In Ephesians 2:4-5—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, (by grace ye are saved)—Paul mentions the second of three words that details our reconciliation to God—love.
We have seen love mentioned before in Ephesians, but let us go deeper. Perhaps the best way to define the Greek word agapē is “a self‑emptying self‑sacrifice.” God’s love is often viewed today as some sort of shallow sentimentality, but God’s love is deeper than we can ever comprehend. When the average person today says “love,” they do not even know what they are saying because they do not mean “a self-emptying self‑sacrifice.” Love today is more “self‑gratifying” than “self‑emptying.”
To go deeper, it is interesting to note that in secular Greek agapē was actually rather colorless. As one Greek authority explains, agapē originally carried an element of sympathy and spoke of the love of a person of higher rank for one of a lower rank; it even went so far as to speak of a love that was not self‑seeking. But the Lord Jesus transformed the word; it took on the much deeper meaning of being TOTALLY SACRIFICIAL. As the same authority says, “[It] thus creates a new people who will tread the way of self-sacrificing love that [Christ] took.” We, therefore, humbly offer the following definition of God’s love: “A self‑emptying self‑sacrifice in which God gave of Himself in the form of His only begotten Son Who gave His life for us.”
Every time I think of that definition I immediately think of Scripture references that illustrate it, such as, “But God commendeth His [self‑emptying self‑sacrifice] toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8) and, “For God [had such a self‑emptying self‑sacrifice for] the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).
One cannot help but notice that “ultimate contrast” in these verses. We were sinners, But God loved us. Oh, here is real love!
As if it were not enough to speak of God’s love, Paul adds more; he points out God’s great love. The basic meaning of the Greek (polus) is “much or great.” But when used figuratively, as it is here, it conveys the idea of intensity. In other words, Paul is not speaking so much of the volume of God’s love as much as he is its passion. Many of us enjoy doing certain things in life; at times we all pursue a hobby or other interest “intensely.” But if we could multiply this by infinity, we would even then only scratch the surface of the love of God.
Further, notice the word for (dia), which literally means “because of” or “on account of.” Putting it all together it reads, “But God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His intense love. . .” Mercy is the result of God’s love. Think of it! God’s love is so intense that He had mercy on us who did not deserve it. God has shown mercy because He loves us.
This Truth immediately begs the question, “Why does God love us?” In all my years of ministry, the only answer I have ever come to is this: I don’t know. When we look at verses 1‑3 from the human perspective, there is no reason God should or would love us, but He does.
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