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The Gloriously Good News of the Gospel by Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous
     As we saw in last week’s devotional on Ephesians 2:1-3, the gloriously good news of the gospel grows out of the ashes of the horrifically tragic news of human rebellion against God. We saw that our sin has caused us to be spiritually dead, incapable of overcoming the world, enslaved by the devil, and subject to the wrath of God. Indeed, the bad news could not be worse.
     Against this backdrop, the first two words of Ephesians 2:4 must be among the most glorious words in the Bible: “But God.” If our sin had the last word in our lives, we would be utterly and eternally hopeless: “But God.” If the course of this world was the only course we could take, we would be utterly and eternally hopeless: “But God.” If the devil’s power over us was the greatest power over us, we would be utterly and eternally hopeless: “But God.” If the righteous anger of God toward sin was the beginning and end of God’s disposition toward sinners, we would be utterly and eternally hopeless: “But God.”
     The gloriously good news of the gospel is that neither our sin nor the world nor the devil nor the wrath of God have the final word over the lives of those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. As Paul writes, “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” (Ephesians 2:4-5). ­
     While it is true that God is infinitely holy and therefore righteously angry at sinners for their rebellion against him, it is also true that he is the “Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). And the greatest display of his mercy and grace in the history of heaven and earth is that he poured out forgiveness on guilty sinners like us through the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. This is what Paul means when he says that God “made us alive together with Christ,” namely, he united us with him by faith so that his righteousness is ours, his death is ours, his resurrection is ours, and his ascension to the right hand of the Father is ours, as we will see next week.
     Oh, how pregnant are these words with meaning and life and joy: “by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:5)! Oh, how glorious is the good news of the gospel! May the Lord give us insight into the nature of our salvation as we meditate upon his Word so that we might give thanks and praise to him who alone is worthy to be worshiped forever. 

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