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4 But[de] God,[theos] who is[on] rich[plousios] in[en] mercy,[eleos] for[dia] his[autos] great[polus] love[agape] wherewith[hos] he loved[agapao] us,[hemas] KJV-Interlinear
4 But God,
being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, NASB
The first three verses paint a picture and a story of man destroying himself, and continually destroying himself. Man is lost in sin and even constantly returns to sin, and thus continually destroys himself over and over, again and again.
But, and this is a very emphatic contrast. Were it not for two of Gods greatest attributes, man would have been lost in the fog of non-existence, if that were possible, with no future, not even a present, and certainly no hope.
Man is not the captain of his own destiny, unless it is of self-destruction, but that is all. One of the points that was made yesterday was that man, even in the face of a huge blessing, will chase right back into sin through complaining, through criticism, through his own pursuit of some self-defined happiness, all of which are orchestrated in sin through evil. And to what end?
There is more than enough grief out there in the world, without our pouring more grief onto it.
Better to look at the positives of life and to God who provides them, than to the evil that surrounds us all and the complaining or promoting of it.
Mercy is grace in action. Grace if the favor or favors from God. Rich, means abundant, or abundant in wealth.
There are several levels of economic status, the lowest being depravity or being destitute and having absolutely nothing. Even a person who has clothes has something, but one who has nothing, quite literally has nothing.
Then there is the poor class followed by a middle class with various levels within that class. This is the working class and typically the backbone of an economy, but it is a 'getting by' class.
Then there are the upper classes, where in there is the prosperous and then the rich.
Then there is the wealthy class and the mega wealthy class. Fewer and fewer people are able to get into these upper classes, whereas the lower classes contain the vast majority of the population.
Then we have the riches of God. Rich, 'plousios,' means abundant, vast, wealthy, abounding. This is a wealth that far exceeds wealth and cannot be measured it is so vast.
In Gods abundant mercy there is compassion so great that no person could possibly comprehend it. Even though man persistently throws himself over the cliff of evil, God is always there to catch us. We can neither earn nor deserve His attention let alone His mercy, and yet it is always there and always has been there.
These verses are designed to get you to thinking about your own depravity state (you are nothing, despite your opinions), and of Gods vast mercy, such that you will discontinue your old ways in sin. This includes the complaining and agonizing and even pursuits that you engage in on a regular and daily basis.
For His love, with which He loved us, places a double emphasis on Gods truth.
God is truth. Truth is the matching up of facts with reality. Imagination and self-definition and human opinions rarely match up with truth. And yet truth erases the lies and deceptions and false things in life, and makes things in reality clear and lucid and perspicuous.
Without truth there are only lies, deception, ambiguity and the massive fog of darkness, in which no one can manage anything, ever.
Love is more than the emotions yearning in compassion. Love here incorporates the vast principles of truth, and brings a common cause between God and man. The verb for love modifying or governing over the noun of love, makes this likewise a statement of wealth or vastness of Gods purpose, and this too is beyond mans comprehension because it is so vast and powerful.
So, on the one hand we have man and our continual pursuits in the wrong direction.
And on the other hand, we have God who has put together a plan so detailed and all inclusive, and saturated with His own mercy or favor, and driven by a love of His love, which is truth.
Truth is doctrine, which you are learning even now, and that is one of the biggest arguments, that you need to learn doctrine, such that you will be able to, at the very least, begin to understand the massive blessings that God has laid aside for you and has waiting for you both now, and in eternity.
