But God....

"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;)" Ephesians 2:4-5

What a wonderful truth!

Now these two little words may not at first glance seem like much. But, I think once you take a closer look you will see things differently. You see the word "but" is a co-ordinating conjunction, which is used to join individual words, phrases, and independent clauses. Thankfully with grammar rules only a click away, I do not have to try to explain in my own words, if I did, I think I would have to bust out in song, singing the Schoolhouse Rock "Conjunction junction, what's your function?" You don't want to hear me sing...so I copied these explanations from a reliable grammar website. you are welcome;)

1. To suggest a contrast that is unexpected in light of the first clause:
2. To suggest in an affirmative sense what the first part of the sentence implied in a negative way
3. To connect two ideas with the meaning of "with the exception of" (and then the second word takes over as subject)
4. A sentence beginning with and or but will tend to draw attention to itself and its transitional function.

Wow! It is likely that you do not have to chose one of these to describe the purpose of our word "but", as I see they all are accurate in this case!

The previous verses that the conjunction is connecting are what I think we need to look at are these...

"And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Ephesians 2:1-3

You see, I remember when I was walking according to the course of this world, just like the "prince of the power of the air" (Satan) would have me do...and the thing is, before God made me alive ("quickened") that wonderful precious day when I trusted Jesus Christ as my savior, I was living exactly like this says...fulfilling the lusts and desires of my flesh and of my mind. MY ways, MY desires...I am not alone...this is how he finds us all, dead in sin. I was one of the children of disobedience, and so were you, if you are a born again believer, if not you still are in this dreadful state of being dead in your sin. God tells us in John 3:18 "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

BUT GOD!

So there are two thoughts I want to leave you to ponder, if you are a Christian, (meaning there was a specific moment in time when you believed what Jesus Christ said about himself, and about you, and about your sin, and you trusted him alone to pay the penalty for it by his death on the cross, by yielding your life to him.) Let's live like it!

And, if you have never made Jesus Christ Lord in your life, you are still dead in sin, and a child of wrath and disobedience.

BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loves us has provided a way! In His Word we are lovingly told that "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."2 Peter 3:9

Amazing love! How can it be that thou my God should die for me!