Week 1
Ephesians 2:4 “But God, rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us.”
One of the great misrepresentations about God in the minds of people is that God is essentially PASSIVE. These see God waiting on His throne for something to happen or someone to do something to which He (God) can respond. This makes mankind primary and God secondary. Nothing could be more false concerning God than this wrong picture! Everything in the universe came to be by God’s will, through God’s creative power and is sustained by God’s omnipotence. But the greatest context of God’s active energy is the salvation of sinners.
Our text certainly does not portray God as passive, lazy, and inactive; note how God is proactive in the matter of the salvation of sinners. Verse 5 states, “Even when we were dead in our sins.” The Bible says in Romans 5:6, “While we were still helpless”, and again the Bible says in Romans 5:8, “While we were yet sinners.” The saving grace of God is not to be understood as waiting for sinners; rather, the saving grace of God might be seen in the Good Shepherd pursuing His sheep (Luke 15:4), as taught by Jesus. God is seeking sinners before sinners will ever seek God! In the words of 1 John 4:19, we love God, “Because He first loved us.” God is the great pursuer of those whom He would save. He pursues us in mercy because of His love.
Yes, God poured out His mercy, His saving mercy, on us BECAUSE HE LOVED US! The saving of sinners is both a love story and a story of God’s rich mercy.
God is RICH IN MERCY! What a transcendent expression this is! God’s saving mercy on sinners is eternal, it is higher than the heavens are above the earth (Psalm 103:11), and it reaches to the lowest depths of human sorrow, suffering, and despair; no one is beyond the RICH MERCY of God! God’s rich mercy is the hope that inspires our prayers for the lost, and it is the reason we maintain hope in times of helplessness and loss.
The rationale for God’s rich mercy is His sovereign and awesome love; He loves us! His mercy is expressed BECAUSE He loved us. God’s love is the most beautiful reality in the universe; it rises superior to every human delight and joy. God’s love is beyond our comprehension; it calls us to fresh pursuit to discover new venues and vistas of its glory and joy. We cannot fully understand His love, but God’s love becomes the basis for our pleasure and everlasting solace. We worship Him because He loves us, we praise Him because He loves us, and we love Him in return for His love for us. Every day, every life experience and every hardship must be understood in the context of God’s love for us. We rejoice exceedingly in His mercy lavished upon us and His love granted to us. Christians are, of all people, most blessed!
Prayer: Dear Lord, as a follower of Christ, help me today to remember that You love me more than I can ever understand or fathom. And help me to recall that my salvation in Christ is the magnificent demonstration of Your eternal and incomprehensible mercy given to me by Your grace. Thus, help me to rejoice in You, seek Your will and glory, and live in the beauty of these joyful truths. Amen.