Verse of the Day 4/16

Ephesians 2:4-5   But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—  English Standard Version (ESV) Today's passage in Ephesians starts out by telling us that "we were dead" in our sins, The Message below puts it  "mired in that old stagnant life of sin".  The outlook from both perspectives is bleak , but being dead offers no hope on it's own.  Anthony J Carter writes, ""everyone comes into the world SDOA (spiritually dead on arrival). Apart from Christ, life is nothing more than a march from the womb to the tomb. It is not pretty."

But thanks be to God, He sent His Son Jesus (John 3:16) as a gift, offering live, revival, renewal to those that would believe on His name.  An important aspect of today's verse and the gospel message is that it is nothing that we do on our own.  We can't earn our way to God, earn His forgiveness.  It is His gift, a gift of infinite mercy "that made us alive together with Christ".  It started that moment we first believed and will continue through the grave to eternity.

Puritan author Thomas Brooks writes, "The people of the Lord should be very thankful for His presence with them in their greatest troubles and deepest distresses. O Sirs! this divine presence is a great mercy.

It is a special mercy, it is a distinguishing mercy.

It is a big-bellied mercy--which has many mercies in its womb.

It is a mercy-greatening mercy; it greatens all the mercies we enjoy.

It is a mercy-sweetening mercy; it sweetens health, strength, riches, honors, trade, relations, etc."

We are redeemed through His infinite mercy.  This thought brought me to the old Fanny Crosby hymn "Redeemed", especially the line "His child and forever I am."

Redeemed, how I love to proclaim it!
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed through His infinite mercy,
His child and forever I am.

Refrain

Redeemed, redeemed,
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb;
Redeemed, redeemed,
His child and forever I am.

--   In Christ,  Mike    Folllow the Verse of the Day blog at http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com  Ephesians 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,  in accordance with the riches of God's grace.  NIV    

Ephesians 2:4-6The Message (MSG)

He Tore Down the Wall

2 ^1-6 It wasn't so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn't know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It's a wonder God didn't lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah.