“It’s a Love Thing”
Ephesians 2:1-7
The book of Ephesians is described as the most profound book in the Bible. It is the only Pauline epistle that has nothing to do directly concerning the church of Ephesus, but is concerned with dealings that affect all Christians. He starts outside the parameters of time, for in chapter 1 verse 4 he writes “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love.” He enters into time and makes some wonderful statements about God. He focuses a great deal on “What God has done”, “What God will do”, and “What God is going to do”. He writes with such clarity that one with just a minute amount of trust in God is able to understand that unless God does it, it can’t be done. Consequently if God does it there is nothing or no-body that can stop it, not even the one whom it is being done to. We try to make God into some kind of puny pocket power that is limited to only doing what we say he can or allow him to do. God is never held hostage to the boundaries of a humanistic mind-set. God transcends all boundaries, God is omnipotent, God is sovereign he does what he wants when he wants to whom he wants the way he wants and there is nothing we can do about it. In other words since God is doing it all by himself, without any help from you or I we cannot say that this is not the way it is supposed to be all we have to do it receive our blessings. My blessings are all ready there and He didn’t have to wait for me to get there to make it. God already has your blessings ready, He have to wait for you to come to him to get it ready, He already has done that, it’s just a matter of timing to put it into your hands. “Look at someone and say God is getting ready to bless me and there is nothing you can do about it WHY, because it’s my time.”
In Verse #1 we read “And you hath He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins.” The word dead describes a condition that is so far from God that there is nothing that you or I could have contributed to getting back to God or being what God would have us be, we were dead. Understand that a dead man doesn’t know he is dead, he can’t say anything about being buried, he can’t contribute anything to coming back to life, he is dead, lifeless, numb to any sensations, unresponsive, no longer active or functioning, He is dead. What we regarded as being alive in time past we now realize that it was not living at all.
Verse #2 & #3 simply described the things we did in our trespasses and sins. Verse 2 “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world…..” In other words whatever the world, the things and people that influenced us, thought was cool, hip, and fun we did, often times without limitations….. “according to the power of the air…..” what we thought was fun and exciting was just an illusion created by the devil, and we often found out after it was to late, that what we saw was not what we got. Verse 3 says “Among whom also we all….” We all not just some of us but we all, that’s you, you, you, and me. “Had our conversation in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind…” in other words we operated out the lust of our flesh and out of the need to satisfy any pleasurable imagination that came through our mind. Regardless of the limitations you had or did not have, we all were dead in trespasses and sins.
Verse #4 “But God…” Hear the writer Paul introduces God’s attitude on the other side of what we were when we were dead in trespasses and sins. After all that we have done, after all the mess we were in, after becoming a filthy, stinking, putrid being, after being used, abused, mistreated, violated, emasculated, and raped by the devil Paul says “BUT GOD”. He didn’t say that you came to your senses, He didn’t say after you got tired of doing the stuff you were doing, He didn’t say you said that you were going to find God. He states just how messed up we were and points out the fact “BUT GOD” Not of any goodness of my own, not because I am so great, not for any other reason BUT GOD. “…who is rich in mercy…” This is very important because it declares a very important fact about God. Rich means possessing great wealth, having an abundance of. Mercy is compassion shown to an offender. “…for His great love wherewith He loved us.”
Lets look at that word love. This love is different from the love that we think to be love, this is “Agape.” Agape is God’s love for man. Agape is not predicated on our goodness, but is solely based on the strength of God. God’s love doesn’t bounce from Him to us to Him; the source of God’s love for us is God alone for God is love. Nobody resupplies it, nobody feeds into it, and everything God needs to keep this love alive he has and gives to us. God’s love for us is totally independent of any outside source. God’s love does not get frustrated with people, people that after all he has done will not love him back. Yet in still he keeps pumping and pumping love toward us and all we do is keep taking and taking, never once ever giving anything in return. Yet He never stops loving us, He never runs out of mercy for us, any body that is capable of loving you and me and never run out of love, never stop giving and giving after all we do is take and take and take has to have an abundance of love. We are not giving anything yet He loves us. God says I love you even though you are incapable of loving me back; I love you just because you are there. There is nothing I need from you I just love you, I don’t love you because you praise me, because before you could praise me I loved you. I love you and I don’t need you to love me back for me to love you I just love you independent of you loving me I love you for me, I love you. Understand in order to love and not get something back you got to have something in you, around you, over you, under you, through you to be able to love something that can’t love you back. So we see that this love relationship is totally one-sided. Nobody here can love like that, we might lie like that, but we can’t love like that. We love because we see something that appeals to us and what we can get from it. I love you because you make me feel good, but to love and get nothing in return we can’t do that. That’s Agape and Agape is 100% a love thing.
The problem we have is we confuse Eros with Agape. Eros is what we have in verse #3 and it operates within the lust of our flesh. Eros, which is where we get the word erotic. What Eros does is triggers our senses, our sight, our smell, our touch, our taste, and sound and puts us in contact with our environment, and because things are pleasurable to us, because certain things excited the erotic nature in us, because things make us feel good and are good to the flesh we believe this is love because it is good to us. Nobody is loving you for no reason. People get to know one another for reasons. There is nobody here that loves somebody just for what they can do for them and not get anything in return. I love you because you stimulate me. I love you because you excite me. I love you because you make me feel good. There is no way for us to have admire without some desire because this admire is Eros and it is coming out of the desires of the flesh and the desire of the mind. Understand that everything that is good to us is not always good for us. (EXAMPLE) A no might not always be good to us, but is good for us. What we need to do is have our Eros controlled by Agape. If Agape is in control of my Eros then Agape will let me know that this is good for me and not just good to me. If I infuse my Eros with Agape, since God produces Agape then I can begin to love like God loves me and this is being Holy.
Verse #5 summarizes Agape “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickend us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)” By grace ye are saved. Grace is Agape manifested. Understand that since we are saved by grace the truth of the matter is you don’t deserve to be, you were dead, you were so far from God, you could not have contributed anything to Him, you could do nothing for Him, you were dead. You couldn’t find Him, you couldn’t come to Him without Him drawing you, you were dead, but by grace, by that Agape God looked down through time and said I see my friend needs me and because I love them, even-though he is dead, even though he can’t love me back, in spite of all the mess he is in, even though I he acts like he can’t hear my voice I love him. I love them so much I know what I’ll do I’ll send my son to die for them because I love them. Not because they are so good, not because they deserve it, but because I love them. Baby its not because of you, but “IT’S A LOVE THING” It was a love thing that caused him to be beat all night long, then tied to a post with His hands above His head, scourged with a flagellum, the metal and bone digging into His back ripping the flesh from Him. It was a love thing that caused Him to carry the Patibulum up Golgotha’s hill, it was a love thing that caused him to deny the drink mixed with mhrey, it was a love thing that caused His perennial van to be severed.
Tina Turner once sang a song and asked the question “WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT” baby its all about love, IT’S A LOVE THING. I am reminded of a song that we used to sing that says “I WAS SINKING DEEP IN SIN FRAR FROM THE PEACEFUL SHORE VERY DEEPLY STAINED WITHIN NEVER TO RISE NO MORE THAN THE MASTER OF THE SEA HEARD MY DESPAIRING CRY FROM THE WATER LIFTED ME NOW SAFE AM I, LOVE LIFTED ME, LOVE LIFTED ME WHEN NOTHING ELSE WOULD HELP LOVE LIFTED ME.”
IT’S A LOVE THING.
Minister Mel. Maughmer, Jr.
