God Rich in Mercy and Great Love Ephesians 2:4

Paul the apostle shared how God has “made alive” the Ephesians who were “dead in trespasses and sins” because of the influence of “the prince of the power of the air” which works in “the children of disobedience”. The Ephesians and Paul formerly had lives which fulfilled “the lust of” of their “flesh” which fulfilled “the desires of the flesh and of the mind” as they were “by nature the children of wrath, even as” other people were. In chapter two and verse four, Paul adds how God “is rich in mercy” because of His “great love” where we read:

But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

The verse begins, “But God, who is rich in mercy,...” Paul began with the word, “But” which means “moreover, nevertheless and now” and is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to stated take precedence over what was just written, “God” which refers to “the Godhead and trinity which is comprised of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit” “who is rich” or “wealthy, abounding in material resources and abundantly supplied” “in mercy” which means “kindness or goodwill towards the miserable and the afflicted, clemency of God providing to men salvation by Christ”. Paul declared how God has “abundant” and overflowing amounts of “mercy” toward those who love Him.

The verse goes on to say, “... for his great love wherewith he loved us,” Paul added, “for his great love” or “much, large and abundant affection, goodwill, benevolence, brotherly and unconditional love” “wherewith” which means “which, what and that” “he loved us” or “welcomed, entertained, fond of and dearly loved both Paul and the Ephesians”. Because of God's “abundant” and “unconditional love”, He extends His “abounding” “kindness and goodwill toward us”.

When we think through these words of Paul, we should be excited over God's “abundant” “mercy and love” toward us. He is not sparse and poor in His “kindness” toward us, but has an over-abounding supply as we need it. Should we ever doubt whether God will forgive us when we have done wrong, we should think of these words He is “rich in mercy” because of His “great love”.

Next time Paul shares how God made us alive when we were “dead in sins”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.