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"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."
(Ephesians 2:4-7)
I love how verse 4 begins with "But God." No one, and I mean no one, is outside the power of God to save. No sin is so great that His grace and love are not greater still. Paul describes God as rich in mercy and His love as great. After all we had done in rebellion against Him, all the lusts of the flesh and the mind, the disobedience, and even following after Satan, God loves us. Wow. Can you wrap your mind around this wonderful theological truth?!
Ephesians 2:5 says God can make alive what was dead. We do not have that power to make dead people alive, convict them of their sins, or convince them of the truth of the Gospel. That is way beyond us, but we know who can. Paul tells us it is God through Christ! Jesus died for our sins; He arose from the dead. When we receive God's grace and turn to Him for salvation, Christ, who conquered sin and the grave for us, comes to live in us. It is all by God's grace. Jesus did not come to make bad people better but to make dead people alive. There is nothing in us as dead sinners that could make God love us. He loved us anyway and desired to have us spend eternity with Him. John Newton, the former slave trader turned pastor, wrote these timeless words: "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see." Praise God!
In Ephesians 2:6, God raised us up. He brought us up out of the grave of sin "and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." The word "together" jumped out to me. The church together here on earth is a picture of the gathering we will have with Jesus in eternity.
We are a privileged people only by God's grace, love, and power. I love the lyrics in Phil Wickham's song "House of the Lord":
We were the beggars
Now we're royalty
We were the prisoners
Now we're running free
We are forgiven, accepted
Redeemed by His grace
Let the house of the Lord sing praise
Ephesians 2:7 says for all eternity we will be trophies of His grace. We will be His people, and we will joyously and ongoingly give Him praise for what He did for us. After all, we were dead and heading to hell and now we are alive and heading to heaven!
We should deeply desire that our neighbors experience the same riches of God's grace and kindness in Christ, that they too would be a trophy of His grace instead of rotting away in hell forever. Such deep, profound theological truth should cause us to get on our knees and pray fervently for the salvation of our lost neighbors, friends, and loved ones.
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