Open your bibles to:

Malachi 2
¹⁷   Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?

Malachi 3
¹   Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Here we see both sides of God contrasted. One side is wearied with the words of men. Then without even breaking stride, He moves on and prophesies of the coming of Christ. Now Christ, who was God in the flesh, also taught us more about the loving, merciful, forgiving God than anybody else in history. Yet if we were to continue in Malachi 3 we would see that Christ was to bring with him judgment as well. Notice that this discourse of God is brought about by a simple question that shows the lack of understanding that the Jews had at this time. Where is the God of judgment? Truthfully, I don’t want to meet the God of judgment. I’d rather stand face to face with the God of mercy. We must recognize that when we ask such questions it angers God. And brethren, we do ask these questions from time to time. When we look around the world today, one thing that is certain, God is not punishing sin constantly. Some of the vilest of persons seem to prosper, while the righteous suffer. It becomes easy to ask, where is the God of judgment? Or why does God allow suffering to continue? These questions anger God, because they question His authority, His sovereignty, and His wisdom. All of those things, belonging to God, are perfect. We should not question them by action or by word. Is this difficult to do? Absolutely! Look at:

2 Peter 3
⁹   The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Peter had to remind Christians in the first century that sins were going unpunished for now, not because God would never punish sins, but that God was longsuffering toward us. That He wanted all would have opportunity to repent. I know that the title is God at His Best, but if you want to see God at His worst, just start questioning His authority, sovereignty or wisdom. Just start believing that there are areas where His perception is not perfect.

All of this being said, when I think of God at His best, I think of a God of grace and mercy. As I consider all of scripture, I believe that God at His best is God in the person of Jesus. And if I have to pick a day that He was at his best, I guess that I’ll pick the day that He was crucified. It is on this day in particular that we see how far God is willing to go to save man. We also see how deeply and easily that God forgives sins. Turn with me to:

Luke 23
³²   And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death.
³³   And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
³⁴   Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
³⁵   And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.
³⁶   And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar,
³⁷   And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.
³⁸   And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
³⁹   And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
⁴⁰   But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation?
⁴¹   And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss.
⁴²   And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.
⁴³   And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

With all of these people railing against him, people that have had him crucified wrongfully, Jesus in the midst of pain and suffering makes forgiveness available to them. This is not to say that they would not need to repent. In Acts chapter 2, there are about three thousand souls that repented and were baptized. I believe that many of them were these that were tormenting Jesus at this time. God is thinking of extending grace to man, even when the actions of man are causing Him pain.

Also contained within the text is the forgiveness of the thief on the cross. By the way, this does refute the need for baptism for forgiveness of sins. Jesus had not taken the Law of Moses out of the way at this point, as he had not yet died on the cross. This thief is still living under the Old Testament dispensation. I do however believe that the forgiveness of this thief is significant. Please open your bibles to:

Matthew 27
⁴²   He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.
⁴³   He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.
⁴⁴   The thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.

Both thieves were mocking Jesus earlier. One repented. If ever there was a time that you might expect God to not forgive someone, this is it! When we repent, God does not remember past wrongs against us. Even if those wrongs were committed just moments before. I believe as we see Jesus forgive this thief, we see God at his best. This is a God that can forgive even the vilest of sins if we will only repent and turn our lives over to Him.

There’s another thing that happens with our God on this day, that I believe is the true evidence of his willingness to forgive sins. Turn to:

Mark 15
⁴³   Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
⁴⁴   And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead.

We need to understand that Jesus passed away rather quickly for someone that was crucified. This was a slow death. It usually took days for one to die if they were crucified. As long as they had strength in their legs, they could push themselves up and be able to draw a deeper breath. Once that strength failed, the weight of their bodies, suspended on outstretched arms, would bring about slow suffocation. Usually, this process was allowed to take its course. But in Judea, where Judaism was the religion of the people, it would be considered offensive (as a matter of fact God said that this would bring a curse upon the land) to leave a man on the tree on the Sabbath. This is why they came and broke the legs of the other men. But when they came to break Jesus’ legs, he was already dead. I want to explain why this is important in a few moments, but first let me direct you to an Old Testament passage that I believes illustrates that the grace of God has been the same throughout scripture.

In 2 Samuel Chapter 24, we find that David had numbered the people, without authorization from God. This had brought God’s anger upon David. We’ll see that God gives David three choices as we pick up the text in verse 10 and read through verse 17.

2 Samuel 24
¹⁰   And David's heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly in that I have done: and now, I beseech thee, O LORD, take away the iniquity of thy servant; for I have done very foolishly.
¹¹   For when David was up in the morning, the word of the LORD came unto the prophet Gad, David's seer, saying,
¹²   Go and say unto David, Thus saith the LORD, I offer thee three things; choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee.
¹³   So Gad came to David, and told him, and said unto him, Shall seven years of famine come unto thee in thy land? or wilt thou flee three months before thine enemies, while they pursue thee? or that there be three days' pestilence in thy land? now advise, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
¹⁴   And David said unto Gad, I am in a great strait: let us fall now into the hand of the LORD; for his mercies are great: and let me not fall into the hand of man.
¹⁵   So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.
¹⁶   And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
¹⁷   And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

David here is wise to see that only pestilence would leave him exclusively to the mercies of God. And though it is stated last, I believe that at sometime during the plague, David makes supplication by asking God to take his life rather than to continue the plague against the people. What I think is significant is that the destroying angel was about to stretch out His hand against Jerusalem when God said "enough". Israel had paid enough, and God required no more.

Now let’s get back to the point. Jesus died on the cross in about six hours. At some time God looked down upon our Savior and said he had suffered enough, and took his life. We might think that it was God the Father having mercy on the Son of God, so what? Then we have to remember that Jesus was crucified not to simply die for our sins, but to suffer for our sins as well. And this was for every sin ever committed. By ending his suffering early, God makes clear that he had suffered enough. Jesus paid it all. If my sins are covered by the blood of Christ, they are covered indeed. This is God at his best.

One last thing, and the lesson will be yours. God at His best brings out man at his best. Turn with me to:

Ephesians 2
⁸   For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
⁹   Not of works, lest any man should boast.
¹⁰   For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.