-20….See How Deep God’s Love Goes

¹⁸ Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love. ¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. ²⁰ You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as You have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

INJ Whose death and resurrection assures us of God’s everlasting love, DFR:

November 2003 finally marked the end of a 20+ year long investigation into the victims of the Green River Killer here in Washington State. Gary Ridgway was convicted on 48 counts and is serving a consecutive life sentence for each one. During one of the hearings, Ridgway sat stone-faced as family members were given the opportunity to speak and wish every possible evil thing to happen to him as justice for what he did. That is until Robert Rule came to the mic.

Robert’s daughter was one of the victims. Instead of expressing his hatred of Ridgway, he said this, “Mr. Ridgway, there are people here who hate you. I’m not one of them. I forgive you for what you have done. You’ve made it difficult to live up to what I believe, and what God says to do, and that is to forgive. And he doesn’t say to forgive certain people, he says to forgive all. So you are forgiven, sir.”

I’m sure the thought running through every mind in that court room, and maybe even you today is, “How can he possibly forgive him for that!?” It’s a fair question to ask. Someone who had such little regard for human life doesn’t deserve to be forgiven, at least not according to the human standard of pound of flesh for a pound of flesh.

Mr. Rule understood how deep God’s love truly goes – that God doesn’t offer forgiveness just for those who can show themselves worthy of it; He offers it for every single person for every single sin. The blood Jesus shed on the cross truly washes away even the worst of sins.

It isn’t for me to say whether this act of merciful forgiveness by Mr. Rule had any effect on Mr. Ridgway, that is between him and God. What it does do, is it echoes the deep love of God that Micah found so comforting in our text this morning. Despite the complete lack of interest in serving God amongst the Israelites, God still loved them enough to forgive them. Why? Purely because that is how badly God desired to save them. Today we consider How Deep God’s Love is for sinners like you and me.

Micah was a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah and they had many similarities. Both were prophets to the land of Judah and both dealt with the great sinfulness of the people, God’s impending judgment, and God’s eventually restoration and deliverance.

The opening verses of chapter 7 give a startling description of the kind of spiritual darkness that had settled in the hearts and lives of God’s people.

Woe is me! For I have become as when the summer fruit has been gathered, as when the grapes have been gleaned: there is no cluster to eat, no first-ripe fig that my soul desires. ² The godly has perished from the earth, and there is no one upright among mankind; they all lie in wait for blood, and each hunts the other with a net. ³ Their hands are on what is evil, to do it well; the prince and the judge ask for a bribe, and the great man utters the evil desire of his soul; thus they weave it together. ⁴ The best of them is like a brier, the most upright of them a thorn hedge. The day of your watchmen, of your punishment, has come; now their confusion is at hand. ⁵ Put no trust in a neighbor; have no confidence in a friend; guard the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms;

If you didn’t know any better, it would seem as if Micah were describing a pagan nation around Judah who had now moral ethics built into their society, but he is talking about God’s chosen people! This people whom God delivered from the Egyptians by parting the Red Sea were forsaking justice for a bribe. The people who saw nearly every victory go their way under King David found it right to turn on their neighbor if it meant they could gain profit. The nation that God had blessed so much and had promised to dwell with them, had become like a barren field after the harvest – no fruits of righteousness were found at all.

When we see that same behavior today, and we see it often, I’m sure the first feelings towards the guilty party is not sympathy. In fact, it is the opposite. Especially for those who exploit the innocent, we would never wish that they get mercy, but a punishment that fits the crime – justice to be served in its full compacity. And we would expect the same from God, would we not? He who is perfectly just, holy, and righteous – Who does not stand for sin or His law being broken – we would expect Him to be firm and full in His executing justice on a rebellious people. It is only right. So then why on earth would God offer forgiveness and restoration to a people like that?

We could really ask ourselves the same question, couldn’t we? As much as we would like to sit on our high horse and evaluate the nation of Judah and Israel from a place of moral superiority, to do so would make us the biggest hypocrites in the world. You and I are under the same Law as they were, as all people are. We have the same 10 commandments that we are expect to obey perfectly.

Consider this past week. Have you been the most patient husband, wife, son or daughter? Have you shown selfless love at every turn, not letting greed, jealousy, or resentment take root in any corner of your heart? Has your desire always and only been for God and have you sought after His righteousness over your own desires? No. Are you guilty? Yes. Daily we struggle against our sinful flesh and daily we fail to keep it under control. I am not an innocent party, but I too have sinned against God, deserving only His wrath and punishment. How can God possibly forgive such a sinner as I?

That is really at the heart of Micah’s opening line in our text, “Who is a God like you?” It is such an appropriate beginning to Micah’s closing statements of praise. Micah saw firsthand how far God’s people had fallen away from Him. He brought the message of God’s judgment for their sin. But he also had the privilege of bringing God’s love and mercy to those who were stricken by guilt. That steadfast love and compassion of God is what totally amazes Micah.

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance?

The idea behind the word “pardon” is literally a lifting up. Think about every single intentional act that has gone against God’s Law. Each one of those sins is like a thousand-pound weight that just piles on top of you one after another. It is ugly and it is part of your identity as a sinner. God takes that weight of your sin, He rips it off of your shoulders and He throws it away so that it is no longer a part of you. God’s pardon of your sin means that your wrongdoings do not define who you are in His eyes. You are not an ugly, wretched sinner, but by God’s grace you are His innocent child.

He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in steadfast love.

We have seen God’s justified anger over sin throughout the history of the world. The flood and Sodom and Gomorrah are two such examples. Those two events were judgments over man’s sin, but by that Judgment, God also delivered those who were faithful to Him. Noah and His family were saved in the boat. God delivered Lot and his daughters from the destruction of the two wicked cities. What we did not see in those events, was God’s anger fully exhausted. Sin remained and sin grew once again.

It wasn’t until a Friday afternoon when the skies turned to complete darkness that we saw God’s anger over sin fully borne out. It wasn’t on the chief sinners of that day, or me or you, it was on God’s only Son Jesus. Jesus bore upon Himself the full wrath of God over a world of sin. The sin of Adam and Eve, of the Israelites, of Assyria, Egypt and America, your sins and mine, the sins of our children and children’s children were all exhausted on Calvary’s cross. Not one drop of anger, justice, or judgment was withheld. God laid it all on Jesus because of His steadfast love for you. On the cross Jesus took your iniquity and transgression and destroyed any power it had to accuse you. Jesus’ death and resurrection brought peace between you and your Heavenly Father.

Now, when we see God’s anger over our sin, we need not fear. It is not an anger that is meant to destroy, but to chasten. As a shepherd hooks a sheep with his staff to turn it back to the right path, so also does our Lord Jesus correct us and bring us back to the path of righteousness.

¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities underfoot.

God’s compassion always follows His judgments. As He delivered Judah from captivity in Babylon so also He has promised to bring you peace and deliverance from the woes of this life. The greatest way God keeps this promise is by what He has done to our guilt. Though we hear of God’s forgiveness on a daily basis, it doesn’t always settle in. What I mean by that is we still feel guilt over the things we have done, especially when those things negatively affected our family or loved ones.

Guilt tells us when we have done something wrong, but when it remains, even after being assured of forgiveness, it is Satan holding our sin in accusation over our heads. He is saying, “your sin was too great, this one hasn’t been paid for yet.” God says, “I have trampled your guilt underfoot. It is dead.” It harkens back to the very first Gospel promise where God declared the Seed of the woman – Jesus would crush the head of Satan and Satan would bruise His heel. Jesus, your Savior, has destroyed any ability for Satan to hold any sin against you. He paid for every single one in full. There is no need to hang onto a guilty conscience – God has forgiven you.

And if some guilt still remains – some sins still cry out for justice? You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. Did you know that we know more about the vastness of outer space than we do about the bottom of the oceans? How incredible is that! And that is exactly where God throws our sin and our guilt. He throws it to a place that is unknown, undiscoverable, hidden and forgotten forever. From the depths of the sea no sin can cry out and be heard. And just to be sure, God has placed a sign in the shape of a cross that reads: NO FISHING. No one can dredge up any accusation against you who are loved by God.

²⁰ You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as You have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.

Micah’s closing statement is to remind us that this is not some one-off act of love by God. Rather, it is something He has been doing since the very beginning. This promise of faithfulness and steadfast love? It is meant for you by faith. As God was faithful to Jacob, delivering him from adversity and blessing him beyond comprehension, so also does God promise to be faithful to you and bless your in all that you do. As God showed steadfast love to Abraham and brought to fulfillment the promise of a Son – so also does God’s steadfast love fulfill His promises in your life. Though we must learn patience and endurance, we know we can hope on the Lord to show His steadfast love and compassion.

We might still wonder how anyone could possibly forgive such a person as Gary Ridgway. Ridgway did not ask for forgiveness from Mr. Rule. Mr. Rule gave that forgiveness because of the love of God that dwelled in his heart. Satan will ask you, “How can anyone possibly forgive you for what you have done?” You have the perfect response. You have a God whose love is so deep He died for you, He destroyed your sin, and His has given you a clean conscience before God. That God is the one who forgives even me. Amen.