We Do Not Get What We Deserve ~ blog

Before we move forward to the next blessing that God has already given to us in Christ, I want to focus on just one word today in this passage.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.”

There are some phrases we have running around in our heads that may be somewhat true but not always. Sayings like…

  • You get what you deserve.
  • Or as the Joker (2019 movie) said, “You get what you f***ing deserve!”
  • You made your bed now sleep in it.
  • There’s no such thing as a free lunch.

This is what we learn in life here on earth. If you want to have something you must work for it. Achievement comes as a result of effort. That is certainly bad news for the lazy or the oppressed, but for those who will go for it and get a few breaks along the way…the sky can still be the limit. However, that is truer for some than others.

Sure, there are the rags to riches stories that can give us hope. There are the Slum Dog Millionaires that escape their circumstances and escape picking through the garbage to find a scrap of food to having abundance and eating whatever and whenever you want to eat.

However, when someone becomes a member of the family of God the scales change and one literally can go from having nothing to having everything.

I know a lot of people who have absolutely no idea what God is like because they do not know Him. They have formulated their opinion usually from their interactions with Christians and come away from those interactions thinking there is absolutely no way they would want to know God. He is seen as being wrathful and angry instead of being loving and gracious. He is known to be the one who punishes sinners and if these narrow-minded, uptight, legalistic people are God’s people then they want no part of it…and I cannot blame them.

However, we do not know God that way. He is not some tyrant in the sky waiting to smack anybody upside the head when they step out of line. We know that because we have stepped out of line. In fact, we have not only stepped out of line…somedays we do not even know where the line is.

Now we have learned some amazing truths about the grace and mercy of God so far in Ephesians 1. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms. He chose us before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. Out of His love for us he has adopted us as sons and daughters and has given it all to us FREELY!!! And we have redemption along with the forgiveness of all our sins.

This was and is all being done in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. The riches of God’s grace…think about that for a minute. MERCY is God not giving us what we deserve. We deserve punishment for our sins, but His mercy was given to us and He took the punishment for our sins and bore that punishment on the Cross. What incredible mercy.

However, GRACE goes infinitely beyond MERCY. Grace is God giving us what we do not deserve and what He gives us in infinite. Confused…well let me remind you that not only some of our sins were forgiven but ALL of them have been washed away by His blood and we are cleansed from them forever.

PLUS…we have been given eternal life. A life where there will be no sin because there is no evil. There will be no sickness because there will be no disease. And the devil and all his demons will have been thrown into the Lake of Fire and never ever be heard from again. And things will be this way forever, and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever and ever!!! There is no end…ever.

Sit and think about that for a while. Where there is no injustice, no racism, no political divides, dictatorships, mass murders, and no button for firing off nuclear weapons.

And don’t get me started on the streets of gold. One of the most valuable things we know in the here and now worth almost $2000 an ounce is asphalt…and it is gold so pure that is it as clear as glass. 12 precious stones will make the 12 layers of the wall. And the gates to Jerusalem will not be stone of concrete…but each gate is one huge pearl. So, there must be some giant oysters in heaven. (I love oysters…raw of cooked.)

Now to notice the one word in that verse that I love…all of His grace and mercy He has LAVISHED on us. Grace is giving us everything we do not deserve, and God is and will be pouring it out lavishly.

Here is the definition of lavished – means to cause to superabound, to be superfluous, to overflow, to be in affluence, to excel, or to be in abundance with the implication of being considerably more than what would be expected.

One of the problems is those of us who have become addicted to porn and sex is we cannot even imagine God being that way with us. We are waiting for the punishment to arrive, for the ax to fall, for the price to have to be paid by us.

I know those feelings are real. They are what we expect…and yes, our Father will discipline us if we continue in sin because He is a loving Father. However, it is up to you and the choices you make every day. Sure…you can continue in sin and stuff more porn between your ears or you can choose a path that goes deep into the Lavish Grace of God.

However, I should warn you…it is not like there is a gate and you go from shitsville and step into glory. It is a journey of living one day at a time. Surrendering your body to Him daily. Being filled with and walking in the Spirit moment by moment and having put on the full armor of God every day.

Our loving and gracious Father is waiting to pour out these things into your life. Will you do what you need to be doing to receive it?

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