4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us.
The worldly man speaks of riches in terms of material wealth. He yearns for money, jewellery, big houses and luxury items. Sadly, even churchgoers of our time are overly concerned with material riches.
But a godly man, like the apostle Paul, will be extremely vigilant and cautious towards material wealth (cf. 1 Timothy 6:9-11). In fact, such a man will also be overwhelmingly fascinated with the riches of God. In his epistles, Paul spoke glowingly of “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8), “the exceeding riches of his grace” (Ephesians 2:7; 1:7), “the riches of his glory” (Romans 9:23; Ephesians 1:18; 3:16), “the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering” (Romans 2:4), “the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God” (Romans 11:33), etc.
Our text for today declares that God is rich in mercy. The riches of His mercy far outshine all the wealth of this world. While man becomes rich by hoarding things for himself, God, being “rich in mercy”, shall endlessly bestow His goodness and glory on those who need them. He is so rich in mercy that no one who comes to Him for His mercy shall be turned away for lack of it.
What sinners like us need most from God is His mercy. Shall we dare to approach His awful throne for His blessings? The answer is that He is rich in mercy! Are we then worthy to ask favours from Him? The answer is that His mercy is abundant to those who seek Him. You need not possess any merit nor meet any eligibility requirement. Just come to Him, and you shall have mercy; His mercy shall supply all your needs.
What is the guarantee of the bestowal of His mercy? The apostle assuredly says, “for his great love wherewith he loved us”. The love of God towards His people is immensely great and abundant, and His loving hands are always stretched out to receive those who come to Him and to bestow upon them His rich mercies. The richness of His mercy and the greatness of His love are both now extended to His children in full measure. Oh, how blessed we are in Christ to have God’s inexhaustibly rich mercy and inexpressibly great love! Oh, what great encouragement we are given to come to God! There is no reason why we should hesitate to come to Him. He says to us, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3).