Ephesians 2.4b-The Father is Rich in Mercy Because of His Great Love With Which He Loved the Church Age Believer
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday September 21, 2023
Ephesians Series: Ephesians 2:4b-The Father is Rich in Mercy Because of His Great Love With Which He Loved the Church Age Believer
Lesson # 80
Ephesians 2:1 Now, correspondingly, even though, each and every one of you as a corporate unit were spiritually dead ones because of your transgressions, in other words, because of your sins. 2 Each and every one of you formerly lived by means of these in agreement with the standard of the unregenerate people of this age, which is the production of the cosmic world system, in agreement with the standard of the sovereign ruler, namely the sovereign governmental authority ruling over the evil spirits residing in the earth’s atmosphere. Specifically the spirit who is presently working in the lives of those members of the human race who are characterized by disobedience. 3 Among whom, each and every one of us also formerly for our own selfish benefit conducted our lives by means of those lusts, which are produced by our flesh. Specifically, by indulging those inclinations which are produced by our flesh, in other words, those impulses, which are the product of our flesh. Consequently, each and every one of us caused ourselves to be children who are objects of wrath because of our natural condition from physical birth. Just as the rest correspondingly caused themselves to be children who are objects of wrath because of their natural condition from physical birth. 4 But because God is rich with regards to mercy, because of the exercise of His great love with which He loved each and every one of us. (Lecturer’s translation)
Ephesians 2:4-6 form a complete thought, which stands in a mild contrast to the contents of Ephesians 2:1-3.
In fact, the thought begun in Ephesians 2:1 is not completed until Ephesians 2:5-6, which thus creates an “anacoluthon” in Ephesians 2:2-4, which means that there is a break the grammar.
Up to this point in Ephesians 2:1-3, the main verb and the subject have not been mentioned until now where the subject God the Father is mentioned here in Ephesians 2:4.
The main verb is mentioned in Ephesians 2:5, which we noted is the verb syzōopoieō (συζωοποιέω), “made alive together” (NET).
Ephesians 2:1-4 is one incomplete sentence in order leave the readers in suspense as to how God the Father would solve the dilemma the recipients of this epistle were in prior to their justification.
Now, as was the case in Ephesians 1:4, the noun agapē (ἀγάπη), “love” here in Ephesians 2:4 refers here to the exercise of God the Father’s attribute of love.
However, in the former, the word was used of the exercise of the Father’s attribute of love in eternity past when He elected the church age believer by predestinating them to adoption as His sons.
On the other hand, the in the latter, the word is used of the exercise of the Father’s attribute of love at the moment He declared the church age believer justified through faith in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ.
The word contains the figure of metonymy which means that the Father’s attribute of love is put for the exercise of this love toward the church age believer because of their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ when He declared them justified.
The noun agapē (ἀγάπη) is modified by the accusative feminine singular form of the adjective polus (πολύς), “great.”
The latter is describing the exercise of the Father’s attribute of love when He justified the church age believer through faith in His Son and made them alive with His Son and identified them with Him in His resurrection and session at His right hand as being remarkable in magnitude, degree and effectiveness.
It was remarkable in magnitude, degree and effectiveness because the Father did this when they were spiritually dead and sinners by nature and practice and His enemies.
Neither human beings nor angels possess inherently this attribute because this love is unique to God the Father’s holy character.
The noun agapē (ἀγάπη), “love” is the object of the preposition dia (διά), which functions as a marker of cause.
This means that it is marking the noun agapē (ἀγάπη) as the reason why the Father possesses inherently the characteristic of being rich with regards to mercy.
Therefore, this prepositional phrase dia tēn pollēn agapēn autou (διὰ τὴν πολλὴν ἀγάπην αὐτοῦ) is expressing the idea that the Father exists in the state of possessing inherently the characteristic of being rich with regards to mercy “because of the exercise of His great love.”
As we noted in our introduction, the love of God is a major theme in the Ephesian epistle and is tied to the theme of unity.
The divine attribute of love is mentioned in this epistle (Eph. 1:4; 2:4; 3:19) as well as the church age believer’s responsibility to practice this love by obeying the Lord Jesus Christ’s command in John 13:34 and 15:12 to love one another as He has loved the church (Eph. 1:15; 3:17; 4:2, 15, 16; 5:2; 6:23).
That the love of God is a major theme is indicated by the fact that the noun agapē (ἀγάπη) appears 10 times in Ephesians (Eph. 1:4, 15; 2:4; 3:17, 19; 4:2, 15-16; 5:2: 6:23), the verb agapaō (ἀγαπάω) 7 times (Eph. 1:6; 2:4; 5:2, 28, 33; 6:24), the adjective agapētos (ἀγαπητός) twice (Eph. 5:1; 6:21).
Warren Wiersbe writes “But God would love even if there were no sinners, because love is a part of His very being. Theologians call love one of God’s attributes. But God has two kinds of attributes: those that He possesses of Himself (intrinsic attributes, such as life, love, holiness), and those by which He relates to His creation, especially to man (relative attributes). For example, by nature God is truth; but when He relates to man, God’s truth becomes faithfulness. God is by nature holy; and when He relates that holiness to man, it becomes justice. Love is one of God’s intrinsic attributes, but when this love is related to sinners, it becomes grace and mercy. God is ‘rich in mercy’ (Eph. 2:4) and in ‘grace’ (Eph. 2:7), and these riches make it possible for sinners to be saved. It comes as a shock to some people when they discover that we are not saved ‘by God’s love,’ but by God’s mercy and grace. In His mercy, He does not give us what we do deserve; and in His grace He gives us what we do not deserve. And all of this is made possible because of the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. It was at Calvary that God displayed His hatred for sin and His love for sinners (Rom. 5:8; John 3:16).”
The verb agapaō (ἀγαπάω), “He loved” refers to the Father exercising His attribute of love on behalf of the church age believer at the moment of their justification when they were sinners by nature and practice and spiritually dead and His enemies.
The Bible teaches that God as to His nature, is love.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let each one of us continue to divinely love one another because this love is a characteristic originating from God (the Father). Consequently, the one who at any time does divinely love has been fathered by God (the Father) and as a result they know God (the Father) experientially. 8 The one who at any time does not practice divine-love never enters into knowing God (the Father) experientially because God (the Father) is divine-love. (Lecturer’s translation)
God is love itself.
Love is an attribute of God and thus originates with Him.
The love of God is of the very essence of God.
God’s love is an attribute but there are two kinds of attributes: (1) Absolute or intrinsic: those attributes that God possesses of Himself such as life and love. (2) Relative: those attributes related to His creation and especially men and angels.
For example, by nature God is truth but when God relates that truth to man, God’s truth becomes faithfulness.
Love is one of God’s intrinsic or absolute attributes but when His love is directed towards sinners, it becomes grace and mercy and compassion.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the love of God incarnate since He is the God-Man who has explained the character and nature of God, and thus has explained the love of God perfectly since love is an attribute of God (cf. Jn. 1:18).
John 1:18 No one has seen God at any time; the uniquely born God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. (Lecturer’s translation)
The Lord Jesus Christ is the love of God incarnate since He is the God-Man (John 1:18) and thus He manifested perfectly to the entire human race by suffering the wrath of the Father in order that the human race would not have to experience it in the lake of fire forever.
The greatest demonstration of the love of God was when the God-Man voluntary suffered a substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths on the cross for all of unregenerate humanity.
Romans 5:6 For while, we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, still helpless, still, at that particular appointed moment in history, Christ died as a substitute for the benefit of the ungodly. 7 For, it is unlikely, anyone will die as a substitute for the benefit of a righteous person. In fact, possibly, someone might also have the courage to voluntarily die as a substitute for the benefit of the good person. 8 But, God (the Father), as an eternal spiritual truth and fact of history, proves His own divine-love for the benefit of all of us by the fact that while we were, as an eternal spiritual truth, still sinners, Christ died as a substitute for the benefit of all of us. (Lecturer’s translation)
God also manifested His attribute of love by raising the Christian up when the Christian was spiritually dead and seating them with Christ at His right hand (Eph. 2:1-10).
The Lord Jesus Christ commanded His discipline love their fellow believer as He loved them.
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you self-sacrificially love one another, even as I have self-sacrificially loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have self-sacrificially love for one another.” (Lecturer’s translation)
Love for others is motivated by our love for the Lord and our love for the Lord is demonstrated by our obedience to His commands to love one another and our obedience to His commands is the response in our souls to the love, which He exercised towards us (1 John 4:7-21).
The apostle John solemnly asserts in 1 John 4:19 that he and each one of the recipients of First John did practice divine-love because God the Father in contrast to them first loved each one of them.
1 John 4:19 Each one of us does practice divine-love because He Himself in contrast to us loved each one of us. (Lecturer’s translation)