Tag: Ephesians 2

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Daily Devotion July 8th

WEDNESDAY 8th

John 3:36

(NIV) ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.’

(ESV) ‘Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.’

As we continue from yesterday, this verse shows to us the importance of believing in the Son. As I said yesterday our decision is the difference between spending eternity in Heaven in the presence of God or spending eternity in hell, eternally cut off from God. Now, I am aware that I am writing these devotions for us as a Church family and we know the things that I am sharing, but we need to regularly go over what we believe and why we believe so that we don’t just fall into a place of complacency and take what we have and who we are ‘In Christ’ for granted.

It has cost to bring us salvation and to grant us eternal life, and as a result we should have hearts that are constantly and continually grateful for all that God has done in Christ Jesus, and for the incredible sacrifice he made on our behalf.

Today we will consider what has been made available to us – life! Our text calls it ‘eternal life’ We see it again throughout the gospel of John, in John 3:16, ‘eternal life’, in John 20:31 the text we started with on Sunday it is called ‘life in his name’, In John 10:28 it is called ‘abundant life’.

Ephesians 2:1 tells us that outside of Christ we were dead – that is spiritually dead – cut off from God because of our sin and transgression, but in Christ we have been made alive, because by grace which is through faith we have been saved, made alive – spiritually alive, and the life that is given to us at salvation is eternal, abundant life. If you are saved, you are more alive today than you were on the day in which you were born, because on that day, although you were physically alive, you were spiritually dead. But now in Christ Jesus you are spiritually alive as well.  

In John’s gospel we have some important verses concerning this ‘life’ which is available through Jesus. It is only available through him, John 14:6 ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’, that is he himself is life, which comes out in his analogy in John 6 when he calls himself the ‘bread of life’. (vv35,48) In verses 51 and 54 of John 6, Jesus says that mankind must partake of him as the ‘bread of life’ to be able to receive eternal life. Therefore, the teaching of Scripture is crystal clear that there is no other source with which we can go to, to receive eternal life. Echoed though the preaching of Peter in Acts 4:12 ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’

Reminding of ourselves of where we started on Sunday with John 20:30-31 ‘Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’  I will conclude this three day introduction by bringing us to a place where we give thanks from grateful hearts, for the Son of God, who loved us and gave himself for us, and who by the wooing of the Holy Spirit has drawn us to himself, bringing us to that place of believing faith and the receiving of life which should be causing us to be rejoicing with joy unspeakable and full of glory for the half as never yet been told! (italic from the hymn, ‘I have found his grace is all complete’)

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Daily Devotion June 21st

SUNDAY 21st

Romans 8:14-17

Accepted and Included

On resurrection morning we read some of the best news that the world has ever heard, it is found in Luke 24:5-6  ‘And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee . . .’ If we go to John’s gospel and chapter 20 we read of another statement that was made at the tomb which is also significant and important news John 20:17 ‘Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’

Did you catch the good news? Jesus is saying that his Father was now also Mary’s Father and that his God was now also Mary’s God and he included the disciples in the good news.

The work of redemption not only saves us and brings forgiveness and reconciliation but it also brings us into the privileged position of being accepted or adopted into Gods family as his sons and daughters, the God who we were estranged from because of our sin and iniquity is now our God and our Father and he calls us his children. He includes us in his family. Revelation 20 tells us about a book called the book of life, it is a record of all who have come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but for a moment think of it this way, it is a book that records all that have been accepted and included into the family of God, the household of faith. It is a family record, is your name included?

The modern translations miss out something that is found in the KJV in Ephesians 1:6 ‘To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.’

We are only accepted by God through our being positioned in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are positioned or placed in Christ through the new birth experience. Outside of being in Christ all mankind is hopelessly lost and will in the final analysis be banished eternally from his presence. Our being positioned in Christ is an incredible place to be, it is the place in which we are brought near to the very presence of and to the heart of God.

Ephesians chapter 2 which we have come to many times during these lockdown devotions is a great chapter in that it helps us to understand the whole idea of our being included in the purposes of God because of and through our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember what it says in verses 11-13 ‘Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands — remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility . . .’

As Gentiles unbelievers we were separated from, without hope, and without God. Earlier in the chapter Paul reminds us that we were dead, following the course of this world, living in the passions of the flesh and were children of wrath. But v4 gives an amazing BUT, ‘But God’, through his grace and mercy and through the redemptive work of Christ has reached out to us and has accepted us and included us in all that he has purposed to do. Because we have been accepted and included, we have access in one Spirit to the Father, we are no longer strangers and aliens but are now included as fellow citizen with the saints and members of the household of God.  (verses 17-19)

It almost impossible for me to put into words what I want to be saying today, I trust that what I have said will cause us to rejoice again and to have hearts that are full of appreciation for what God has done in Christ Jesus to bring us back into his family and into his household, we are children of God. I will close with some verses of Scripture.

Romans 8:14-17 ‘For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.’

Galatians 4:4-7 ‘But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.’

Galatians 3:25-26 ‘But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.’

I’m accepted, I’m forgiven

I am fathered by the true and living God

I’m accepted, no condemnation

I am loved by the true and living God

There’s no guilt or fear as I draw near

To the Saviour and Creator of the world

There is joy and peace

As I release my worship to You, O Lord

© 1985 Kingsway Thankyou Music CCLI788682

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Devotions

Daily Devotion June 17th

WEDNESDAY 17th

Ephesians 2:1-9

Ephesians 2:8 ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God . . .’

Today and tomorrow we are taking the S from the word Saviour and looking at our being saved.

I wonder what the word saved conjures up in your mind thinking outside of the realm of spiritual salvation. I am sure we have all heard stories or accounts of individuals or groups that have been in some kind of dilemma and as a result of effort by others they have been saved from out of the dilemma they were in. Thinking back to 2010, when the story became known world-wide of the 33 miners trapped in the mine in Chile and the huge effort that went into planning a rescue mission to get to them and to save them. What about an individual who may have fallen into the sea and the great work that the RNLI do whatever the weather conditions to go out to rescue and save?

Spiritually we all needed saving, we were all lost, we were all trapped in the pit of sin, we were drowning in our sinfulness, hopeless and helpless, we were heading to Hell and separated from God for eternity. We need to remind ourselves hell is a real place, the lake of fire is a real place, eternal separation from God in that awful place is a future reality for all who reject the Lord Jesus Christ. (Revelation 20:11-15) But thank God that he is in the business of saving, of rescuing the lost and hopeless sinner. And he put a plan into place, a rescue mission, which involved sending a Saviour into the hostile environment of this world to put the plan into action and to bring it through to completion.

As a result of this rescue mission those of us who have accepted Jesus as Saviour can say that we are saved. Repeat these words ‘I am saved’ what a wonderful declaration to be able to make. Imagine the euphoria, excitement, joy, and appreciation that the Chilean miners had as each one was finally rescued. Such should be the experience of each one of us who have been saved by Gods wonderful grace, not just for time but for eternity.

Here are some Scriptures that refer to us as being saved and we will continue the theme tomorrow.

John 10:9 (Jesus said) ‘I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.’

Acts 2:21 ‘And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Acts 4:12 ‘And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’

Acts 16:30-31 ‘Then he brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?  And they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’

Romans 5:10 ‘For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.’

Romans 10:9-13 ‘. . . because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

1 Corinthians 1:18 ‘For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.’

1 Corinthians 1:21 ‘For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.’

Jesus, my Lord will love me forever,

From Him no pow’r of evil can sever,

He gave His life to ransom my soul;

Now I belong to Him;

Now I belong to Jesus,

Jesus belongs to me,

Not for the years of time alone,

But for eternity.

Once I was lost in sin’s degradation,

Jesus came down to bring me salvation,

Lifted me up from sorrow and shame,

Now I belong to Him;

Joy floods my soul for Jesus has saved me,

Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me

His precious blood, He came to redeem,

Now I belong to Him;

Norman Clayton CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion June 14th

SUNDAY 14th

Ephesians 2

Two weeks ago, I shared via video these thoughts which I had prepared as a devotion for today, with the hope that we will soon be able to gather again. We are still having to wait patiently, continue to pray that this will soon be able to happen,

In Ephesians verses 19-22 we read ‘So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.’

Isn’t it wonderful to know that because of what God has done for us we are being built together or knitted together as a body of people, in particular in our local church setting as Emmanuel Pentecostal Church but also into the universal body of Christ, the Church which he is building.

As you are aware, we are living temporarily with Nicola and Cameron, while we wait for our house to be completed. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until the lockdown commenced and the building work was suspended. This means that instead of completing in mid-May, it has been moved on to at least late July or into August. Building was supposed to have recommenced sometime mid-May, but we have since discovered it started on site just this week 9th June.

The lockdown has affected life in so many different way, especially for us as Church meaning that we cannot gather together, but the good news is that while the lockdown has been happening and the building of homes has been suspended the Lord Jesus Christ has continued with his building programme, he hasn’t stopped, the heavenly Father hasn’t furloughed him!

The Church is not able to gather, but it does not mean the building of it has to stop. In Matthew 16 when Jesus said he would build his Church he declared that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it, that is, they would not prevent it from happening. The gates of Hell, can mean anything that would seek to obstruct its progress and growth, and the Pandemic is something that the Devil would love to use to seek to disrupt the Church and the building of it. But the good news is that although Church can’t gather, so much is happening through media and technology that is helping to continue the building and growth of the Church and we thank God for all the different methods and means being used. The gates of hell will not prevail.

But the day is coming when the Pandemic will pass, and the restrictions will be lifted, partially lifted at first until eventually we can return to being gathered Church as God intended. What has been happening over the last few months as good as it may seem to be with on-line church etc, must not become the new normal, it must only be seen as a temporary measure while we heed the advice given by those in authority.

I have heard and read statements that folk are saying how wonderful that Church is finally being what it is meant to be, outside of the four walls of a building, actually that is not entirely true, for true Church is a gathered church. It is reflected in the image given in Scripture of a body, joined-together not dislocated. And however good an on-line service might be it is not truly gathered Church. What is happening at this moment is like a stop gap, making the most or the best out of our present situation – and we thank God for the way that he is blessing the efforts of Churches at this time, but Church is supposed to be gathered, together, not isolated in our living rooms watching a screen but being united not just spiritually but physically together in fellowship.

It is essential that as a result of this extended period of time when we have not been coming together that we do not become complacent thinking that we don’t need Church gatherings, or that instead of getting up and going to our local Church we will search for an on-line service which we can just watch at leisure while still even perhaps doing other things at the same time or even switching off if we are not enjoying!

Gathered Church is where we come together to shut ourselves in as it were from everything else that would distract us to draw near to the presence of God in corporate worship and praise.

Gathered Church is essential, as I’ve already mentioned, on-line church must not become in the words of the phrase that is being used so often today ‘the new norm’ for it can never do for us spiritually what gathered Church can do, for that is the place where we see each other, we bless each other, we encourage each-other and we seek to build each other up. There is something about togetherness that isolation cannot do.

Gathered Church is also a place of accountability, it is the place whereby we can measure our spiritual growth, it is the place where we can be seen to be still participating in the life of Christ, it is the place where the shepherd or pastor can more easily look over the flock and seek to minister to the individual or to the collective need.

Gathered Church is the place where we should be seeking to take communion together, where we should be seeking to pray together and where we should be instructed or taught together and is of course the place where we have fellowship together.

I would guess that during this time of restriction and isolation, we would all list at the top the one thing we have missed most is not being able to go to visit family, not being able to see parents, children, grand-children and friends. One of the first things we will want to do is to go and see them if they live local enough! In the same way we should be missing our spiritual family, and we should be eager in our hearts if we truly care for one another to be able to meet again, to gather again as gathered Church as the family of God in Emmanuel Pentecostal Church.

In Scripture we see in Acts 2:42 that the early believers came together for prayer, fellowship, the breaking of bread and for prayer, Acts 3 tells us that Peter and John were going up to the temple for the hour of prayer, in Acts 4 after the authorities had forbidden Peter and John to teach the name of Jesus, they went to the other believers and they prayed together. In Acts 16 Paul went down to the riverside because he heard that there would be a gathered group meeting for prayer. In 1 Corinthians 16 Paul mentions the churches, he doesn’t use Church which represents the whole universal body but uses the word churches indicating that he saw the need for the Church to be gathered in groups as churches, local churches in a set place as a community of believers.

Obviously we see the gatherings in Scripture took place in various places, homes, temple, outside, today, we should value and appreciate that we have the freedom in this country at the moment to be able to have buildings, yes we may call them church buildings, but they are buildings where the church can gather together, a place where we gather for all the reasons I have mentioned above, and from that place whatever we may call it, to be able to reach out into the community with whatever God may have called the local church to do.

We are a sea of voices

We are an ocean of your praise

Gathered under one name

We are a tide that’s rising

And we cannot be contained

Gathered under one name

O for a thousand tongues to sing

The glories of our Lord, God Almighty

O to sing the Saviour’s praise

The triumph of His grace

You are worthy

You are worthy God

We have found our anthem

At the cross where sin was slain

Gathered under one name

Where every chain is broken

Every sorrow swept away

Gathered under one name

O for a thousand tongues to sing

The glories of our Lord, God Almighty

O to sing the Saviour’s praise

The triumph of His grace

You are worthy

You are worthy God

With all heaven sing

And all earth below

One holy King

One highest throne

Vertical Worship CCLI788682

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Daily Devotion May 18th

MONDAY 18th – Ephesians 2:11-22

We continue from yesterday and will go to the second ‘but’ in this chapter, in verse 13 ‘But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ A similar portion of Scripture is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians, ‘For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him’

In Ephesians 2 Paul makes a statement about the Gentile, that is the non–Jewish people, that they (which also includes us) were separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth (or family) of Israel, not included in the covenants of God and we were without hope and without God in the world. It is a sweeping statement that sums up that until that time, everything that God seemed to do and be doing was for and involving Israel. They were his special people, they had been given the law, they had been given the covenants or promises. It was an ‘us and ‘you’ kind of programme of events, but thank God again for the ‘but’ found here in verse 13, it all changed at Calvary, for Paul says ‘BUT NOW in Christ you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’ The cross now meant that God was working not just with the Jew in mind, but also for the Gentile. When Christ died on the cross he was dying for the whosoever, when he became a substitute, dying as the Passover Lamb, he was atoning for the sins of the world and as a result we all, that is Jew and Gentile as we come to believe have access in one Spirit to the Father.

The but in verse 13 leads to a complete change in the situation. There is reconciliation in two ways, first between the Jew and Gentile, the division between both is taken away, so there is no longer an ‘us’ and ‘them’ but through the cross we enjoy the same benefits, the same means of salvation, the same results of salvation and the same blessings that spring from salvation. Instead of the Jew and the Gentile, the cross led to the creation of one new man, that is one new united group or body which is the Church. The second reconciliation is found in verse 16, ‘reconciled us both (Jew and Gentile) to God’. This is good news for in contrast to verses 11-12, verse 19 says that we (the Gentiles) are no longer strangers and aliens but are fellow citizens with or as the saints and members of the household of God.

Yesterday we looked at Gods abundant mercy, great love, and amazing grace. The whole of Ephesians chapter 2 also reminds us of Gods incredible plan. Yes, as Paul puts it in the chapter, it seemed as if everything God was doing up until that point was all toward and for Israel the Jew, but in reality, he had a plan that was purposed even before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:9 says ‘making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ’ This purpose he put into effect immediately after the fall when he pronounced to the serpent, ‘I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.’ (Genesis 3:15) And time rolled on, various events and characters in the Old Testament pointed toward a coming Saviour, who finally arrived at the God appointed moment (Galatians 4:4 ) and that which had been foreordained happened as he, the one born to be the Saviour, surrendered his life as a substitute at Calvary so that we who were dead in our trespasses and sins might be made alive. Ephesians 1:4 says ‘even as he (God) chose us in him (Jesus) before the foundation of the world,’ our inclusion into the family of God, our becoming members of the family of God, our being fellow citizens in the household of God, our being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit wasn’t an after-thought God had thousands of years after he had been dealing with the Jew, it was decided, purposed and planned even before the foundation of the world.

We will let the apostle Peter have the final word today: 1 Peter 2:9-10 ‘But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.’

Wonderful grace

That gives what I don’t deserve

Pays me what Christ has earned

And lets me go free

Wonderful grace

That gives me the time to change

Washes away the stain

That once covered me

And all that I have

I lay at the feet

Of the Wonderful Saviour who loves me

Wonderful love

That held in the face of death

Breathed, in it’s final breath

Forgiveness for me

Wonderful love

Who’s power can break every chain

Giving us life again

Setting us free

John Pantry ©Harper Collins CCLI788682

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Devotions

Daily Devotion May 17th

SUNDAY 17th – Ephesians 2:1-10

‘No ifs, no buts’

I wonder how many of us know of this little phrase, ‘no ifs, no buts’ and if so, in what context? For me it takes me back to growing up on the farm and either my mum or dad would give an instruction, usually in regard to a job that needed doing or maybe homework that need completing  and one of us would start with our objections as to why we thought we couldn’t do what was being asked and out it would come, ‘no ifs, no buts’ just get on with it.

I was out walking and contemplating the devotions for this week and this phrase dropped into my mind, and the thought I had was this, thank God that there are some ifs and buts in Scripture. For example, in 2 Chronicles 7:13 the Lord says ‘When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land or send my pestilence among my people . . .’ This isn’t good news, that God would do these things, but it is followed by an ‘if’ in verse 14, ‘IF my people who are called by name . . . I will hear . . . I will forgive . . . I will heal their land.’

In the New Testament we have as an example, Ephesians 2:12 ‘remember that you were at that time separated from Christ . . .’ then verse 13 continues, ‘BUT now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.’

To start this week we will look at two of the ‘buts’  If you have already read the verses for our reading and maybe continued in the chapter, you may have noticed it contains two ‘buts’, the first is in verse 4, ‘But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us’  the second is in verse 13 as quoted above.

In this chapter the ‘but’ defines a change, a change in what we were to what we have become, a change in our situation and in our position and the changes have come about because of Gods abundant mercy, his great love, and his amazing grace.

A brief summary of the first few verses in this chapter tells us that we were spiritually dead because of our trespasses and sins, we walked as the unbelieving world walked, we lived selfish and sinful lives and we were under the wrath of God. In other words we were depraved sinners and deserving eternal punishment yet because of the ‘but’ in verse 4, we have instead come to know Gods mercy, love and grace and we have been made spiritually alive, the wrath of God has been turned away from us, we are in Christ, and we are already knowing and will continue to know his unmeasurable riches of grace in our lives, and we have become his workmanship. (Philippians 2:13 ‘for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure’) We no longer live according to the flesh but we are living out good works which he prepared for us to do. What a transformation, what a change, an incredible change in our character, in our position and in our lifestyle.

Thank God that we have come to know this wonderful change in our lives, and it is because of a ‘but’, because of Gods abundant mercy, great love, and amazing grace.

Let us ponder on these three things today.

Abundant mercy – Our text says that God is rich in mercy, this means that despite the depth of our sin or the depravity of our human nature, God’s mercy is far greater. One hymn writer puts it this way, ‘Come, ye sinners, lost and hopeless, Jesus’ blood can make you free; For He saved the worst among you, When He saved a wretch like me. And I know, yes, I know, Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean, And I know, yes, I know Jesus’ blood can make the vilest sinner clean.’

In Psalm 51:1 the Psalmist cries out ‘Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.’ Imagine where we would be if God were not a God of mercy! We may not think that we should be called the vilest sinner, but the truth of the matter is that whatever our sin we were all lost, hopeless, deserving of hell, but because of his mercy, he came to seek and to save the lost. He found you and he found me. Titus puts it this way, Titus 3:5 ‘he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.’

Gods mercy is linked with his love, Psalm 103, verse 11 is translated in the KJV as ‘For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.’ The modern versions translate ‘great is his mercy’ as ‘great is his love’ (ESV, NIV) Our text v4 says that God is rich in mercy because of his great love. They are both (mercy and love) eternally entwined in the character and nature of God and in his dealings toward mankind. Sadly, many still choose to reject both his love and his mercy. Our testimony is this, ‘Mercy there was great, and grace was free’

Great love – We have already seen how the mercy of God is extended towards mankind because of his great love. I almost should not need to expound on the greatness of his love, for we who believe have all come to be recipients of it because of Calvary. John 3:16 tells us that God so loved, (that is he was bursting with so much love for) the world (lost and sinful humanity) that he gave his one and only Son (to be a sacrifice for the sinner at Calvary) so that if we believe on him we will not perish (go to Hell) but will have eternal life. (italics mine) The immensity of the love of God should never cease to amaze us and should always win a positive response from us. ‘Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. The song writer expresses it this way, ‘The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell.’

1 John 4:10 ‘In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’

Romans 5:8 ‘but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’

Amazing grace – It was John Newton who penned the words of the famous song ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound’ he was a man who knew what he deserved as a wretched sinner and yet had become a recipient of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And such were we, wretched, lost, and helpless until Gods amazing grace got hold of us and saved us.

Someone has said that GRACE can be described acronymically as ‘Great Riches At Christs Expense’. In other words, we get what we do not deserve because somebody else, in our case, Christ, does whatever is necessary for us to be able to receive it, (salvation) he died in our place as our substitute. We get what we could not earn, (redemption) we get what we could not achieve, (righteousness) we get status which we could never ever attain to, (seated with Christ in heavenly places) and all because of his grace which is given to us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s letter to the Church at Rome is a great book of grace, the word grace appears around thirty times, I will end this devotion with some verses from that letter. Notice it is a ‘but’, Romans 3:21-25 ‘But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.’

Years I spent in vanity and pride,

Caring not my Lord was crucified,

Knowing not it was for me He died

On Calvary.

Mercy there was great, and grace was free;

Pardon there was multiplied to me;

There my burdened soul found liberty,

At Calvary.

By God’s Word at last my sin I learned;

Then I trembled at the law I’d spurned,

Till my guilty soul imploring turned

To Calvary.

Now I’ve giv’n to Jesus everything,

Now I gladly own Him as my King,

Now my raptured soul can only sing

Of Calvary.

Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!

Oh, the grace that brought it down to man,

Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span

At Calvary!

William Reed Newell CCLI 788682