The Mercies of God

Scripture Reference 

Ephesians 2:1-6 : "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, ² in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. ³ All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,"

This passage shows us that we were dead in the past. The reason why Christ gave us life is because we had no life. Christ took His own life and transferred it to us. In this life, death does not exist. The simple fact that the giver of this life Christ, cannot die again, we cannot die too. Paul says that in the past, we were enslaved to another king. There was no other name or person who could save us from him. It took Christ who was from another and greater kingdom to remove us from that kingdom. By accepting him in our lives as Lord and Savior, we entered into another kingdom and as we know, every kingdom has rules and laws.

In this kingdom of light or of God, which we now belong to as disciples of Christ, we are saved by God's grace and not our strategies or works. In this kingdom, all of our old nature is removed as the word of God says :"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). We become totally renewed and born again. Even our bodies become the temples of the Holy Spirit.

Ephesians 2:4 tells us that our God is rich in mercies. It is because of this richness that we were able to become His children. He is the one who came to look for us first and gave us His one and only son Christ Jesus to die for us on the cross. This is what enabled us to become heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ Jesus. It is out of the riches of His mercies that all this happened.

If we look at the book of Acts, we see that Paul knows a thing or two about the mercies of God. Look at how God encountered him on the road to Damascus; at the time, he was full of wickedness and evil plans. But He was changed into a different person because of the mercies of God.

The mercies of God are unconditional. They are not based on anything you do. God no longer remembers your past. It is only Satan who reminds you of your past so that he can stop you from moving forward. When he does that, Look to your High Priest and to his sacrifice. The Kingdom that you belong to has nothing like condemnation reserved for you (Romans 8:1) and by the way, you are already seated now with Christ in heavenly realms.

Pastor Christophe