Ephesians 2 (Part 1)

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the Apostle Paul said, ìBut we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour ,î so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isnít for you. By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as weíre called by the Divine Trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her King.

Preaching Ephesians 2:1-10 as a Passage of Contrast

Hereís our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Today I have the joy of preaching one of the most exciting passages in the Bible. The bad news is, if you canít preach Ephesians 2, 1 -10 well, you canít preach at all.

So please turn your Bibles to Ephesians 2, 1 -10 for this great passage, and I want to just unfold it, let you see the riches that are found in this great passage. It is really one of those passages that youíve probably memorized, that you love to hear.

You can hear ten sermons on it and still be reminded of the greatness of the Lord. I think if you wanted to just describe this passage in seven words, it would be these words. And if youíre a child taking notes and looking for key words, these are the words of the sermon, ìDead, dominated, doomed, mercy, love, grace, and kindness .î Thatís the sermon, ìDead, dominated, doomed, mercy, love, grace, and kindness .î And if you canít remember seven words, just let me give you two words, ìBut God .î Thatís the passage, Ephesians 2, 1 -10.

And itís a passage of contrast. Itís super simple. If you wanted to outline it, there would be bad news and then good news. And the good news is so good because it takes care of the bad news. I think of contrast in life, maybe the one thatís the most stark to me, especially in light of the weather.

Kim and I, 30-some years ago, were flying from Phoenix to Omaha. And Phoenix, it was 80 degrees Fahrenheit. And in Omaha, it was 20 below Fahrenheit, without wind chill. And so when we got off the plane in Omaha, there were news cameras there interviewing people who had experienced a 100-degree temperature change.

And the good news is we were on TV, the local affiliate there, ABC, and Kim and I talked a little bit about the 100-degree temperature change. The bad news is, and this is kind of the old lifestyle that I had, I thought to myself, ìGrandma and Grandpa just saw me on TV ,î because they never miss the news, ìand I just had some brand new big hoop earring in my ear and I thought theyíd kill me .î So, celebrityism isnít all that itís called for.

I no longer wear earrings, by the way. Weíve been going through the book of Ephesians pretty fast, faster than normal, because I want the church to have kind of an overview. Weíve, 15 -20 years ago, have spent a lot of time in Ephesians, but Iím picking certain books of the Bible that weíll go through quickly so you can get an overview, so that your taste buds are wet, so you might say, ìYou know, Iíd like to study that more .î So Iíve been taking two sermons per chapter, and so today is no different.

Ephesians 2, 1 -10. Next week, and you can see the breakdown pretty easily, chapter 2, verses 11 -22. Paul is writing to churches in the geographic area around Turkey, and he writes to the church at Ephesus the original manuscripts, the best manuscripts show, in blank.

In other words, itís a circular letter. Itís good for all the churches, and thatís why it doesnít have a lot of detail, with people to be greeted, etc. Last week we saw in chapter 1, the great preface talks about grace and peace in verses 1 and 2, the great praise, ìBlessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places .î Paul, in this great praise, he talks about the Father choosing, he talks about the Son redeeming by His blood, so we receive forgiveness.

He talks about how the Spirit of God seals us, so that weíre protected to the day of redemption. And then he has a great prayer, does he not? In verses 15 -23, Paul has a prayer, and that prayer is essentially this.

The prayer is that you know more deeply the person and work of the Lord Jesus, who was sent by the Father, who we receive His benefits by the Spirit, so that we might know. We donít need new revelation, we donít need new information, we need to be reminded and know more deeply what God has already done.

Dead in Trespasses and Sins

And now we move to Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1 -10. The bad news found in the first three verses, and then the good news found in verses 4 -10. Three key words here in this section, theyíll be dead, dominated, and doomed.

I donít always like alliteration, but sometimes it works, doesnít it? Okay, well Iím preaching today so weíre going to do a little alliteration for half of it. Paul is going to talk about what we were like before we were saved.

Heís going to talk about what our lives were dominated by. Heís going to give us some really bad news, and sometimes when you look in the mirror you donít really like what you see. But then you realize how great the Lord Jesus is, because He saves people like that.

Heís not going to rub our noses in it. Sometimes when people train dogs, if the dog has an accident, theyíll take their dog and put the nose in the dogís accident. Iím just trying to be as careful as I can here, how I describe this.

You think, you know what, is that what the Lord is doing? Heís not doing that at all. Heís also not kind of making our past sins romantic, where you think, you know what, those were the good old days when I could sin.

Itís so nostalgic, itís so wonderful for me to go back and relive my past sins. Heís not doing that either. He wants believers to know what you were, so then you realize how great the Lord is. And the first word is ìdeadî, and it comes right from the passage of Ephesians 2, verse 1.

ÌAnd you were dead in trespasses and sins .î You can see the first word there, even in your English text, and tying it to the last section, Heís going to remind them of who they were outside of Christ.

And the one word that describes it all is ìdeadî. You could say ìlostî, you could say ìdeadî, the Greek word is ìnecrossî, if you have a dead tissue on your hand, itís necrotic tissue, itís necrosis, itís dead.

And you say, well, yeah, but I was walking around, I talked, I had degrees that I got at the university. Heís not talking about physical death, Heís talking about spiritual death. Remember Adam and the Garden and Eve?

ÌThe day you shall eat of it, you shall surelyî what? ÌDie .î But they were still walking around. This is spiritual death. This is death to the Word of God. I donít care what God says, I donít care about Godís glory, I donít care about the exaltation of Jesus, whatever you think is important, God, I donít care.

I have no desire to worship you, I have no desire for fellowship with the saints. You take the reflex hammer and you hit it on the corpseís knee, nothing happens. Spiritually dead. The text does not say, kind of dead, sick, weak, absolutely dead.

And sometimes weíll call this doctrine ìtotal depravityî. Men and women outside of Christ are depraved. And when you say ìtotal depravityî, sometimes you think, well, total depravity is everybody is as bad as they could be.

But of course, everybody is not as bad as they could be, because thatís not what weíre talking about here. If you were as bad as you could be, then we would say things like this, ìWell, why was Hitler kind to certain priests ?î I also like to think of, ìHitler was nice to his dog, well, until he killed him later, but he was nice early on to his dog .î.

No, this is ìwhole depravity .î. Think of the word W-H-O-L-E, wholly depraved. That is, my mind before I was saved, affected by the fall. My emotions, affected by the fall. My conscience, tainted by the fall.

Everything tainted by sin. The whole, every faculty, mind, will, emotion, body, affected. That is total depravity. Colossians 2, ìAnd you were dead in your transgressions .î One man said, ìAs the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature ?î You canít go to a certain spot in the Atlantic Ocean and say, ìOh, hereís some fresh water here .î.

So our entire being is dead, affected by sin. And you see the text in trespasses, plural, and sins, plural. He uses those two words to totally show us the amount of sin that unbelievers do. Trespasses, you overstep your bounds, right?

When I was hunting with my father, and I remember when I first would hunt with my father, I would have a little BB gun. By the way, if I ever did this to my father with the BB gun, that was the last time I ever did it.

Walking around, and you see these signs, and you go to the farmerís house, and there was the big sign, ìNo Trespassing .î But for unbelievers, you see the sign, and you purposely step over that, you trespass.

This is on purpose. These are sins of commission. I commit them. But there are other sins, too, sins of things that we donít do. And thatís that word ìsinî right there in verse 1 of chapter 2. Falling short of a standard.

So whether itís ìI purposely sinî, transgressions, or ìI donít measure up to Godís mark because I keep missing itî, sins, this is the world that we live in. This is the air we breathe when we were unbelievers.

From false steps and wrongdoings and offenses, to missing the mark, no matter how hard we try. Every time we had a New Yearís resolution, ìIím going to be more spiritual this year. Iím going to read my Bible more.

Iím going to go to church more .î Thinking like an unbeliever, we just never could do it because we were dead in trespasses and sins. Our statement of faith here at the church reads, ìAlthough God created man upright and perfect and gave him a righteous law, which had been unto life had he kept it, and threatened death upon the breach thereof, yet he did not long abide in this honor.

Satan, using the subtlety of the serpent to subdue Eve, then by her seducing Adam, who without any compulsion did willingly transgress the law of their creation, and command given unto them in eating the forbidden fruit which God was pleased according to His wise and holy counsel to permit, having purposed to order it to His own glory .î Adam sins, we and Adam sin as well, and now sin has affected our natures.

And within we are darkened, Ephesians 4 says, in our understanding, having become calloused, Ephesians 4 says. True or false? There is none who understands. There is none who seeks after God. I hope you said true because thatís Romans chapter 3.

And remember my little trick, if ever I say true or false, Iím probably quoting a Bible verse, so I want you to say true. But now that you know my trick, Iím switching it up on you. Those in the flesh, Romans 8, cannot please God.

Thatís dead in trespasses and sins. First Corinthians 2, ìA natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God because they are foolishness to him .î As an old Puritan in America once said, ìHow many times does the servant have to spit in the masterís face before the master kills him ?î Yes, but the rest of the time Iíve been an obedient servant, and we know society has been affected by the fall, weíve been affected by the fall.

Our legislature is supposed to be set up in such a way where there are checks and balances. You probably lock your doors at night. We realize people arenít good. And total depravity is summarized by the word dead.

I think itís fair to say that if you donít understand total depravity, many other doctrines are affected. For instance, you say, ìWell, I donít really get election. How could God elect? Donít I have to do something?

Doesnít He have to see what I do, and then He chooses me ?î If you realize that youíre dead in trespasses and sins as an unbeliever, Godís going to have to do all the work. The second word is dominated.

Ian Hamilton used this word, and I think itís a good word. Iím looking for the word enslaved. But to keep with the alliteration, dominated. We run around as unbelievers, and we think weíre captains of our own ship, manifest destiny, weíre autonomous, we serve no sovereign here, and yet weíre stuck.

When I was a kid, we used to play with certain cheap toys, and one was something called a Chinese finger trap. You ever play with those? Chinese finger puzzles, Chinese, they call them Chinese handcuffs, and they were these little gag toys made out of bamboo, and you put your fingers in there, either your fingers or your thumbs, and then if you tried to get them out, what would happen?

Youíd get stuck. How many people have ever used those? All the people with gray hair, raise their hand. Well, if youíre younger and youíve never done it, itís just a cheap little toy, and you put your fingers in, and you canít get out unless you push it in a little bit to make the bamboo cylinder open up a little bit.

Dominated, enslaved, and this slavery is deep. Look at how deep it is. Unbelievers, first of all, verse 2, are dominated by the course of the world. Theyíre slaves of the world, in which, verse 2, you once walked, following the course of this world.

Youíre walking around, dead men walking, kind of spiritual zombies walking around, and you think youíre free, but the world is running you. Youíre not running to God, youíre running from Him, and the world is selling that very thing.

The world has its way of thinking, its way of demanding expectations, its thoughts and philosophies, and unbelievers do whatever the world says they should do. No wonder Christians are told in Romans 12, ìDo not be conformed to this world .î I can put it this way, if youíre younger, if youíre an unbeliever, the world is your BFF, and you do everything your bestÖ Whatís BFF?

Your best friend? Best friend forever. Oh, sorry. Youíve got to be careful of acronyms sometimes. Youíre best friends, but theyíre like an older friend whoís the influential one and you just do whatever the world says.

Not only that, verse 2, the world dominates unbelievers, and Satan does too. ÌFollowing the prince of the power of the air ,î thatís Satan, ìthe spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience .î Satan is real, heís a fallen angel and he controls people.

One man wrote, ìMany are unwitting dupes of evil. Others are willing disciples of the devil .î This Satan has blinded the eyes of unbelievers lest they see the glorious gospel of Christ, 2 Corinthians chapter 4.

I think itís so interesting, people run around and say, ìI have freedom to do whatever I want as an unbeliever. I donít want to get enslaved in Christianity .î Theyíve got all these rules and Iím thinking, ìYouíre already enslaved .î.

ÌThe prince of the power of the air .î I was listening to S. Lewis Johnson and he has a funny story. They had a super liberal preacher and he denied the deity of Christ and all kinds of other things, but he was famous, because thatíll get you famous these days, and he was on the radio a lot and a man was introducing him, so how do you introduce a famous liberal influential preacher whoís on the radio a lot and with rhetorical flourish, S. Lewis Johnson said, ìThe man introduced him with these words, ìAnd now we present to you the prince of the power of the air .î Satan, John 12, is the ruler of this world.

Matthew 9, heís the ruler of demons. Did you know that every unbeliever follows Satanís will? Listen to 2 Timothy, that they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by Satan to do Satanís will.

The unbeliever thinks theyíre free, but theyíre dominated. Theyíre dead in trespasses and sins, dominated by the world and controlled by Satan. People always run around and say, ìWell, I have free will .î If you mean freedom to sin, Iím with you, unbeliever.

If you mean freedom from Satan, Scripture doesnít teach that. Freedom from the world, Scripture doesnít teach that. Freedom from Godís intervention doesnít teach that. Jesus said, ìYou are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father .î He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because thereís no truth in him.

Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature. He is a liar and the father of lies. And so unbelievers, like their father the liar, the devil, they do what he does. Huge liars, Christians are the bound ones and unbelievers are free.

And lastly, Christians see, as we look back to our old life, that unbelievers, verse 3, are dominated by themselves. This could be the worst. Itís one thing to be dominated by the world and dominated by Satan, but dominated by your own self, your own lust, among whom, verse 3, we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and of the mind.

Our own gratification, our own lust, our own selves control us. Paul includes himself here, ìWe once all ,î whether it was Jew or Gentile. Controlled by ourselves, our own cravings control us. Our own lusts control us when we were unbelievers.

ÌDesires ,î there in the original language, could be translated a dictate or demand. Our flesh demands, our flesh desires, our flesh says, ìThis is what we will .î And the problem is, weíre good at it, or we were good at it as unbelievers.

Indulging is not like you just thought about it, no, but you indulge, you carry out. Itís one thing for it to be theoretical, but itís practical. You are carrying out these desires of the body as unbelievers.

Because by what a man has overcome, that is what he is, enslaved. We were slaves to sin. ÌWe are Abrahamís offspring ,î they said to Jesus, ìand have not been enslaved to anyone. How is it, Jesus, that you say, ìWe shall become free .î Jesus answered them, ìTruly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin .î They have freedom, like a bird with a broken wing is free to fly.

This is the bondage of the will. And the third word in this bad news section is ìdoomedî, dead, dominated, doomed. Dead, dominated, and doomed. Do you see where I get that third D? Children of wrath, by nature, like the rest of mankind.

The first lie, I think, in all the Bible was anti-judgment. Who wants to be judged? Nobody wants to be judged. But here, the Bible says, ìLeft to themselves, without the intervention of God, thereís nothing but doom, nothing but wrath .î Children of wrath.

I should probably just stop and let that settle in for a second. Children of wrath. The thrice holy God with His eternal wrath. Remember, the Thessalonian church was encouraged, ìYouíre not going to have to go through the day of wrath .î People hate wrath today, because they want to live in ungodliness, because they love to live in unrighteousness.

Sinclair Ferguson said, ìPaul does not raise his voice here, or use capital letters, or underline his words. He is psalmized and subdued by what he knows. There is a future day of wrath .î And I think itís fair to say that if youíre sitting here today and youíre not a Christian, thereís a future day of wrath to you.

And you, while you think youíre free, youíre dead in trespasses and sins. Youíre dominated by the world, dominated by Satan, dominated by your own lusts, and thereís a day of wrath coming. Solemn is right.

By nature, children of wrath. Distinctive character, just like your father. Is there any hope for people? Would God help us? John Gerstner said, ìCould God possibly help us ?î God? Thatís the most preposterous appeal of all.

Itís against God we have done all this sinning. It was against His law we violated. It was His commands we disobeyed. It was His image we ruined. It was His purposes we were seeking to frustrate. And we are under His wrath.

Why would God ever rescue us from the judgment in which He placed us? Thatís a good question. And the answer is because God has mercy, He has love, grace, and kindness. Now, we get to the good news. Now, we come to gospel preaching.

But God: Mercy, Love, Grace, and Kindness

Yes, weíve seen the bad news, and now we go from verses 1 to 3 with damnation and domination and deadness to the two great words of the Bible that maybe describe all of the gospel, ìBut God .î But God.

I mean, I thought the soul that sinned will surely die. I thought the way of the transgressors hard. ÌBut God .î Iíll never forget a time when someone said to me, ìWhat if the word in verse 4, the first word was ìandî?

Dead, dominated, doomed, and God showed forth His glory by punishing the wicked throughout eternity in hell. What if it was therefore, therefore God to make sure His holy character and nature was promoted and shown to the world, doomed them all, damned them all.

But it doesnít say ìand God ,î it doesnít say ìbut ,î therefore it says ìBut God .î John Stottís a commentator and he said, ìThese two monosyllabic words set against the desperate condition of fallen mankind and the gracious initiative and sovereign action of God .î.

Listen, a child can say them and understand them. ÌBut God .î. ÌBut God .î This is like the whole gospel in two words, ìBut God .î Yes, but I thought we had a lot of guilt and we were dead and trespassed in sins.

ÌBut God .î I thought this world dominated me, Satan dominated me, and myself dominated me. I dominated myself. ÌBut God .î I thought Iím on my way to hell. Iím children of wrath even as the rest. ÌBut God .î God commended His love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Is there ever a time to look back in your life and see your sins? Yes, but like Samuel Rutherford said, ìEvery time you do, make sure you look ten more times to the Lord Jesus .î And thatís exactly what Paul is going to do here in verses 4 through 10.

Key words, Iíve said them already several times, mercy, love, grace, and kindness. And by the way, when I say those words, you ought to think thatís who Jesus is. You want to describe Jesus to somebody, if they came up to you in the street, ìTell me who Jesus is.

Whatís your truth about Jesus ?î Donít you hate it when people do that? ÌWhatís my truth ?î Well, hereís the truth about Jesus. Let me tell you about who Jesus is. And thereís more you can say. But you can talk about His mercy, because thatís going to relate to their sin.

You can talk about His love, because thatís going to relate. You can talk about grace, and you can talk about kindness. Word number one, you could even ask the question, ìWhy would God save sinners ?î Hereís a reason.

Heís merciful. But God, verse 4, being rich in mercy. I think Iíve heard it said, ìGood thing God is rich in mercy, because we were really rich in sin .î I thought I was supposed to go to hell. I thought I was doomed for sure.

But God is rich in mercy. And Paul, just like in chapter 1, he just canít wait to extol who God is. Once you get Paul going, heís off to the races. Somebody said to me the other day, ìMike, why do you keep saying, ìIf the camelís nose gets in the tent .îî I said, ìWell, because if the camelís nose gets in the tent.

If the camelís nose gets in the tent, what gets in the tent? All the camel .î Once Paul gets his nose in the tent of starting to praise, he just canít stop himself. This word, ìmercy, rich in mercy .î We know the word, ìrich .î Heís just abounding in mercy.

This word, ìmercy ,î talks about God having compassion on people who are in distress. It talks about God sees someone in a pitiful condition, dead, dominated, and doomed, and He does something about it.

Thatís what mercy is. And when you watch the Lord Jesus in His life, I think could be summed up by the word, ìmercy .î Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like a sheep without a shepherd.

Thatís the mercy of the Lord Jesus. Two blind men were sitting by the road hearing that Jesus was passing by. They cried out, ìLord, have mercy on us. Weíre in a pitiful situation. Weíre blind. Have mercy on us, Son of David .î The Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry out, saying, ìHave mercy on me, Lord, Son of David.

My daughter is cruelly demon-possessed .î Now, sometimes we think of mercy, rightfully so, not getting what you deserve. Right? So if I were to tell my children, ìYouíve disobeyed .î Well, theyíre a little old now to spank them, but back in the day, if I were to say to them, ìIím going to have to give you justice because you disobeyed God and Dadís laws and Momís law, and so Iím going to give you justice .î.

A few times I would say to them, ìWell, Iím not going to give you what you deserve, and weíre going to call that mercy .î. And so then for the next ten times, over the next months, they would say, ìDaddy, can I have mercy?

Daddy, can I have mercy ?î. And once in a while, we would say, ìYou know what? You deserve justice, and Iím not even going to give you mercy .î. And theyíre like, ìWhat are you going to give me ?î. ÌWeíre going to give you some ice cream, and thatís something called grace.

You didnít deserve it, but youíre going to get it .î. ÌOkay, Dad, I want grace, I want grace .î Sometimes itís true, not getting what you deserve we call mercy, but this word mercy is much more active.

Itís God sees someone thatís pitiful, in a state of hardship, and He does something about it. For this reason, Paul said, ìI found mercy, that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life .î.

What God does in Christ, itís not simply sympathy, not simply emotion, it is those things, but it is compassion for helpless people. Doesnít that make sense? If youíre dead, dominated, and doomed, youíre helpless.

Thatís Romans chapter 5, weíre helpless, we need help. What in God would move Him to help the helpless? Answer, mercy. Does He have a little bit of mercy? No, the text says He has riches of mercy for us.

No wonder when God tucked Moses in the cleft of the rock and He passes by Moses, what does God show Moses? The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness or mercy.

By nature, God is merciful, showing loving kindness or mercy to thousands. Did you know weíre even called in Romans 9 vessels of mercy, not vessels of wrath? He saved us, Titus 3, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.

The only hope for people dead, dominated, and doomed is the triune God Himself, and the good news is Heís merciful. Youíre here today and you think, ìYou know what? Iím enslaved to sin. I canít even extract myself out of this, and Iíve sinned against this God so many times.

I do deserve to go to hell. Would there be any hope for me ?î Thereís a God whoís merciful. Heís rich in mercy. He loves sinners just like you. Well, thereís another word we can look at, love. Why would God ever save sinners?

Well, Heís merciful, thatís His character in nature. Heís love. And we see it right there in verse 4, ìBut God, because of His great love with which He loved usÖî Now, itís one thing to be merciful. You say, ìWell, you know what?

I feel pity for you, and Iíll do something for you .î But itís another thing to love those people that are pitiful. Gershner said, ìWhat is there to love in an unbeliever? Hate? Yes, thereís plenty of hate.

Maybe He once loved us. Maybe He could have loved us for what we once were. But weíre beyond love now. Maybe Heís forgotten who we are. Maybe Heís forgotten what weíve done .î. ÌNo ,î Gershner said, ìHe has not forgotten your condition.

This is the love which loves when thereís nothing to love .î. Isnít that good? ÌThis is the love which loves when thereís nothing to love .î. Can you imagine? God loves sinners. How does that make you think or feel?

When I was a younger pastor and preacher, Iím like, ìAll these guys talk about the love of God. Thatís all they talk about. And they donít want to talk about Godís holiness and wrath and justice. And they donít preach about sin enough .î The older I get and the more trials I go through and watch you go through trials, I think, ìI am so glad God loves me.

I am so glad He loves you .î The day that I found out Kim Duncan loved me, I couldnít hardly believe it. Youíre kind of afraid to say it. I know I needed to say it. I felt it. Okay, I love you, Kim. And then when she said, ìI love you ,î I thought it was the coup of the universe that I could trick this girl into believing that this girl would love me.

And I probably didnít even do anything against her, let alone now that God of the universe that Iíve sinned against and spit in His face not once a year but daily for 29 years of my life. And God says, ìI love sinners like you .î Thatís amazing to me.

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And see, this love that we understand about God, itís a free love. Hereís what I mean by free love. Donít think the 1960s. I want you to think of this.

Thereís nothing in me to love. Thereís no conditions. Itís free. Itís of His own free will. Thereís only room in this universe for one free will, and itís God. Thereís nothing in us to be attractive or prompt His love.

Remember, just like with Israel, the Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, but because you were the fewest. But because the Lord loved you and kept an oath which He swore to His fathers.

Why does God love sinners? Because He loves sinners. Thatís His character. Thatís His nature. We love because He first loved us. And here, like mercy is rich, do you see in your text, His love is great.

Thatís emphatic. Itís a great love. Yes, all His attributes are infinite. I understand that. But Paul, trying to use the Greek language to get us to understand, itís not just love, itís a great love. Jesus, love incarnate.

Listen to John 13. Now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus, knowing that His hour had come, that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who are in the world, Jesus loved them to the end.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Not my love for Him, but His love for me and for you. Will tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword? Revelation chapter 1, ìTo Him, Jesus, who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood .î Thereís another word, grace.

Mercy, love, and grace. And this dominates the rest of the verses up to chapter 10. Even when we were dead in trespasses, He made us alive together with Christ by grace youíve been saved. Not just mercy, not just love, but also grace.

Grace is probably best defined as demerited favor, not unmerited even, but demerited. Itís defined as Godís sovereign generosity. Itís the word thatís opposite of any kind of merit or works or goodness that we would do.

God is called the God of all grace. 2 Corinthians 8, I think of the Lord Jesus when I think of mercy, I think of the Lord Jesus when I think of love, and so too here with grace, for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich for your sake, He became poor.

2 Corinthians benediction, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Before we ever would say to ourselves ever again, Godís not fair, Godís unjust, Godís unjust.

These words should remind us, letís talk like a foolish person talks, Godís unjust, Godís unfair. The wise person talks this way, merciful, loving, gracious. Verse 6, He raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

And where He goes, we go. He made us alive, raised us up, made us sit, because Jesus was dead, buried, raised up, seated in the heavenly places. And if you have to think of something that summarizes a lot of whatís going on, while we were dead, verse 5, made us alive.

Why are you a Christian? Well the motivation is because Godís merciful and kind and loving and gracious, but what He did was made you alive, He made you born again. Itís amazing, this is amazing truth.

And the last word is kindness, mercy, love, grace, kindness. So that in the coming ages, Ephesians 2, 7, He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Did you know the word kindness in the Greek is almost like the word Christ?