There are two pictures in this passage: Of God and what He has done for us.
Here's what we learn about God.
"But because of His great love for us..."
This is the turning point in the story. The world was broken and infected by the "me, me, me" philosophy but is rescued for no other reason than that God is love.
We have no "right" to be saved - we've blown all our chances!
We have no "claim" on God - we've broken all our promises!
"But ... God who is rich in mercy..."
Mercy is to be spared the consequences we deserve. Mercy means that the one offering it walks away from the justice or vengeance that is rightfully theirs.
This God has great love and rich mercy.
And here's what He did:
"He made us alive with Christ _and_ raised us up in the heavenly realms."
We were spiritually dead because of our guilt and failure.
- Jesus entered into our death on the cross.
- He defeated death by the resurrection.
- He ascended into heaven, opening up eternal life.
So Jesus represented us on the cross, He represented us when He rose from the dead and He represents us in heaven.
He did this all "because of His great love for us!"
"It is by GRACE you have been saved."
G_od's
R_iches
A_t
C_hrist's
E_xpense!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
