Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-6
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 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. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”
Devotional: Embracing God’s Unfathomable Riches
In this podcast episode, the speaker marvels at the immense wealth of Jeff Bezos, the richest man in the world. However, the comparison is made to highlight the incomparable riches of God’s grace and mercy. The passage from Ephesians 2 reminds us that we were once dead in our sins, following the ways of the world and gratifying our sinful desires. But God, in His great love and mercy, made us alive with Christ and raised us up to be seated with Him in the heavenly realms.
Insights:
Recognize our spiritual poverty: Just as Jeff Bezos’ wealth pales in comparison to God’s riches, we must acknowledge our spiritual poverty. Our sinful nature and transgressions leave us deserving of God’s wrath. It is only through His grace and mercy that we can be saved.
Grasp the depth of God’s love: God’s love for us is immeasurable. He didn’t just save us from our sins; He made us alive with Christ and raised us up to share in His glory. This demonstrates the depth of His love and the extent to which He desires to bless us.
Embrace our identity as heirs: As believers, we are heirs to God’s riches. Just as receiving a letter from Jeff Bezos promising his wealth would be life-changing, understanding our inheritance from God should transform our perspective. We have been blessed with the riches of His grace and mercy, which surpass anything we could ever earn or deserve.
Action Steps:
Reflect on your spiritual poverty: Take time to reflect on your own sinful nature and the ways in which you have followed the world’s ways. Recognize your need for God’s grace and mercy.
Embrace God’s love: Meditate on the depth of God’s love for you. Allow His love to fill your heart and transform your understanding of His blessings in your life.
Live as heirs: Embrace your identity as an heir of God’s riches. Walk in the confidence that you have been blessed with His grace and mercy. Seek to live a life that reflects the abundance of His blessings.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your immeasurable love and mercy. Help us to grasp the depth of Your riches and to live as heirs of Your grace. May we continually seek to align our lives with Your will and to reflect Your love to those around us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Podcast Transcript: The Riches of God's Love
Introduction
I work in the financial industry and I’ve watched Jeff Bezos become the richest man in the world as of recent. And he is worth a gazillion dollars. If you’re not familiar with Jeff Bezos, he started Amazon, I believe in the 90s, as a book website to sell books. And it has gone on really to kind of take over everything. So it’s got his hand in everything. But Amazon has done really well. Jeff Bezos worth the most amount of money in the world right now. He surpassed Microsoft founder Bill Gates, which is just filthy rich. You can imagine how rich he is and how awesome it would be if you got a letter in the mail basically saying that you were an heir to his wealth and that you were going to receive all that he had and he wanted to bless you with all of his riches that he had. and to give it to you to bless your life. I mean that would be an amazing letter to receive and to just not even really build the grasp how that would even change your life.
Ephesians 2:1-6
I’m in Ephesians, and it’s chapter 2 where I am. Starting verse 1, it says, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 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 and those who are disobedient. All of us have lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our simple nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were nature objects of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions. It is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. That’s the first six verses in chapter two.
The Riches of God’s Love
And in verse four it says, but God, and in my translation it says, but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. The riches that Jeff Bezos has, I just remember John Piper, a pastor, saying that the riches of the richest person, I believe the sermon that I listened to was from the 80s, and he was talking about Queen Elizabeth having four billion dollars, but Jeff Bezos has quite a bit more than that and to know that his riches is equivalent to a grain of sand in the Sahara Desert compared to the riches that God has. We are heirs to Him. He wants to bless us in a way that our minds can’t wrap around with the riches of His grace and His mercy.
God’s Blessings
All that we’ve earned Through our transgressions, we were dead, and He blessed us beyond compare with His love and His mercy and His grace, and that is well above what we deserve, but He has blessed us with it. So we were dead, but God came to rescue. It’s amazing to know how rich God is in His mercy and how rich He is and His love for us. For what it’s worth, those are my thoughts on Ephesians chapter 2.
