But God

Eph 2:4,5 "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)," NKJV

 

What was I? Dead. Verse one tells us pretty plainly. "And you who were dead in trespasses and sins…" and then it lays it out. The world, Satan, disobedience, lusts, mental and fleshly desires, wrath. Nasty stuff. This is dead. This is what I was. This is what we all are. We have no spiritual breath in us. We are consumed with stuff that is just rotten and decaying and dead. I think about the world and what it has to offer. Sure, it looks appealing for a time. But when you boil it down to its root, it is dead. It is worthless. It is a waste. We invest our time and energy and thoughts and passion is stuff that is all centered on self. It has no lasting value. It has no eternal purpose. We are dead and hopeless.

 

And the thing is, a dead thing cannot bring itself life. It is dead. Just ask that squashed spider that you killed in the corner of your house the other day to come to life again. Nothing doing. It is gone. It is in the Kleenex and it is thrown in the garbage. There is nothing it can do to get its legs moving again. That is a picture of the human condition. We are so dead, we are incapable of making any choice that is going to bring us real life. God has to do something. He has to act on our behalf. If He doesn't we are gonners.

 

Enter: "But God…". This is massive. God enters the picture. And what is God like? Rich in mercy. God's wealth is given to us poor, dead, pitiful people and He extends His mercy, His kindness, His good will toward us who do not deserve it. And He has great, huge, unconditional love. Unreal. He give us this. And even when we are dead and almost buried, He makes us alive. He breathes life into us. He extends His unmerited favor (grace) and rescues us. This is not our act. This is not our choice. This is not our effort. This is all God. He does the acting. He does the choosing. He puts forth the effort. He extends mercy. He shows love. He gives grace. What do we do? Nothing. It is all a work of God that gives us life.

 

I praise you God for your great love, for your mercy and grace. Thank you for giving me life.