His Great Love!

Ephesians 2:4-10-But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with 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. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

But God-Not man, not woman, but God!!

God is the one who came up with concept of redemption!

God is the one who came up with concept of forgiveness!

God is the one who came up with concept of love!

Rich In Mercy-You can never bankrupt the mercy of God!

You are never going to exhaust the mercy of God!

Because Of His Great Love With Which He Loved Us-I like the way he worded this…He Loved Us…I automatically think of that verse, But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us-Romans 5:8

He loved us at our worst!

We love people at their best, and we tolerate those same people at their worst!

Dead In Trespasses-We weren’t going to get any better!

We weren’t going to do enough good deeds to get us into Heaven, because we were dead!!

Go to a cemetery and ask a dead person, “What you doing?” He’ll say nothing!

Made Us Alive-By Him giving His life for us, He gave life to us!

Sit Together In The Heavenly Places-It is going to wonderful to sit around and hear all the testimonies of how God reached out to people with His great love!

It always amazes me what brings people to a certain place, whether to visit there or live there, can you believe all the stories we will here about how they got saved and what they went thru to get to that point, and the mighty works God did in their life after they was saved.

Illustration About God’s Love!

Jim Cymbala, Pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle, tells the following story: It was Easter Sunday and I was so tired at the end of the day that I just went to the edge of the platform, pulled down my tie and sat down and draped my feet over the edge. It was a wonderful service with many people coming forward. The counselors were talking with these people. As I was sitting there I looked up the middle aisle, and there in about the third row was a man who looked about 50, disheveled, filthy. He looked up at me rather sheepishly, as if saying, "Could I talk to you?"

We have homeless people coming in all the time, asking for money or whatever. So as I sat there, I said to myself, though I am ashamed of it, "What a way to end a Sunday. I've had such a good time, preaching and ministering, and here's a fellow probably wanting some money for more wine."

He walked up. When he got within about five feet of me, I smelled a horrible smell like I'd never smelled in my life. It was so awful that when he got close, I would inhale by looking away, and then I'd talk to him, and then look away to inhale, because I couldn't inhale facing him. I asked him, "What's your name?" "David." "How long have you been on the street?" "Six years." "How old are you?" "32." He looked 50 -- hair matted; front teeth missing; wino; eyes slightly glazed. "Where did you sleep last night, David?" "Abandoned truck."

I keep in my back pocket a money clip that also holds some credit cards. I fumbled to pick one out thinking; I'll give him some money. I won't even get a volunteer. They are all busy talking with others. Usually we don't give money to people. We take them to get something to eat. I took the money out.

David pushed his finger in front of me. He said, "I don't want your money. I want this Jesus, the One you were talking about, because I'm not going to make it. I'm going to die on the street." I completely forgot about David, and I started to weep for myself. I was going to give a couple of dollars to someone God had sent to me.

See how easy it is? I could make the excuse I was tired. There is no excuse. I was not seeing him the way God sees him. I was not feeling what God feels. But oh, did that change! David just stood there. He didn't know what was happening. I pleaded with God, "God, forgive me! Forgive me! Please forgive me. I am so sorry to represent You this way. I'm so sorry. Here I am with my message and my points, and You send somebody and I am not ready for it. Oh, God!"