But God!

By: Steven Berrios
A Devotional on​ the book of Ephesians

4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of his great love that he had for us, 5 made us alive with Christ even though we were dead in trespasses. You are saved by grace! {Ephesians 2:4-5}

But God! These two words together could be two of the most powerful words in all of Scripture. We could read the two words together in several different places throughout the Bible. Here are just a few:

• “You meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to . . . save many people alive” (Gen. 50:20).
• “My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:26).
• “But God will redeem my life from the grave; he will surely take me to himself.” (Ps. 49:15)
• “But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” (Acts 2:24)
• “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for you.” (Romans 5:8)

In Ephesians 2:1-3, Paul hammers who we are before Christ. He reminds us all that before Christ, we are dead in our trespasses and sins. He reminds us that we are by nature children of wrath. He reminds us that we have an enemy in the world, in Satan and in ourselves.

​BUT GOD! It was God, because of His rich mercy and great love, who made us alive with Christ. In ourselves we were completely hopeless. But that was forever changed with “but God”. It was His redemptive plan to display His rich mercy and great love in giving us His one and only Son to die in our place. All Praise be to God.

In reflection today, spend a few moments reading over Ephesians 2:1-5. Give Him thanks that He chose to love on you.