Let us have a further word of prayer before we read the Word of God.
We do give You thanks, Lord, for the privilege of gathering together in Your name. We thank You for Your presence, Lord Jesus, and our desire is indeed to fall at Your feet in worship and thanksgiving.
And now, as we read Your Word, to sit at Your feet, Lord, and to hear from You. So we pray in a very simple way: would You, Lord, meet us tonight? Would You speak Your living Word? We need Your Word, Lord. Would You reveal it to us and speak to us?
For that purpose, we commit this time into Your hands. Lord, You are the One Who, out of nothing—out of five loaves and two fishes—can feed a great multitude. Thank You so much for Who You are. Would You meet us even tonight? Feed us with Yourself. In Your precious name we ask. Amen.
Can we read the same verse for this conference? By now, I am sure you all know it is found in Acts chapter 13—verse 36.
For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers, and underwent decay.
Again, the phrase we are considering together this week is: “David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation.”
We want to add to that some verses from Ephesians chapter 4. I am going to start from verse 1.
Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.
And a little ahead, in verse 15:
But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him Who is the Head, even Christ, from Whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Verse 17:
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.
And they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.
But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old man, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
We want to add to that a passage from 1 Corinthians chapter 15—two verses, 45 and 49.
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
So again, we are considering the phrase that David served the purpose of God in his generation. The topic assigned to me adds a word to that phrase: practically serving the purpose of God in our generation. That is what I was assigned, so I do not have any option—it is what I am concentrating on.
I have to tell you the process of what came to my heart as I started meditating on this. Almost immediately, I was turned to the Epistle to the Ephesians. Somehow, you would say, “Well, that is kind of obvious, right? The purpose of God—it is the great unveiling of that purpose in Scripture.”
But interestingly enough, it was the practical part that really drew me to Ephesians. So what do I mean?
When you study Ephesians, it is kind of hard to miss that, when you reach the middle of the epistle—chapter 4, verse 1—there is a big division in the epistle. It is a very simple way to divide it, right? You have two halves: the first three chapters and the last three chapters.
Chapter 4, very clearly to me, seems to mark a division. We know that division is there because of that little word we just read: therefore. “Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord…”
Well, you know, I do not even speak English well, right? Who am I to tell you what “therefore” is there for? But fortunately, every single language—at least the ones that I know—has the same concept: a word like therefore, which is there essentially to join two ideas together.
Of course, we know that every time you see a “therefore,” there is something that preceded it, and something is going to be said; and the “therefore” is joining them right there in the middle. That is the big division in this epistle.
Actually, it should not surprise us. In Scripture, there are many wonderful “therefores.” Our brother gave us one yesterday night in Romans chapter 12. Certainly, Ephesians 4 is one of those great “therefores” in Scripture.
So if “therefore” is there to join what came before and to somehow exhort us, or challenge us, to a certain course of action that follows, the question is: what exactly came before, and what is the exhortation? What is the challenge, the course of action, that we are challenged to take?
Well, pretty simple. What came before is chapters 1 through 3: the great unveiling of God’s purpose in the Bible. It is probably the place in Scripture where you have that purpose described in the greatest detail.
If I were to sum up those first three chapters of Ephesians—though it is not really my territory tonight, so to speak—the purpose centers on a Person: our Lord Jesus.
Our brother read Ephesians chapter 1 yesterday, and when you get to verse 10, we are told that it was the will of God to sum up, or gather, all things in Christ. That is the purpose.
But as you continue to read, the purpose is expanded, so to speak. It is not just that the purpose is about the Person of the Lord Jesus individually. Yes, it centers in Him. However, the full purpose is that Christ, Who is to be the center of everything, is to be expressed through a corporate vessel: even the church.
If you will, the purpose is the corporate Christ.
Now let me add one more thing to this. When we read the first three chapters of Ephesians, something strikes me. It is not just that the purpose itself is something so wondrous, so marvelous. When you come to think that we were included in that purpose—that God, by His grace, has included us—who are we?
As Psalm 8 says, “What is man that You would mind him?” Why would we be chosen to be a vessel to express the Lord? The purpose is wondrous; it is too great.
But another thing should arrest our hearts when we read the first three chapters. I think our brother yesterday night already touched on this in a wonderful way. It is not just that the purpose itself is something so wondrous, so undescribably wonderful; beyond that, it is the way in which God has included us in this purpose.
Let me try to explain what I mean. When I read, for instance, chapter 1, verse 4, we read:
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world.
I do not know if you have ever thought about it, but God knows everything—the end from the beginning. Do you not think that, when He chose us before the foundation of the world, He knew exactly what would happen to this human race? What would happen to us?
Do you not think that the Lord knew that we would sin, rebel against Him, and turn our backs to Him?
And the wonderful thing is that He just went ahead. He did not stop. He chose us before the foundation of the world, knowing every single thing that would happen. He chose us to include us in this purpose.
So how do we understand this? How can we describe this? It is grace.
So it is not just the greatness of the purpose, but how He did it. Oh, it is no wonder to me that when Paul presents for the first time this matter of God’s purpose, how we are included in it, and everything connected with it, the impression you get is almost as if he cannot stop.
I do not mean this as some sort of Bible trivia, but I am sure many of you know that Ephesians 1:3-14 is the longest sentence in Scripture. That is the passage where we read that it was the will of God, His purpose revealed to us, to gather all things in Christ.
It includes all the things He did to make that possible. It is almost as if Paul just cannot stop. When you start reading Ephesians 1:3-14, it is almost as if we are being given a pile of spiritual blessings.
He begins by saying that we were blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Then he goes on to say that He chose us in Christ, that He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, and then he tells of the grace it took for all that to happen.
He does not merely say that He gave us that grace. He lavished that grace upon us.
Brothers and sisters, my burden is really the second part—the part after the “therefore.” That is the topic I have. But what occurred to me as I was preparing is that there is no real way for us to respond to what the “therefore” is calling us to do unless we give proper consideration to what precedes the “therefore.”
And that, brothers and sisters, as our brother put it so wonderfully, is amazing grace. It is grace that we cannot describe. It is love that surpasses understanding.
When Paul starts speaking about the love of Christ and about the grace of God—by which He includes us in this purpose—it is another thing in Ephesians by which you cannot help but be struck. It is almost as if Paul asks, “How do you describe it?” Then he starts piling up adjectives to try to express the grace of God.
As a brother said, human language has a limit if you are going to explain such grace: to choose us, knowing very well what would happen to us, and yet to choose us, redeem us, include us, and make us vessels to express His beloved Son.
Brothers and sisters, this is what precedes that “therefore” in chapter 4. Only after Paul has explained all that—expounded that wondrous purpose, and the grace and love behind it all—does he say:
Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called.
I would like to consider a couple of things on the other side of the “therefore.” This has to do, of course, with practically serving the purpose of God in our generation.
Let me note one thing. This word walk in Scripture often refers to conduct—to a practical expression, to something expressed in a very concrete way. Oftentimes, as I said, it is related to conduct.
That is exactly where the “therefore” is focusing. Therefore, in light of all that you have received, of the purpose in which you were included, of the grace that was given to you—in light of all of that—I implore you to walk, to conduct yourself, to express yourself in a way that is worthy of such a calling.
Actually, it seems that the second half of Ephesians, chapters 4 through 6, is occupied with many facets and many aspects of how to walk in a way that is worthy of the Lord.
It is very interesting to me that when you read that second half—and I trust everyone will be encouraged by this conference to go back to Ephesians and meditate on it, because that is exactly what this conference is centered in, in some ways—you find many practical avenues for how we should conduct ourselves.
How should we walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and of the calling with which we were called? Not surprisingly, we read about how to function in the body of Christ.
I guess that is almost intuitive. If the purpose is that Christ would be the center, not merely in Himself but expressed corporately, then yes, we have to relate to one another in such a way that that expression becomes a reality. That will happen in the local assembly, in church life.
But then you continue to read that second half and find many other aspects of walking in a manner worthy of the calling with which we were called. You find relationships in society. You find relationships in the family: husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and slaves—or perhaps, in this day, employers and employees.
In other words, it seems that the purpose of God has to have a bearing on every one of those practical aspects. It is almost as if the character of Christ has to be formed in us and has to touch all those aspects of our lives. That is the purpose.
My burden for tonight is not to go into every one of those many wonderful aspects presented in the second half of Ephesians. There is one of those aspects that is my burden to share with you and to consider tonight.
When you get to chapter 4, verse 17 and onward, I get the impression that Paul is making something really emphatic in those verses. Let us go back and read them, if you would turn back to Ephesians chapter 4.
Let me go back to verse 15:
But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him Who is the Head, even Christ, from Whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Then:
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord…
I would like to read another translation of verse 17. One of the Amplified versions puts it this way:
So this I say, and solemnly testify in the name of the Lord, as in His presence.
Do you notice a very definite pause here? A very definite and solemn warning and exhortation begins in verse 17.
I would like to point out the connection here. It is my impression that Paul is stopping because there is something here that is absolutely vital in this matter of the practical expression of the purpose of God—or, if you will, in this matter of practically serving the purpose of God in our generation.
Before he gets into any of the matters I mentioned—the relationships in the family, relationships at work, and all those things—Paul stops and makes this very solemn point.
Do you notice what he has just said when he makes this pause? Somehow, he has gone back to something he already mentioned in chapter 1: the body of Christ. That is actually a description of God’s eternal purpose.
In Ephesians, you have many pictures of what this purpose is. Yes, it is a corporate vessel to express Christ. That corporate vessel is presented to us as the body of Christ: He is the Head, and we are the members.
It is presented as a new man. It is presented as a city, of which He is the King and we are the citizens. It is presented as the family of God. It is presented as a temple for the dwelling of God in the Spirit.
All of those are descriptions of this purpose—of what God is seeking in this corporate vessel: that we would express His Son.
Now, in chapter 4, when you get to verse 15, Paul goes back to the body of Christ. He says that we are all to grow up in all things into Him Who is the Head. He goes on to mention that the whole body is being fitted together. You see the functioning of the body of Christ.
This corporate vessel is organically joined with the Head in life, and organically joined to one another. By virtue of being joined to the Head, we are members of one another. Because of that, there is a functioning: the whole body being fitted together, with supplies coming through every joint according to the proper working of each individual part.
This causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. Then he stops:
But this I say, and solemnly testify in the Lord: do not walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds.
It seems that this section extends all the way to verse 24. If I were to sum up the focal point of this solemn exhortation, it comes right at the juncture where Paul says: “Yes, He is the Head. You are called and united to Him. You are to grow in Him and grow in the body.”
At that point, he stops. The impression I get is that there is a very important key in this matter of the practical expression of the purpose of God—a key without which that practical expression is not possible.
Later in this section, Paul says what I feel sums it up in some ways:
In reference to your former manner of life, you put off the old man.
And then, in verse 24, the counterpart:
Put on the new man, which is in the likeness of God.
The warning here, the solemn exhortation in this passage, is almost as if Paul, by the Holy Spirit, is reminding us of a principle: God will not carry out His purpose on any basis other than that of new creation.
Never on the basis of old creation, of the old man, of our old manner, or of our old minds. The only principle on which the eternal purpose of God can practically be expressed is on the basis of a new creation in Christ.
I would like to consider this for a moment.
Before I do that, let me mention something that helps me think about this passage. The impression I get is that here you find a key to this matter of the practical. Remember, we are in that section of the epistle about walking in a manner worthy of the calling. Everything here is practical, and right here Paul inserts this truth.
The way it comes to me is that you have a key to the practical expression of the purpose of God. I remember hearing—or more likely reading—from Brother Lance an illustration about keys that really helped me.
A key is that little tiny thing, right? It used to be a key to the car: a little piece of metal, a little jagged thing. You have the car there, this piece of machinery that we just take for granted, which takes us everywhere. It is marvelous.
I understand almost nothing about it, so I am certainly glad that the thing works and takes me wherever I want to go. But here is the thing: that wonderful piece of machinery needs that little tiny thing to make it work—something so minuscule. Without it, it does not work.
Somehow, that is the impression I get when I read this passage. Yes, we were included in something wondrous, and God will carry it out, yes. But He has decided on which lines, on which principles, He will do that.
From here we read that it is never going to be on the basis of old creation, of anything simply natural. It has to be on the basis of new creation. Put off the old man; put on the new man.
So the question is: How are we going to understand this? What exactly is the old man spoken of here? What is the new man? What is the putting off, and what is the putting on?
Dear saints, I hope the Lord can speak to us. There are certain passages in Scripture—let me rephrase that. I was going to say there are passages of Scripture that we cannot afford not to pay attention to. Of course, that is true of every single thing in the Word of God.
But how much more when a passage has a preface like, “I solemnly testify in the Lord”? There is something critical here. There is something vital in this matter of walking in a way worthy of our calling, or practically expressing and serving the purpose of God in our generation.
So how are we to understand this matter of the new man and the old man?
We read a passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and we should read it again. Let us go to verse 45.
So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.
You notice here that there is a reference to a first one and a last one, and later a reference to the first man and the second man. Well, if you are thinking chronologically, the first is the old one and the last is the new one.
So what is that old man? There is a reference to it in Ephesians 4. This is not merely academic; we have to understand the emphasis Paul is making in both 1 Corinthians 15 and Ephesians chapter 4.
I feel that it is very clear, especially in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. The first man was made, or became, a living soul. The emphasis seems to be that the great characteristic of Adam, especially after the fall, is that he is a soul. He is a living soul.
We know that he was created with a body, that God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life—a spirit—and that he became a living soul. However, we know that when he fell, God had told him, “You shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
When he ate, of course, he did die. The Lord said, “In the day you eat, you will die.” He ate of it, and we know that he did not die physically that day. The question is: what exactly died?
We know that it was not his soul that died either. His mental faculties, emotions, and personality were still there. However, in the day that Adam and Eve fell and sinned against God, their spirits—that part God placed in them as a counterpart to God, giving them a capacity for God, a capacity to know God, to fellowship with God, and to worship God—that part died that very day.
In this way, what characterizes Adam, especially after the fall, is that he is a living soul. The spirit is dead; the capacity for God is gone.
Now, if you were to ask, “What is the great characteristic of the last Adam, our Lord Jesus?” our verse tells us: “The last Adam became a life-giving Spirit.” He is the Man of the Spirit. He is Christ.
I suspect that oftentimes we read the word Christ and think of it simply as a title. But, brothers and sisters, that speaks of the predominant characteristic of our Lord Jesus, the last Adam. He is the Anointed. That is what Christ means—Messiah in Hebrew, Christ in Greek: simply the Anointed One, the Man of the Spirit.
He is the Man Who received the Spirit without measure. Do you see the contrast? The first man was a soul, a living soul. After the fall, that was it: a body, a soul, and a dead spirit. As far as God is concerned, that capacity for Him was completely shut out by the fall.
But our Lord Jesus—the predominant characteristic is that there is a Spirit. Not merely that there is a human spirit, but that He received the Holy Spirit and lived by that Spirit. Brothers and sisters, that is the great characteristic.
This is true about Him personally. But did you notice, as you continue to read 1 Corinthians chapter 15, that Paul applies this not just to the Lord Jesus, but to every member of that new humanity in Him?
In verse 49, he says:
Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
Essentially, that means: Were you born from the Adamic race? Anyone here—do not raise your hand. I know the answer. Every single one of us.
We know exactly what it is to be a member of that race. We know exactly what it means to have a soul, with all the wonderful things that may be there—all the capacities, not only bad things. We know there is plenty of stuff that is commendable, good, and even impressive.
But in one respect, it is absolutely terrible: a soul will never connect you to God. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit.
Only spirit can touch a God Who is Spirit. Only the spiritual part in us can do that, and in the Adamic race that part died. As far as God is concerned, the door is closed; the channel is absolutely closed.
How about the second Man, the Lord Jesus? He lived in the Spirit. It is not merely that He had a spirit; He lived by that Spirit. He received the Holy Spirit, and that became the predominant characteristic of Him.
So, going back to verse 49: just as we have borne the image of the earthy, just as we were all like Adam, in that same boat, living by our souls, by our minds, by our emotions, and all that—now we will also bear the image of the heavenly.
That simply means that when we come to the Lord Jesus, when we first believe in Him, by the grace of God we are connected to this new Head. Before, our head was Adam. We were in that humanity, the old man.
In redemption, thank the Lord, our spirit is regenerated. We receive the Holy Spirit. We are connected to the Head—the very Christ, the Man of the Spirit.
Brothers and sisters, the point Paul is making is that as we bore the image, as we were exactly like Adam—men and women of the soul—that was a realm, so to speak. But after redemption, things have changed. Now you have a spirit. Now that connection with God has been opened.
Let us go back to putting off the old man and putting on the new man. What is it to put on?
Paul is talking here to believers already—to those whom he had already told, in Ephesians chapter 2, that God has given us life when we were dead in our sins and trespasses. That refers to our spirits being quickened and to our receiving the life of Christ in salvation.
So it is not a matter of saying, “You have to believe in the Lord Jesus and be born again.” That is not the point he is making. He is talking to believers. But the solemn thing he is testifying is this: remember, you have a new nature in you. You have a new life in you, which is the life of Christ.
You are part of that new man in Christ. You ought to live according to that life.
Put off the old man.
In other words, do not live by the old nature. We still have that capacity, do we not, even after being saved?
The reminder here is that there is a new life in you. There is a new nature, which is according to Christ. Live by it.
I would like to say one more thing. Why do we need a commandment like this? It may seem a little confusing, right? If you already have that new life in you, why do you still need to put off the old one and put on the new one?
Brothers and sisters, the reason I am staying on this is because it is vital. If I am reading this correctly, I feel that Paul is saying: if this does not happen, there will be no practical expression of this eternal purpose.
So why is this commandment needed? Did we not receive in our spirits that new life of our Lord Jesus? Well, yes.
The thing that I feel we perhaps miss sometimes is that there is a difference between having the life of the Lord Jesus and living by the life of the Lord Jesus. Those are two different things.
In redemption, when we are saved, every child of God—every single one—has the life of Christ in them, and thank God for that. The potential is there. The new nature is there. But living by that life is a different matter.
Therefore, there is a need for the exhortation and commandment: put off the old one. Do not walk according to the old nature. Do not walk according to soul-life.
It is very interesting. If you sum up the whole passage, Paul is talking in Ephesians chapter 4, verse 17:
So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk.
“Gentiles” is essentially a term for an unbeliever. How do they walk? He explains a little further on: “in the futility of their minds.” You see, the realm here is the realm of natural man—their soul, their mind, their conceptions—being darkened in their understanding and excluded from the life of God.
Of course, the spirit is dead; that has to be the case. There are several things Paul is going to talk about—very simple things—but there is an underlying matter that characterizes the Gentiles: they are alienated from the life of God. They live in the realm of their own minds.
Do not walk that way. Remember that you have a new life, a new nature. Walk according to it.
The need for the exhortation is because merely having that life is not a guarantee that we are going to live by it. Those two things are different, and that difference is crucial. It is vital if the purpose of God is going to be served, if the purpose of God is going to be expressed practically, and if there is going to be a walk worthy of the calling with which we were called.
That can never happen on the basis of old nature, on the basis of the old man. It can only happen on the basis of new creation. Because of that, the exhortation is: put off the old man; put on the new man.
In case this feels a little confusing—I hope it does not—I want to give you an illustration from the Old Testament that helps me understand this. If I already have that life, why the putting off and putting on?
I was reminded of Israel when they entered into the land. As you remember, the Lord gave them the land. When they left Egypt, the Lord said, “I am taking you out of Egypt, and I am giving you this land.” That is it. “I gave it to you. I gave it to your forefathers. Go and possess it.”
As far as the Lord is concerned, He had given it to them. But as we know from their history, there is a difference between the Lord giving something and our entering into possession of it.
The Lord gave the land to them. It was given. It is almost like the title to a property. If I give it to you, here it is: the house is yours; the title is here. Maybe it is a wonderful title. But until you go there, move there, and enter in, it is yours, but it is not quite yours. Do you see the point?
That is a principle, brothers and sisters, that seems to be applicable to everything in spiritual experience.
Even your salvation—did you ever realize that? In 1 John we read that Jesus died for the sins of whom? First John chapter 2. Do you remember? For the sins of the whole world.
Does that mean that the whole world is saved? No. What is the difference? Some, by the grace of God, accept the free gift, and they enter into the experience for which our Lord Jesus had already provided.
That is a principle, brothers and sisters, that applies to virtually everything in our experience. In this matter, it is absolutely the same.
When Christ died for us, we read that He took upon Himself—He crucified with Himself—or, more accurately, that our old man was crucified with Him. So why do I need to put it off?
Because when I am putting it off, I am simply saying, “Amen,” to what He did. I am somehow entering subjectively into what He provided objectively. But that is vital, brothers and sisters.
Let us go back to Israel for a second, because the two things here are crucial. The Lord had given them the land, and now He says, “You have to possess it.”
Let us imagine for a second that the Lord had not given them the land and they tried to possess it. Well, they are heading to the rocks. That is true in everything. We can never possess something simply because we want to. It is only if the Lord has given it.
But once He gives it, once His Word has given something, that is not enough either. You see, that is the other side. If He gives something, it still remains for us to enter into it, to possess it.
This matter of putting off the old man and putting on the new man can only happen, brothers and sisters, because in the finished work of the Lord Jesus our old man was already crucified with Him. Thank the Lord.
If that had not happened, there would be no way for us to put off anything. It would be futile; it would not work. But because, when He died on the cross, He took with Himself—this is Romans 6—our old man was crucified with Him, thank the Lord.
Because of that, we ought to put off the old man. It is simply saying, “Amen, Lord, You did it. I enter into it by faith.”
Because He has given you a new life in redemption, you can put on that new man and say, “Amen, Lord, I take that for today. I live by that life for today.”
Brothers and sisters, if I am reading Ephesians chapter 4 correctly, right at the beginning of this wonderful practical section of the epistle, this solemn warning is a key—absolutely indispensable.
Without that, the practical expression does not happen. Never on the basis of my flesh. I do not mean necessarily my sinful flesh. Never on the basis of anything simply natural—simply my mind, simply my best intentions.
So, brothers and sisters, may the Lord speak to our hearts. May the Lord really, as we consider the two sides of that wonderful “therefore”—as we consider the greatness and wonder of the purpose into which He has included us, and as we consider the grace and love behind it—encourage us to respond and to walk in a way worthy of such a calling.
Let us have a word of prayer.
Lord, we do give You thanks indeed.
Your purpose, Lord Jesus, is absolutely secure. That eternal purpose of God is secured because of Your finished work. It is something, Lord, that we know from the end of the Book. As our brother prayed, it is inevitable. We worship You for that.
As we consider, Lord, that we were included in such a purpose, oh, what can we say, Lord? How can we understand it? How can we properly appreciate it?
When we consider Your love, Lord, in doing so, indeed it surpasses our understanding. Yet, Lord, we turn to You. Because of what You ask us to do, we pray that there would indeed be an appreciation of what You have done and a response in our hearts to it—something willing to walk in a way worthy of such a calling.
We pray that as we do so, by Your grace, we may learn what it means to stand on Your finished work, to stand on that wonderful provision that took away the source of trouble—our old man—and to stand in that wonderful provision that gives us the very life of the Son in us.
Because of that, may we put off the old man, put on the new man, and walk in a way worthy of You. Be merciful to us.
We pray that even though our words are limited—we are so conscious of their limitation—yet, Lord, we pray that the Holy Spirit would somehow open our eyes, somehow translate these things, and lead us into this reality, Lord, for Your glory.
In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.