But God

A Contrasting Conjunction

We’re going to start this morning with a little grammar discussion. When we read our bibles, grammar matters. The way scripture is interpreted and understood is affected by the way it is structured grammatically, and the meaning can be changed if it is not read in the right context.

A contrasting conjunction is a word or phrase used to connect two contrasting ideas or sentences, highlighting the differences between them. Words like but, however, although and despite are examples of contrasting conjunctions.

They often contrast things in a negative light.

We wanted to go to the lake today, BUT it was raining.

Although he seemed very happy on the outside, inside he was tormented by his sins.

Everyone was enjoying a beautiful spring day, however, a storm was brewing on the horizon.

But God’s word has a different use for these words in many cases, and the bible is filled with examples.

One of my favorite uses of a contrasting conjunction is in the book of Ephesians, and this is what I would like to start with today.

PRAY

Please open your bibles to the book of Ephesians, Chapter 2, I’ll start with verses 1-3

Ephesians 2:1–3 “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”

Dead............You were dead. Dead in your sin. Dead in your trespasses against God. Devoid of life. Without hope, living in darkness.

Following the course of this world, chasing carnal and temporal things, anything that pleased your fleshly and worldly desires.

Following the prince of the power of the air, the adversary, the deceiver, the opposer of all that is good and holy. The ruler of unseen wicked spiritual powers and influences on humanity, now at work in the sons of disobedience, of which we all were at one time.

We were DEAD..........living in the passions of our flesh, chasing carnal pleasures, without regard for the ways of God. Our bodies and minds controlled us and our thoughts.

We were children of wrath, which is the natural state of man, separated and under the judgment of God due to our sin. We were inclined to disobedience, and deserving of God’s anger.

We were dead.

Paul uses dead in the spiritual sense, as a state of separation from God, and due to our sin we are unable to please Him. In Romans 8 he says “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

And in Romans 7:24 “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Many of us can probably recall this place. I know I can. My sins consumed me, and drove my life. Wading through the world, pursuing every pleasure that was set before me, living selfishly. No self control, no discipline, only pagan living with a hedonistic drive to satisfy my flesh. Unable to know God, obey God, follow God.

DEAD- AND WITHOUT HOPE

BUT GOD

Ephesians 2:4–10 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

BUT GOD

And we were made alive. Transformed by the power of His grace and love. For by grace we are saved.

Made alive. The definition of the word alive is simple. It means not dead.

We are no longer dead. We are alive in Him. Spiritually reborn, a new life grounded in God’s grace and forgiveness. Walking a new path, a new way that reflects Christ’s teachings. Ours sins forgiven, a new heart and mind, with God’s spirit leading us to live a life that is pleasing to Him. So unworthy were we, but His grace was for us, because of his unending love.

He loved us, even when we were dead, and at enmity with Him. His grace was for us, even though we did not deserve it. He showed us mercy. God is just, and all of us deserved that justice to be poured upon us for our sins and transgressions, but being rich in mercy, He spared us. Mercy is not receiving the punishment we so justly deserve. Through his mercy we were made alive together with Christ, when we deserved only destruction.

Because He loved us. A love so powerful that He sacrificed His son, and poured out His wrath upon Him, so we may have life, and have fellowship with Him. Seated in the heavenly places where He might show us the immeasurable riches of His grace.

What a beautiful gift. Certainly an immeasurable gift. And not by our own doing. Nothing we can do or have done can save us.

BUT GOD

Two words put together, one a contrasting conjunction, the other the name of the most high. and together they give us something we sinners need, the lost need, the broken need,

HOPE

Look at where we were in verses 1-3. How dismal was that? How hopeless that situation is. Then God shows up.

Of course we know He’s always there, but He chose to act at that time, and there was hope.

Hope of the gracious and merciful intervention of God.

A simple term that captures the essence of our God. He makes all things new. He resurrects. He redeems.

When all seems lost, and hope is scarce, we hear BUT GOD. And He shows up, he intervenes, and we are saved.

Paul was a man bent on the destruction of the Christian faith. A fervent persecutor, actively seeking out early Christians, using authority given him as a Pharisee, even participating in the stoning death of Stephen, a murderer.

BUT GOD

On the road to Damascus, God showed up and intervened, and he was converted.

And in his letter to the Galatians said “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,”

I’ll share a few more verses where But God shows our Father intervening on behalf of his children;

When David and his men were in the wilderness, seeking refuge from Saul , who driven by jealousy was trying to eliminate David, 1 Samuel 23:14 says “And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country of the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.”

Referring to those who trust in their wealth and boast in it, Psalm 49:14–15 says “Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol; death shall be their shepherd, and the upright shall rule over them in the morning. Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell. But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me.”

For those with faith and hope in him, He will receive them. Even in the darkest hour, we can have hope. For those of us who live by faith, there is always hope.

Listen to the thankful words of Jonah....... I sank down to the very roots of the mountains, I was imprisoned in the earth, BUT YOU, OH LORD MY GOD, snatched me from the jaws of death.

These words also turn the impossible into the possible. In Matthew 19, when Jesus is speaking to the disciples about how it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Obviously anyone knows it is impossible for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. But He says Matthew 19:26 “But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.””

With God we have the hope and belief that all things are possible.

And Paul speaking to Timothy from prison, 2 Timothy 2:8–9 “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!”

He is chained and suffering for the gospel, BUT.......He lives in the knowledge that God’s word will go forth, unbound. And our hope and faith is set upon that truth.

In Hosea, there was a promise to deliver the House of Judah. Not by bow or sword or war, not by horses and cavalry. But by the Lord their God

When we are tempted, we can have hope in the faithfulness of God. 1 Corinthians says “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. But God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

And in the resurrection of our Lord, Acts 13:29–30 says “And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead,”

In trials and darkness, despair and fear, we can have hope. Hope in the faithfulness and love of the Father, watching over us and showing up when we need Him most, when hope seems lost. And He intervenes and acts, all for His good, all for His Glory. All our hope rests in Him.

PRAY