God’s Riches (3)
	We’ve been considering God’s riches. Remember that “rich” means, first, that there is an abundance of something, and, second, that it is something desirable and useful. We started by looking at God being rich in goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering. Then we looked last time at the riches of God’s glory. Tonight we turn to Ephesians 2:4-7 – “But God, who is RICH in mercy, because of His great love w/ wh/ He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together w/ Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding RICHES of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” So, we see that God is rich in mercy and in grace; and even though we don’t see the word “rich” directly connected to love, Paul does speak in this passage of God’s “GREAT” love w/ wh/ He loved us – so it would be safe to say that God is rich in love.
	Mercy is actively alleviating suffering. In the parable we commonly call “the good Samaritan,” the hero of the story had mercy on the man who had been left for dead by robbers. He treated his wounds, took him to a safe place, and paid for his lodging and care. Pity feels sorry for the suffering person, but mercy does what is needed to comfort the afflicted. God didn’t just feel sorry for us in our sins – He sent Jesus to solve our sin problem. That’ highly desirable on our part, and, fortunately for us, God is not stingy with His mercy.
	The stock definition of Grace is “unmerited favor.” I can’t improve on that. Some have made an acronym out of the word: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. We couldn’t do enough good works in a thousand lifetimes to merit forgiveness of even one sin, and we’ve committed far more than one! Only by God’s grace can we be saved. So God’s grace is certainly desirable. Fortunately for us, it is also abundant. God does not dole out His grace by the teaspoon.
	Finally, we consider the great love of God. Grace and mercy could be seen as manifestations of love. You know, of course, that the Greeks had several words that are translated “love” in our English language. But the one that concerns us right now has comparatively little to do with emotion. It is the unconditional seeking of what is in the best interest of its object. God didn’t love us because He felt all warm and fuzzy about our behavior. It was with full knowledge of our sinfulness that He sent Jesus to die for us. He desired that which was in our best interest. Clearly it isn’t in our interest to be lost and doomed to eternity in Hell. And God didn’t love us a little bit – it was His GREAT love that moved Him show mercy and grace toward us.
	Just as God is rich in grace, mercy, and love toward us, so ought we to be with one another and with the lost world around us. The good Samaritan had mercy on the man who had been robbed and beaten. Jesus said, “Go and do likewise.” As God was rich in love toward us even when we were sinners, Jesus said to love even our enemies – seek what is in their best interest. First & foremost, that would mean there eternal best interest (to hear, believe, & obey the gospel). But it would have application to the here-and-now as well.
	Next time we’ll look at the riches of God’s wisdom and knowledge.