Picking up with Ephesians 2:5.
Ephesians 2:5
"Even when we were dead in sins, (God) hath quickened (or made us alive) us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"
It's by Grace. We didn't deserve it, we didn't work for it, we didn't do anything for it. But we have to keep mind what John tells us in John 1:14 and 17 which is Grace and Truth are found or revealed only in Christ Jesus. Now let me take you back to Exodus chapter 32 and 33 for a moment. We hadn't intended to use this verse, but it came to mind, so we've got to use it. You know back in chapter 32, the children of Israel worshiped the golden calf, and there was a lot more there than met the eye. There was iniquity and wickedness there, it was awful. God and Moses were up there at an altitude where they could have looked right down on them and still they did it. Here in chapter 32 Moses and the Lord are now conversing over these horrible things that the Israelites are doing around that golden calf. And image of Egypt's pagan god.
Exodus 32:10-13
"Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: (in so many words God is saying, "Moses I'll start over with you.") and I will make of thee a great nation. And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever."
Moses said, "Lord you remember saying all that, don't you? Now don't destroy them." But you see it wasn't the words of Moses that changed God's mind. Now go to chapter 33, verses 18 and 19.
Exodus 33:18-19a
"And he (Moses) said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he (the Lord) said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee;..."
Now here comes the mind of God, and that's why we brought you back here. This is exactly what Paul is proclaiming in Ephesians, when he said in verse 4, "But God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us." How could God do it? Well here it is, and don't forget it.
Exodus 33:19b
"...and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will show mercy."
What is God declaring? His Sovereignty. Which is His personality. But His character which He reveals has many titles or names of His offices and for us I'd say that it's His progressive revelation, as He said to Moses in Exodus 3:14. Where He said this, "God said to Moses, 'I AM THAT I AM': and he said, 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me to you'. And God said moreover unto Moses, 'Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you: this is my name for ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations'."
He is absolute, and if He wants to spare the nation of Israel in spite of all their sins, He can because He's Sovereign. It wasn't just because Moses pleaded with Him to spare the nation He could show mercy and spare the nation because of His Sovereignty. But remember there at the cross as those Romans were driving those spikes into Him, what could He-God have done? He could have zapped the whole lot of them. He could have said, "Enough, I'm going to start over." But what withheld that kind of action? His Love through His Grace reached out in mercy. What nailed Him to cross? His love, and His mercy, all because He is Sovereign. If He was not Sovereign He could not do this, but it's His universe, it's His world full of dead (spiritually separated and) sin filled people, as His cattle on a thousand hills. He can show mercy if He wants to show mercy. It must be said maybe here that Jesus used this expression of Himself many times during His ministry to Israel which means just what He said it meant here. And by His using it tells us of His deity and authority.
But what's His other prerogative of being Sovereign? He can pour out His wrath, and one day He's going to. One day He's going to say, "I've had enough!" And we think we're getting close to that day. One day He will say, "I've given out of My mercy, long enough so now I'm going to end it." At that time God will pour out His wrath, and it's coming. The world is getting ready for it. Man has created and is string up his wrath through his ignorance of God. My goodness, one of the big things took place within the past two years or so that we think very few people realize is just exactly what this Book was telling us was coming, and what was that? The introduction of the new currency in Europe, the Euro. Oh it's bringing this Book right up into the spotlight.
When we read about the Euro, "we told them so." A couple of years ago we were telling people, to watch western Europe, they are coming to the fore. Their population is already beyond Americas. Their gross nation product is catching up real fast, and one of these days it will surpass ours, and what we're about to say, we say with all the love for our country, that a person can have. But we can see the day coming when this new European currency is going to make the dollar blush with shame. Why? Because that's where prophecy has to be fulfilled. It's going to be out of western European or the old Roman empire revived. Now coming back to Ephesians chapter 2.
Ephesians 2:4
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us."
Now here again we don't think we're going to comprehend the love of God until we get to glory. We're human, and everything is so limited for us, or is instant gratification. But oh when we enter into the realms of glory, then we're going to have a full understanding of all these things. We'll be able to understand at that time what love He really has when He gives out His mercy.
Ephesians 2:5
"Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)"
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