But God Who is Rich in Mercy

You'll turn your Bibles with me, please to Paul's Epistle to the church at Ephesus. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. Before we look to God's Word together, let us pray and ask for his blessing one more time.

Our Grace Heavenly Father indeed as we gather this day we do so with anticipation of Encountering your truth in your word. But we know that unless your spirit comes and gives direction gives light gives guidance Opens our hearts and minds and we can accomplish nothing.

And so we pray that even now the ministry of word and spirit you will once again as you have down through the ages Bless your people that are gathered in the name of Christ in this place for it is in his name that we pray.

Amen. There are Many sermons being preached today about shepherds and stars about incarnation about Bethlehem and all those associated things and that is perfectly appropriate and I have no problem with that whatsoever and Just on Wednesday evening, for example, we looked at a number of texts from the book of Isaiah Concerning the one who would come Emmanuel what that meant and the the prophetic testimony over numerous events in Israel's history testifying to the reality of the prophetic word concerning the Incarnation and the one who would be born and all the things associated with that all of that is Wonderful, and there are sermons that are talking about the deity of Christ today and that's vitally important in our day when so often The Jesus that is presented is little more than a a moral teacher or a babe in a manger Rather than the incarnate Son of God the one who had power by his very speech over the very forces of darkness It would flee at his command.

All those things are true and wonderful and.

Proper.

But I wanted to Not avoid anything like that. I didn't want to avoid what would be called a holiday sermon. I consider this a holiday sermon but I want to try to Not not bring correction but balance to what is often and I think an imbalance in much of the proclamation at this Season.

And what do I refer to well here in the book of Ephesians? We we know how this book begins. We know the book begins in chapter 1 with an extended long sentence of Pronouncing blessing and honor and glory for what God has done.

But it is addressed specifically to God the Father Blessed be Our God and Father the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. It's it's all about what the Father has done.

And though when you think about the The Advent season the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ When you think about that in in the back of our minds as we consider it we we do think of the Father. I Mean he's he's there, but I think a lot of us will have to be honest with ourselves.

That.

Most of what we think about is focused upon the Son. He is the one who comes he is the one who's. Tremendous condescension we celebrate. When you think about what it was like to have eternally been in the very form of God.

But laying that equality you had with the Father aside and entering into human flesh the the condescension the humiliation The great love that is demonstrated all that that all of those things are very very proper to consider and to think about.

No question about.

It.

But.

I'm sometimes concerned that we that we lose a proper balanced Trinitarian understanding.

Now.

Very often we have to defend the doctrine of the Trinity and we have to consider the the things that are relevant to that doctrine and sometimes sometimes we're a little bit hesitant to to be bold and speaking about a Trinitarian understanding is I don't want to have to get into a conversation of all that and you know this person might have this objection or that objection, but if we believe What the Bible teaches then the only true understanding of what God has done is a Trinitarian understanding.

A Unitarian understanding. A binitarian understanding is going to at some point or another end up causing us to diminish or ignore or to twist elements of Scripture and so at This time as we consider what God has done in Christ It is appropriate to think of the tremendous love that Christ has shown, but I want us to consider today the fountainhead the fountainhead of all of redemption the fountainhead of of everything that took place on That night that we consider the beginning of that perfect life.

Let us not forget what Scripture tells us the priority that it actually assigns. Consider the great words of Ephesians chapter 2 beginning in verse 4. But God.

But God.

After starting at the beginning of the book of Ephesians with this tremendous Section of worship for all the blessings that God has given to us. We then have the discussion of of man's sinfulness Man's deadness and sin his rebellion being sons of disobedience and and Doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind and and being by nature children of wrath even as the rest.

Oh.

The bad news. The reality of man's condition. I'd like to suggest there really is no meaningful Discussion of the reality of what we celebrate at this time of year that does not include Fundamentally the proclamation of man's need before God.

In fact, I'd like to suggest to you that much of the warping and the perversion of The Christmas story is because it has been disconnected from the redemption story. Which itself has been emptied of the proper emphasis of God's wrath and man's sin.

It becomes an unbelievable story or it has to be reduced down to just simply a morality tale. If there is not some Amazing reason why would the second person of the Trinity the Divine Son have to enter into human flesh?

Live as he lived obedient to his father. Why would that have to happen? Well, we understand. We know that the reason for this amazing story is the need that had to be met. You had to have one who could take on the sins the world.

You had to have one to whom the elect could be joined. You had to have the God-man and So there had to be an incarnation, but we needed to have a perfect righteousness so he couldn't just pop into existence and jump on the cross and shed his blood and then pop back to heaven as if somehow That was going to truly satisfy the demands of God and truly Demonstrate the justice of God and so he lives a perfect life.

He has to enter into he has to become one of us. He has to take on flesh.

But why?

Because of the great need of redemption. And in our day when no one will even use the term evil anymore. Even when faced with horrific evil. When you can't use words like sin wickedness rebellion trespass.

It's very easy to see why so few in our society have any Appreciation of the depth of what it is. We are saying when we are actually saying that God entered into his own creation without that element.

It simply has to be reduced down to a morality tale.

But.

Even in the midst of a discussion of that rebellion in the midst of that discussion of that fallenness of man. The text does not direct us to ah But man will find a way ah the indomitable spirit of man no.

It speaks of man being very children of wrath. We just as the rest. And verse 4 doesn't point us to mankind's solutions mankind's religions mankind's efforts.

But God.

But God God is the one Who provides in his own way by his own will? Perfect means of redemption. And he does so not as some grudging unwilling unfriendly unkind distant. Unknowable being. But Paul says but God being rich in mercy.

The first thing he thinks of he describes this God who breaks in. And who we're gonna see in the rest of the text. He's the one that's engaging in all these things. He's the one who makes us alive together with Christ.

He's the one who raises us up with Christ seats us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He's the one who demonstrates to the coming ages of surpassing riches of his grace toward us. In Christ Jesus God is the one who does all of this.

Nowhere in here. Is there any type of Synergism. Is there any type of well, you know, God sort of started the ball rolling. But now it's up to us and let's all get on God's team and push the ball forward.

It's not what you have. But God being rich in mercy what a description. That's not the kind of description that you have of the gods of antiquity. The gods of antiquity who who sat upon Mount Olympus.

Who were served in the various temples in all of the cities in which? Paul had ministered and certainly in Ephesus the Ephesians well knew all about the teachings. Concerning the deities of the people remember this is written to a small minority of people.

There's only a small number of Christians in Ephesus and in the surrounding area they well knew the gods that demanded the sacrifices and Describing them as being rich in mercy would have been laughable.

They were deities. But they were so much like mankind. They had the same foibles and imperfections. That's not the God that Paul is talking about. Paul's a monotheist. He believes there's one God has created all things that in of itself was a horrific heresy in that day.

Was considered to be very politically incorrect and in fact unloving. What an amazingly unloving thing for you to say that your God is the only true God. If you really want people to believe your message, you're gonna have to get with the program here.

History's gonna leave you behind. Heard that one before nothing new. He's he is presenting that one true God, but he says that that one True God who has made all things. He's rich in mercy. Of course you and I as believers.

We're awful thankful that the loving-kindness of God the mercy of God the grace of God. It's not limited. It's not it. It's it's not something that we go. Well, you know, it's Coming up on 2 ,000 years.

I have a feeling the supply is getting pretty low. We we may run out. Because you and I know how dependent we are. How dependent we are upon the regular display of that mercy. God being rich in mercy.

That is the fountainhead when you consider the shepherds coming when you consider the story of The wise men coming from the east however many there were we don't know. Just because there were three gifts doesn't mean there were three guys.

Looks good on a Christmas card, but we don't know. But as you consider all of the appropriate discussions. About what these things meant they're in the scriptures for a reason. You must understand you must remember what lies behind all of this.

The God who is rich in mercy and yes. We can use that in a general sense of talking about God being rich in mercy. And so we see that that Jesus is rich in mercy and the Spirit's rich in mercy and the father but in this context Paul is specifically talking about the father now if our worship of God was a zero-sum game if it was the idea was that Sort of like a lot of socialists in our day ago.

You know.

It's a zero-sum game. If if you give something to somebody then you have to take something from away from somebody else. That's how socialists think. Well if we apply that to worship then we're always sitting here trying to go well, you know.

If I give worship to Jesus and that means I have to give less worship to the father and and we're trying to sort of Divide stuff up. It doesn't work that way. That's that's not how it works when we Give thanks what the Son has done for us.

We need to realize.

There's only one God.

God is being glorified. You're not detracting from someone else, but we can be imbalanced and I've seen that I've seen that in in Christian thinking in solid Christian churches. Where immaturity leads people to think well, you know sure I am thankful for the Son because you know He came along He really showed us the friendliness of God and the love of God and the grace of God and he sort of got in between Us and that wrathful father, you know.

Whose wrath was burning against us and I'm sure thankful that the Son saves us from the wrath of the Father as if somehow There is a contradiction between the motivations and intentions of the Father and the Son.

You can't get that from reading the New Testament. There is no New Testament writer that even for a moment contemplates the idea That there is a greater Deeper love on the part of the Son than there is on the part of the Father.

Because when he is described as being rich in mercy notice what it says because of the great Love which with by which with which he loved us. It's talking about the Father and Everything that comes after this Eve, you know, it talks about our being dead and trespasses and sins, but all these verbs He made us alive together with Christ by grace.

We have been saved raised us up seen us in the heavenly places. That's what the Father did in Christ and because of his work. But it's what the Father did. So when I hear Christians who it's obvious they have the feeling that the Father is distant and That that there's still some type of an issue of wrath there and and there is a fear obviously we need to fear God, but there is a Fear that is directed toward the Father.

That's not directed toward the Son of the Spirit. Then I really have to wonder if that person has understood how Central the Father's love for us is to everything else. Because of the great love His great love.

Which he loved us.

Repeats the term twice the noun and then the verb the great love with which he loved us. Say well wouldn't there be a more efficient way of expressing that maybe. But I like the fact that Paul repeats it.

He wants to make sure we know. That the Father's love for us is the root and the basis of all that he has done sometimes I. Sometimes I fear that us Calvinistic folks. Because we've heard Imbalances. In other people's presentations, you know when you're you know, I've used the illustration many time, but when you're in a tug-of-war.

And we're constantly having to do warfare against what. Well that the tendency of Many people is to focus upon mankind and man's roles and man's power and to take away from God's glory in salvation and so man's always trying to insert himself into the gospel and find ways of controlling the grace of God and It happens all the time.

And we'll hear people talk about the love of God in an in appropriate unbiblical fashion. We've all heard the great-grandfather-in-the-sky sermons. You know. Or basically, it's it's Santa Claus without the red and you've got the big white fluffy bearded guy up there that just loves everybody equally and Doesn't really know what he's doing.

It doesn't really have a plan or a purpose, but he's up there and we react against that undifferentiated. Unbiblical not connected to God's holiness concept of love and we react appropriately. It's not biblical.

Nobody who reads the Redemption story. Considers what God did with the people of Israel considers what God has done in Jesus Christ. Can ever hold that together and so we don't we don't want people to be given an inappropriate understanding of God's love.

There's no question about that. But the same time because we're pulling that direction. Sometimes I just have to wonder are we somewhat fearful of talking about God's love. About the depth of it the greatness of it because of the great love.

The great love which which he loved us. Yeah, it's specific. I Mean if you follow that us back. There is a distinction that is made made all the way back to the beginning of Ephesians 1. It's talking about believers here.

He's talking about those have been chosen from before the foundation of the earth. We don't know who they are in the sense of being given supernatural revelation to where we can Discern who the elect are and who the elect are not just by looking at them, but we know God has his people and We know they're from every tribe tongue people a nation, which is why we can proclaim the gospel.

Freely.

To all. Leave the results in God's hands. But God's great love toward his elect people Cannot be limited Cannot in any way be diminished and Nothing that happens to his people can change. The fact that his love is being demonstrated toward them is it.

But look at. Look at what his people have gone through. Look at how they're being persecuted even today all around the world. Look at what's happening in North Korea in China in many Islamic nations his people trodden underfoot.

And.

Down through history off the persecution the sufferings of God's people. Well, that certainly makes us realize that The love of God that he has for his people Is not a love that promises them ease in this life.

But it does promise to them the fact that they have been seated together with Christ in the heavenly places. And that is what has always given Christ's people. Their strength their joy even in the midst of the worst persecutions or if in God's will.

We walk through trials and difficulties in our personal lives. Could be being betrayed by others. Deep personal hurts. Physical malady and suffering. No matter what our calling the biblical reality. Is that everything that God has done?

He's done because of his great love for us. That doesn't detract from the fact that yes verse 7 says God has a purpose. God has a purpose he is going to demonstrate. In the coming ages the surpassing riches of his grace in Kindness toward us in Christ Jesus there is going to be a demonstration of God's justice and his grace and his mercy.

It's all gonna be laid out. God makes that promise he's wrapping up all things in Christ Jesus. Yes, there is that Overriding element that God is demonstrating his attributes to us.

And.

That in eternity to come in some Fantastic way we are going to be able to see in greater depth than we can see now Everything that God did and how he was right in he in his so doing in his so decreeing That's all true.

But I sometimes get worried That as we defend that reality that vitally important reality That God has a purpose in all things he's working out his decree that we lose sight of the fact that that Demonstration of the surpassing riches of his grace is an act of love and.

We.

We are the ones who are loved. It's not just some general love. I'm awful glad that there is a Pronoun there a direct object. He loved us. He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses. So it's it's not that we earned it.

It's not that we did something to deserve it. He loved us When we were dead in our trespasses. He made us alive together with Christ. The only thing we Contribute here is death. We contribute our trespasses and our spiritual death and our rebellion.

Are being children of wrath even as the rest that's our contribution doesn't take much work. We being dead He made alive together with Christ there is tremendous beauty in In recognizing the biblical teaching That God is the one who saves not just in the sense of setting up some type of system.

But it's an exercise of divine power. You didn't save yourself. Oh. You may look back upon your life, and you may be able to chart the work of God. You might be able to say well, you know I This person came into my life and that person in my life.

I began thinking about this and this terrible thing happened and that made me start thinking about eternity. And you may be able to think about things like that. And it may be very natural for us. We're looking down from below and we're limited by time.

To see things in a particular fashion, but the scripture lifts us up from all of that and directs us to a recognition of the fact. That we were dead we were dead in our transgressions and It was God Who made us alive together with Christ?

That act of resurrection from the grave. The first fruits of them that slept, but we being joined together with him. We experienced that same resurrection power, and it's God who made us alive. We did not make ourselves.

We were not a dead man that said I'd like to become alive and then you have Three words by grace you have been saved. They'll be repeated again down in verse 8 with a little expansion through faith. But here Through faith isn't included it will come later on there's always the balance that's given, but that's not his point here.

That's not that's not the the emphasis here. This is what God has done. What God's done results in that act of faith as we would see later on but He made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved.

I don't understand. Why anyone would want to add anything to that? I don't understand why anybody would find that insufficient in and of itself. Paul's assertion is that that grace that grace which is going to be demonstrated and and and illustrated in the ages to come.

Is what has brought about the current condition of our? Salvation it's not a joint work. It is God's work. That's why it's all to his glory. By grace you have been saved. And that is why we can sing Amazing grace, that's why we can look forward in eternity itself to constantly Learning new things about God, but always no matter what we learn about his vast creation and his power and his purposes.

It doesn't matter.

We will always.

Be singing praise to him for his grace. Because it is that grace that has brought about our salvation. He made us alive together. He saved us by his grace and and he raised us up and He seated us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Once again we have this. Now and the not yet. There is a true and real sense in which you have been raised up and seated in the heavenly Places in Christ Jesus. The fact that he stands at the father's right hand.

Interceding for you and because you have been joined to him in the sovereign act of God the father. Because of that that reality is a present Reality. And yet you and I. We know our daily existence we know our daily struggles.

And so there is the now and the not yet. There is the reality of the work of God in Christ now and. Yet, we know that our body's grown for that day of the finality of our adoption. Entering into that final state where we'll be free from the presence of sin.

And what? Grounds that hope. What gives reality to that hope is that our forerunner has entered in in our place. Remember Hebrews. That beautiful terminology that is used there. His presence There before the father guarantees.

Our.

Current peace with God and the fact that we will have that peace in eternity as well. Even when the final state is rush is ushered in. He's the one who raises us by his power. He's the one who seats us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Not because of anything we've done. Not because of any addition that we make. It's all God's power, that's why when you when you consider this well of course it's by grace. It's it's all of God. There's nothing we could have added to any of this and.

So we have the father acting the one who is rich in mercy who has such great love for us. He's the one that makes us alive. He's the one that raises us up and seats us in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

And in that day that is going to come in that eternity that is going to come. We are not going to be floating around on clouds plucking on harps.

That.

Individualistic idea. That people have. I can understand why? Why the lost world. I? I've told you the story before but I remember once we were out in Mason I was talking to a Mormon missionary and of course Mormons think they're going to be married and raising kids.

For a new planet that they're gonna be the God of that's what they're gonna be doing in heaven, which makes you go. That really is totally different. Yes. It is yes. It is. And besides all of that I really feel somewhat sorry for the Mormons because Joseph Smith said that Jesus was actually born April 6th, so I'm not sure what that does to this time of season for them.

But anyway that happens to be when the Mormon Church was founded as well so I guess that's probably why it goes together, but bit as it may he was we are talking and and He says what do you think you're gonna be doing in heaven floating around on clouds plucking on harps.

You know I thought you know if I had a God like the Mormon God. That would be a real problem. I mean if your God is an exalted man and and You don't have a true deity in the sense of the one who's made all things.

It's eternal and timeless and totally unlike us since your God's just a big exalted, man. I yeah, that would be a real problem to think about that the eternity would be sort of boring if you're not like getting worshipped.

Or something I get it. But if you have the biblical God if you have the God who has created all things who holds this vast universe in the palm of his hand and yet has chosen.

In.

Eternity past to bring about this tremendous drama of redemption with these these creatures that he makes in his own image and He wants to demonstrate it literally could be amongst the ages to come. So it's not just on that final day, but there's a there's a continuing.

Demonstration of.

The surpassing riches of his grace in Kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. I don't know what that demonstration is going to look like. I Don't think that in this life. We can even begin to start Getting a sense of it.

I really don't. But he has a purpose. It's a purpose born of love. It's a purpose born of mercy and in the ages to come We will still be seeing the praises of his the riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Some people get the idea that well, you know once Once it's all wrapped up then you know once we're saved we have our tickets punched then That's it. I mean, that's all there is to it isn't there well.

Even in eternity to come it says in Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. You see the union of the elect with their Savior does not end after the resurrection. That's what's amazing. When God chose to take on that that human nature and then chose to join a particular people To himself through the Sun that doesn't change in eternity to come.

It's so easy for us to have this very individualistic idea about heaven and you know, we're just gonna do our thing and and but in reality, it's its union with Christ and it's.

It's.

It's so much deeper than anything. We can even begin to conceive of. We cannot even begin to conceive of it, but it's always gonna be marked by grace Kindness mercy and love. So Why call this a a Holiday sermon.

Well because when you think About these words.

But God.

Rich in mercy. Great love made us alive. You see I don't want any of us leaving here this morning influenced by Worldly imbalances. We want to have a biblical balance and considering what God has done in Christ Jesus and We thank our Lord and Savior for his condescension and the great love that he has for us.

We thank the Holy Spirit for being with us and for being our comforter Just as Jesus was comforter to the disciples. We have another who has been sent. That is the Spirit. But I don't want us to be amongst those Who so often have an imbalanced unbiblical view of the Father as distant.

And.

Wrathful almost as if we don't really believe that Christ's work was was totally finished because well if it really was then wouldn't the Father be Propitiated and we still have that idea of that that distance.

We need to recognize the biblical teaching Father Son and Holy Spirit absolutely united in the eternal covenant of redemption the eternity past and that means the depth of the love of the Son Is no greater than the depth of the love of the Father just because it's the Son it becomes incarnate does not mean That there is some lesser nature.

To the Father's love or the Spirit's love they take different roles. But it does not mean that the Father's love is any less Vital and deep. Truly in the giving of his Son in our behalf and here we have it directly said to us all of this.

It's because of the Father's love is he is his very nature rich in Mercy. There might be one or two here this morning. And you may say to yourself. I am so very thankful that the Father is rich in mercy.

Not just that he was rich in mercy in the days of Paul. I Need him to be rich in mercy today. I need that mercy. I Know my own heart. I know my need for grace. I Need a father who's rich in mercy you have one if you believe in Jesus Christ.

Because all of this did you notice how often verse 5 in Christ verse 6 in notice how each each verse ends In Christ in Christ in Christ Jesus, it's a lovely message that we have. You see what the world wants to do is lop off that last part.

We want a God that we can edit and we want a God that doesn't have demands for us. And so we we just want a God who's rich and mercy and love. But we don't have to worry about the sin part. We don't have to worry about the atonement part the sacrifice part the faith and repentance part.

Now.

The beautiful message of this Merciful loving God is that he has demonstrated That his love is real by acting. He acted in time. Bethlehem took place at a particular Place upon the globe and a particular time in history.

It's not mythology the Sun entered into human flesh. He's demonstrated his love. And we cannot say to him. No, we want some other way. It's in Christ Jesus. But may we truly be filled with thanksgiving and joy that.

Father.

Son and spirit Love us so To have brought about such a perfect perfect redemption. Whatever you may be Hoping for this season, maybe there's something you really want to get. It's nothing in comparison To what already is in the possession of every person that believes in Jesus Christ.

Let's pray together. Indeed our gracious Heavenly Father. We thank you for being rich and mercy. We thank you for the great love with which you loved us and. And Lord, may we recognize that if in our hearts we truly understand those words That there could be nothing in this world no physical situation no loss of relationships friends or family that could change the amazing reality of Your love for us the love you set upon us in eternity past.

Oh Lord, may anything may any of the physical things in this world Pass into obscurity. May we see them for what they are in Comparison to the great love with which you loved us. Thank you being rich and mercy.

We are a people who need it. May we rejoice truly in what's truly important? Thank you for this time. Thank you for the gospel. Thank you for the Word of God that reveals it to us. For all these things in Christ's name.

Amen.