But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved – and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:4-7).
The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Because we are all fallen descendants of Adam, we sin; and we deserve the wrath of God. But, God is merciful to his people. He does not deal with us as we deserve (psalm 103:10). Rather, he is merciful. Paul says God is rich in mercy – overflowing with love and compassion for his people.
When confronted with a choice of punishment at the hand of God or man, David chose God, for “his mercy is great” (2 Samuel 24:14). Jeremiah, in speaking of God’s steadfast love said, “his mercies never come to an end” (Lamentations 3:22). Mercy is even given as part of God’s name. When he passed before Moses on the mountain he proclaimed his name, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7).
But, Paul, according to Paul, not only is God rich in mercy, his love is great. How much does he love his people? He loves us enough to send his only Son (John 3:16) to die in our place. He loved us even when we were sinful and unlovely (Romans 5:8). He loved us before we loved him (1 John 4:10). And, because we have been reconciled with God, his love is now “poured into our hearts” (Romans 5:5).
By his grace, because of his love, and through his mercy, God has saved us. He has reached down and pulled us up out of a life of sin and death, and he has placed us in his kingdom. He has brought us into his covenant, and he has seated us with Christ in the heavenly places. We were dead in trespasses and sins, but God made us alive in Christ. We were in rebellion against God, but he brought us near. We were unable to understand the things of God, but he gave us a new heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).
He saved us!
