Ephesians 2:4
4 But [de] God, [theos] who is [on] rich [plousios] in [en] mercy, [eleos] for [dia] his [autos] great [polus] love [agape] wherewith [hos] he loved [agapao] us, [hemas] KJV-Interlinear
4 But
God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, NASB
The first three verses
paint a picture and a story of man destroying himself, and continually
destroying himself. Man is lost in sin
and even constantly returns to sin, and thus continually destroys himself over
and over, again and again.
But, and this is a very
emphatic contrast. Were it not for two
of Gods greatest attributes, man would have been lost in the fog of
non-existence, if that were possible, with no future, not even a present, and
certainly no hope.
Man is not the captain of
his own destiny, unless it is of self-destruction, but that is all. One of the points that was made yesterday was
that man, even in the face of a huge blessing, will chase right back into sin
through complaining, through criticism, through his own pursuit of some self-defined
happiness, all of which are orchestrated in sin through evil. And to what end?
There is more than enough
grief out there in the world, without our pouring more grief onto it.
Better to look at the
positives of life and to God who provides them, than to the evil that surrounds
us all and the complaining or promoting of it.
Mercy is grace in
action. Grace if the favor or favors
from God. Rich, means abundant, or
abundant in wealth.
There are several levels
of economic status, the lowest being depravity or being destitute and having
absolutely nothing. Even a person who
has clothes has something, but one who has nothing, quite literally has nothing.
Then there is the poor
class followed by a middle class with various levels within that class. This is the working class and typically the
backbone of an economy, but it is a ‘getting by’ class.
Then there are the upper
classes, where in there is the prosperous and then the rich.
Then there is the wealthy
class and the mega wealthy class. Fewer
and fewer people are able to get into these upper classes, whereas the lower
classes contain the vast majority of the population.
Then we have the riches
of God. Rich, ‘plousios,’ means
abundant, vast, wealthy, abounding. This
is a wealth that far exceeds wealth and cannot be measured it is so vast.
In Gods abundant mercy
there is compassion so great that no person could possibly comprehend it. Even though man persistently throws himself
over the cliff of evil, God is always there to catch us. We can neither earn nor deserve His attention
let alone His mercy, and yet it is always there and always has been there.
These verses are designed
to get you to thinking about your own depravity state (you are nothing, despite
your opinions), and of Gods vast mercy, such that you will discontinue your old
ways in sin. This includes the
complaining and agonizing and even pursuits that you engage in on a regular and
daily basis.
For His love, with which
He loved us, places a double emphasis on Gods truth.
God is truth. Truth is the matching up of facts with
reality. Imagination and self-definition
and human opinions rarely match up with truth.
And yet truth erases the lies and deceptions and false things in life,
and makes things in reality clear and lucid and perspicuous.
Without truth there are
only lies, deception, ambiguity and the massive fog of darkness, in which no
one can manage anything, ever.
Love is more than the
emotions yearning in compassion. Love
here incorporates the vast principles of truth, and brings a common cause
between God and man. The verb for love
modifying or governing over the noun of love, makes this likewise a statement
of wealth or vastness of Gods purpose, and this too is beyond mans comprehension
because it is so vast and powerful.
So, on the one hand we
have man and our continual pursuits in the wrong direction.
And on the other hand, we
have God who has put together a plan so detailed and all inclusive, and
saturated with His own mercy or favor, and driven by a love of His love, which
is truth.
Truth is doctrine, which
you are learning even now, and that is one of the biggest arguments, that you
need to learn doctrine, such that you will be able to, at the very least, begin
to understand the massive blessings that God has laid aside for you and has
waiting for you both now, and in eternity.
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