In Spain there is a very old proverb which says, “All laws go the way that kings desire.” Behind that proverb is an interesting story. About the beginning of the twelfth century there was a debate about whether the country's churches were to use Gothic or Roman prayer books in their services. The question eventually came before Alfonso VI, who was king at the time. Alfonso decided to leave the matter to chance, so he threw a copy of both prayer books into a fire declaring that the one that survived the ordeal should be chosen. However, when the Gothic missal survived the blaze, the king immediately threw it back into the fire and chose the Roman liturgies. Thus was the matter decided, and the proverb became popular throughout the country.

Let me give examples to show that mercy presupposes sin. The first is Adam. I would like you to try to put yourself in Adam’s position at the very beginning of human history and imagine how he must have felt when God came to him in the garden after he and Eve had sinned by eating from the forbidden tree. You will remember that God had warned Adam about eating, saying, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die" (Gen. 2:16-17). The Hebrew text actually says, "On the day you eat of it you will die." But Adam and Eve had eaten of it, and now, as told in Genesis 3:9-16, God had come to them to demand an accounting and pronounce judgment.