Loved with an Everlasting Love
By Pastor Matt Black
27
August 2006
Lord's Day morning
Ephesians 2:4
Introduction: Open your Bible to Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. We enter into a new chapter this morning, Ephesians chapter 2. The title of this morning’s message is “Loved with an Everlasting Love.” Let’s stand together and read Ephesians chapter 2 and verses 1 through 10.
[Stand and read Ephesians 2:1-10]
We are looking at verses 3 through 6, “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus…”
Illustration: Have any of you ever seen the Sears Tower? Many people have only seen it from a distance. It’s a whole lot different when you get inside it. I can remember going up to the sky deck where people looked like ants on the sidewalk below. There’s a big difference between seeing the Sears Tower up close and just seeing it from a distance.
This morning most of us have seen God’s love for us from a distance. We know it’s there, we understand that God is love—that He loves sinners, but today I want to look up close at it and be awed by it.
First, in order to see God’s love, we must first realize:
Verse 3 paints a terrifying picture of where we all are by nature and by choice. If chapter ended with verse 3, we would all be in trouble, “we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” As verse 1 told us we were “dead in trespasses and sins.”
If God dealt with us according to even just one of our sins, we would be lost forever. We say with David in Psalm 130:3, “If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?” God has not dealt with us the way we deserve. He meets us right where we are. Never would we have sought after God—ungrateful people. We were lost, but we thought we were ok. We were self-sufficient. We thought we didn’t need God! We went right on sinning day after day. How many sins did we commit in even one day? God has not dealt with us after our sins! He engages us where we are! Where were we?
A. First we see our misery. God met us where we were, and you know what He found? Misery!!
Our text says:
· We were “dead in trespasses and sins
· We were influenced and controlled by Satan “the prince of the power of the air” Not all lost people are indwelt by Satan or by demons, but they are all subject to his influence through the corrupt world system.
· We were the “children of disobedience
· And where was our life, day in and day out? Verse 3: “we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind”. This was our life day in and day out.
· And what is Paul’s conclusion in verse 3? Because of our very nature—because of our inborn guilt and sinful tendencies, we were worthy of nothing else but God’s wrath. We “were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” We were objects of God’s condemning judgment. God is holy. He is beautiful in His holiness. He holds back all wickedness from Himself. He cannot have it in His presence. He must punish it. If God did not do this, He would not be good. If we did not punish murderers and thieves and immoral people, our society would quickly dissolve into something that was also not good. God is good, righteous, and holy, and sin must be met with His most fierce wrath. To love good is to hate evil. God is supreme good, and so He must be supremely opposed to evil. We are caught up in trespasses and sins, and therefore “children of wrath”.
When our sin and God’s holiness collide, God’s wrath follows!
Do you know the sad thing about being a child of wrath? Being in this state of deadness means that you are also blind and deaf. Lost people cannot appropriate spiritual truth. They can understand it, but they can not value it. They cannot count it precious. They are on their way to destruction in their sins, and they cannot save or help themselves in any way!
Our situation was desperate! We are all powerless to save ourselves. Yet in our helpless, powerless state, we see the power of the love of God.
B. Secondly, we see our miracle. There are two words in this text that change everything! “But God”! You were helpless to move one finger to save yourself…”but God”! God loved you. God’s love is great enough to save the most rebellious sinner’s soul. This is the Gospel. Gospel means “good news”. Isn’t this good news?! What is it that can pull us out of this mess? What is it that can change our situation? We certainly cannot make any change to our circumstances. Only the LOVE OF GOD can change our situation. Look at verse 4. It is a glorious verse! Look at it, and let it’s truth burn in your heart: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ”.
1. Look at the miracle of God’s love for Israel
Turn over to Ezekiel 16. This chapter shows God’s love for Israel and for the church. This chapter is so debasing, that among Jewish people, even today, this chapter is not permitted to be publicly read. Verse 3 tells of the parentage of Israel.
· Like Israel, we are born in sin. Verse 3 says, “Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan; thy father was an Amorite, and thy mother an Hittite.” The Canaanite were wicked abominable people. Ezekiel was to tell the Jews that their father and mother were pagan people. Now they were not physically descended from the Amorites and Hittites. They were simply acting like them. Like Israel, we are all born of the stock of sinners. We were all conceived by people who were under the curse of sin. Psalm 51:5 is clear. David confesses what is true of us all, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.”
· Secondly, like Israel, we are helpless to save ourselves. Look at verses 4-6, “And as for thy nativity, in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. 5 None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compassion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the lothing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. 6 And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live!”
“In this passage, God picture[s] Israel as the unwanted child of a prostitute, thrown out immediately after its birth into an open field, the umbilical cord still attached to the afterbirth. The child was not even washed. Left for the dogs to devour. No chance of survival.”[1]
That, God says, was how Israel was when “when I passed by thee” (verse 6). We are all like Israel here. We are all pathetic, defenseless, castaways with no hope. This is our natural state. 1 Corinthians 15:22, “For as in Adam all die”. Or as Romans 5:12 puts it, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
· Thirdly, like Israel, God if we are to be saved, God must rescue us. Something amazing now happens. Look at verse 6, “And when I passed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee when thou wast in thy blood, Live.” God saw us squirming in our own blood. He saw us in our sins, and he set His love on this helpless child. God describes the Isrealites as “ugly and bloody and dirty. Nobody wanted them. There was nothing about them to compel God to show compassion on them. But He passed by and saw them squirming in the dirt, and He gave them life.”[2]
· Then, see that God’s mercy is rich—He lavishes His love on Israel as He does on all He sets His love upon. Look at verses 8-10, “Now when I passed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness: yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord GOD, and thou becamest mine. 9 Then washed I thee with water; yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil. 10 I clothed thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badgers’ skin, and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with silk.” God’s love for Israel is extraordinary. Here God lavishes on this unworthy child all the riches of His grace. Here is a transformation of major proportions. God can turn a helpless, filthy infant into “the most beautiful queen.”[3]
This chapter goes on to tell in graphic details how Israel became proud of her beauty and forsook the Lord and forgot where she came from (verse 15, “thou didst trust in thine own beauty, and playedst the harlot because of thy renown”. And yet God says at the end of the chapter that He will keep His covenant with them so that they might “remember, and be confounded” when he forgives them of everything they have done. This is a picture of grace! Why did God keep striving with us when we sin against Him? He loves us. He wants to forgive us.
2. Look at the miracle of God’s love for Solomon. Turn over to 2 Samuel 12:24. Remember the sordid tale of David’s immorality with Bathsheba. David lusted after Bathsheba, committed adultery with her (conceiving a child), and killed her husband Uriah to cover his sin. Bathsheba became David’s wife. Remember the child conceived in this sin died soon after birth, and David did not repent of his sin with Bathsheba, until after the child died. David was distraught (as Bathsheba must have been also). But look at what happened after this. Look at 2 Samuel 12:24, “And David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her: and she bare a son, and he called his name Solomon: and the LORD loved him.” “The Lord loved Solomon…Solomon was a newborn infant. He was not yet a believer. He had not yet done good or evil. Yet the Lord set His love on Solomon, even though he was the child of a sinful union that never should have been.”[4] Look at verse 25. The Bible says Nathan the prophet even gave Solomon a special name. He “nicknamed Solomon ‘Jedidiah,’ meaning ‘beloved of the Lord,’ to signify the Lord’s love for him…”[5]
Solomon was loved of the Lord. He most certainly was not free from sin. God does not love us because we are good. He loves us because He is gracious. Can I say that again?
God does not love us because we are good! He loves us because He is gracious!
Solomon took unto himself hundreds of wives. He dabbled in idolatry. Despite his great wisdom, he often acted like a fool. God did not set His love on Solomon because he deserved it.
God in the same way delights in pouring out the riches of His love to undeserving sinners. He is a God of love and grace. “God is love”. God loved Solomon, and Solomon, despite his sin, did love the Lord. 1 Kings 3:3, “Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.” Sad, and yet, God still loved Solomon. Dear people, Solomon is in heaven today, not because He was good, but because God is gracious.
You will be in heaven if you have trusted in Christ—not because you are good, but because God is gracious!
Turn over to Nehemiah 13:26. Nehemiah was returning to Jerusalem from Persia to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Nehemiah found that God’s people were marrying pagan women, and he outlawed these kinds of marriages (as the NT says “be not unequally yoked with unbelievers”). So what did Nehemiah tell the people? Look at Nehemiah 13:26, “Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.”
Solomon was caught in sin by “outlandish women”. Yet God loved him. Do you understand that God chooses to love us in spite of our sin? The fact that He loves us does not mean we are worthy. God loves us because He is gracious. He forgives us and pays the awful price to keep us out of hell. He blesses us and chastens us as His own children, because He has made us His own children—not because we are good, but why? Because He is gracious!
So we have seen how God’s love is engaging. He meets us right where we are. He loves us because He wants to.
Luther said we all carry in our pocket Christ’s nails. Who crucified Christ? You did! I did! Christ died “for us”. Are you aware that you have Christ’s nails in your possession? Look at the love God has for us!
Remember for hours the crushing darkness of God’s wrath was upon Christ. He was hanging between heaven and earth. His mouth was not complaining about the wicked sinners like you and me who put Him there. As Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.” But Christ did open His mouth. He was not completely silent. Listen to His words to His Father on your behalf. They are recorded in Luke 23:34. Listen to what comes from the Saviour’s mouth, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”.
What kept Christ on that cross? What was it that held Him there? As He bore every ounce of the wrath of God for you, He became your eternal shield. As felt every ounce of agony, there was one thing that made it all worth it to Him. He loved you. He loved me. He loved you long before you came into this world. He will love you when ten thousand ages have passed. Christ’s love for you held Him there on the cross.
Notice, God says that these people would be holy. The word holy means “separated”. These people would be separated unto God.
Why would they be holy? Look at verse 8. “Because the Lord loved you.”
Conclusion: Martin Luther tried everything to try to gain God’s favour. He slept on hard floors. Going without food, even climbing a staircase to Rome on his hands and knees—but it was to no avail. His teachers in the monastery told him that he was doing enough to have peace with God, but he had no peace. His sense of sin was too great. Luther one day turned to Romans 1:16, “the just shall live by faith”. God gives to the needy sinner the righteousness which he needs by faith. Luther no longer felt the wrath of God, but the love of God. The love of God entered his heart and life and changed the world.
Dear friend, are you feeling God’s wrath today? Look again at Romans 5:8 as we close. “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.”
Do you deal with low grade guilt in your life? Do you feel God’s condemnation instead of His love? Listen to Romans 8:1, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.” You are the apple of God’s eye. You are His beloved, the precious jewels in the crown of His mercy and love. He has loved you with an everlasting love. Yes you were born condemned, dead in sins, But! 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) You are saved not because you are good, but why? Because God is gracious!!!
Closing Hymn: 9 I Love You Lord