By Scott Tibbs, March 10, 2016
In our culture today, Christians want to forget about the wrath of God and only focus on "cheap grace." I have often written of the judgment and wrath of God because of this heresy. But we should also refute another common (yet less loudly spoken) heresy: The idea that some people are so evil they cannot be redeemed.
I knew that King Manasseh of Judah was a wicked man. He burned his children to death in sacrificing them to demons. But when I was reading in 2 Kings 21, something caught my eye and completely blew my mind: On top of his own wickedness, Manasseh led the kingdom of Judah "to do more evil than did the nations whom the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel." (Verse 9.) That is stated again in 2 Chronicles 33:9. He led Judah to "do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel."
God was filled with holy anger, and allowed Manasseh to be captured and held in Babylon. Then something amazing happened. Manasseh repented. God heard his prayer, and had him sent back to Jerusalem. Manasseh destroyed the idols and commanded his subjects to only worship the One True God.
It does not stop there. This horribly wicked man, who not only committed abominations before God but caused Judah to be worse than the pagan people God had destroyed, is listed in the lineage of Jesus Christ.
There can be no more powerful example of how God's mercy is infinite. This horribly wicked man, who was worse than most of us can even imagine being, was not only forgiven and redeemed, he is forever recorded in the lineage of our Savior. If God can forgive Manasseh for his sins, is there anything we have done that is too severe for God to forgive? Is there anyone alive today who cannot be redeemed by the blood of the Lamb?
Praise God for His infinite mercy!
