What God Has Done for the Hopeless

Ephesians 2:4-6

New King James Version

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.

For Meditation

Yesterday, Paul’s photograph of our old, depraved, and helpless situation left us on a sobering note: Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath (2:3). Death and hell hung on our necks with no help from anything earthly. Apocalyptic.

But God!

I love it! The indispensable and Almighty God, the stupendous and awesome Creator of the entire universe, including every human, who wields all power from His majestic throne in heaven; He came to our rescue. Hallelujah!

It reminds me of the picture on Calvary—Christ, the sinless and innocent One, flanked by the two criminals. Those two men were hopelessly dying, with hell wide open to swallow them. Despite the foolish audacity of the criminal on the left to taunt the Savior, the second criminal on the right recognized the light that gives life shining in Christ. The dying man saw a glimmer of hope for salvation and cried for it. He accepted His sins and the penalty before him, deserving of Death, but hanging with Jesus, the innocent One. Jesus is the only One who could save him. He is King; therefore, He has a kingdom, so he puts in a plea for citizenship.

Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise (Lk. 23:43).

Who is this King who saves the pathetic, dead soul and gives him life and a seat with Him on His heavenly throne? Verses 4-6 of Ephesians tell us.

But for God, who is rich in mercy and His great love for the sinner, we would have perished in our filth. His love for us is immense and beyond comprehension (3:18-19). Love is His nature (1 Jn. 4:8)—His intrinsic attribute. So, His love for us is a demonstration of Himself for the salvation of our souls (Jn. 3:16; Rm. 5:8).

When God expresses His love as He relates to us, it becomes the outpouring of mercy and grace on Calvary that saves us. (Eph. 2:4, 7). In the richness of His mercy, God held back His wrath because of Christ.

Through Jesus, God has made us alive with the resurrected Christ, even while we remained dead in our sins and transgressions (5). Is that not wonderful? The Holy Spirit quickened our spirit and gave us a new life in Christ, and that is not all.

God did not leave us to live in the graveyard. He raised us with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ (6). Think about it and let it sink in. It will end your struggles to separate yourself from sin and the world and live for Christ. You are seated with Christ in heaven as you walk on this sin-stained earth. It is the paradox of the Christian life, yet the great truth because of your unity with Christ in His Death, resurrection, ascension, and exaltation.

Can you not leap? and thank the Lord now and every day? How much pure worship and praise can you offer Christ our King for His love, mercy, and grace (Rm. 12:1; Heb. 13:15)?

Pray with Me.

All glory, honor, thanks, and praise belong to you, our eternal God. In your great love, you have worked salvation for us in Christ Jesus, your only Begotten Son, who is from eternity and rules over your eternal kingdom, far above all rules, power, authority, and dominion. We exalt your name because you are God, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

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