Eph. ii. 4 — 7. But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ and hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus : that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
WHAT an accumulation of sublime ideas is here presented to our view ! Well might the Psalmist say that the meditation of God was sweet to him. We scarcely know whether to admire more the grace of the Benefactor, or the felicity of those who participate his blessings. But the text requires us to fix our attention on that most delightful of all subjects, the riches of divine grace. The Apostle has in the pre- ceding verses described the state of the unregenerate world. He now displays the grace of God towards the regenerate,
I. In its source- God is " rich in mercy," and " abundant in love" —
[Mercy and love are, as it were, the favourite attributes of the Deity8: and the exercise of these perfections is peculiarly grateful to him b. There is an inexhaustible fountain of them in the heart of God e: they have flowed down upon the most unworthy of the human race ; and will flow undiminished to all eternity. While he retains his nature, he cannot but exer- cise these perfections d.]
These are the true sources of all the grace dis- played towards fallen man —
[Man had nothing in him whereby he could merit the attention of his Maker. He was fallen into the lowest state of guilt and misery : but the bowels of his Creator yearned over him6. God felt (if we may so speak) an irresistible
a Exod. xxxiv. 6, 7. b Mic. vii. 18.
c Rom. x. 12. (i 1 John iv. 8.
e In this view, God's solicitude to find Adam, and his affectionate (perhaps plaintive) inquiry after him, Gen. iii. 9. are very striking.