Let’s dip in to the wonders of God’s communicable attributes and see something quite breathtaking. If God’s communicable attributes are the attributes He communicates or shares most with people, we should begin by seeing the beauty of God in that very action. God has given you personally some heart-features that resemble His! What are these things God has shared with you? Some of His communicable attributes are His knowledge, wisdom, truthfulness/faithfulness, goodness, love, mercy, grace, patience, holiness, peace, righteousness, jealousy, wrath, will, freedom and power. These are perfections that make up the character of God, and He has chosen to grant you, as a human being, the blessing of these attributes of your human make-up as well. This is a wonderful thing. If you are smirking and saying, “I knew that already!” please continue with me to discover just how wonderful these things really are. I want you to see things here that will revolutionise your life. I want you to see the beauty of God.

Let me try to make my point simply by using the mercy of God. Mercy is such a thrilling attribute of God, and of human life. Having worked as a paramedic, mercy is one of those attributes of God that I find very attractive. God’s mercy is the goodness He shows to people who are trapped in misery. (Neh 9:31)

I was once called out to an incident on the highway. Arriving at the scene in my ambulance I saw that the driver of a vehicle travelling South had been overcome by an epileptic fit, and had crashed through the barrier between the two sides of the highway and had collided with a vehicle travelling North, head-on. The combined speed at impact was approximately 240km/h (150mph). The patient I took care of was a young man sitting in the front passenger seat of the vehicle that had been travelling North. He was trapped in the wreck. The dashboard had been pushed in so far that is was pushing his knees up tightly against his chest. His vitals were looking bleak but he was still conscious. I knew he was going to die, but until the rescue vehicle arrived with extrication equipment, all I could do was monitor his vital signs and replace fluids intravenously.

My heart still goes out to that young man as I think of him trapped in that misery. Mercy is that longing to help that person in that misery. Mercy drives you to action. Mercy is a beautiful thing in God and in His people.

Think of a God or a world without mercy. When I was younger, not far from where I lived, a young woman crashed her car late at night on a dark country road. She was too injured to even get out of her vehicle. Someone stopped at the scene. Seeing there was no-one else around, he robbed the injured woman, pulled her out of her car and raped her, and left her for dead. This is shocking. This is what the world is like without mercy. In view of this contrast, how much more wonderful is it that God is a God of mercy? How beautiful is a God whose heart goes out to people trapped in misery rather than gloating over them and abandoning them.