Eph 5.1-2 The New Creation Orientation, Part 2

[0:00] Ephesians chapter 5, our focus this morning will be verses 1 to 2. I'll begin by presenting for your consideration a rhetorical question.

[0:13] Are Christians called to literally imitate Christ's suffering and death? In the Philippines, there are Roman Catholic fanatics who on Good Friday will emulate Christ's crucifixion.

[0:31] It started off in the 50s as a skit impersonating Christ's suffering and death, and they attempted to make it more and more realistic to the point where they would beat themselves publicly till bloody.

[0:48] They would carry around large, heavy crosses around the city, and some of them would even be nailed to a cross with spikes driven through their hands and through their feet and lifted up for a few moments to be put on display to, quote, air quote, atone for sin.

[1:07] Is this the sense of Ephesians 5, 1 to 2? What is the true sense of the call to imitate Christ in his self-sacrifice?

[1:18] So if you turn in Ephesians, we'll start at Ephesians 4, 17, and read to Ephesians 5, 2.

[1:30] Starting in 4, 17. This I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart, who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness to work all uncleanness with greediness.

[2:01] But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness.

[2:27] Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry and do not sin. Do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.

[2:42] Let him who stole, steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

[3:01] And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

[3:22] Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for a sweet-smelling aroma.

[3:39] Great God, again, we thank you for your word, and we pray, Lord, that as we seek to sit under the ministry of your word, that you would be at work in our midst, that you would give us a right understanding, open up our minds to truth.

[3:50] We pray that you would illuminate your word to us. I pray, Lord, that you would use even me and attend the proclamation of your word with your spirit, that you would make it effectual to the hearers.

[4:03] We pray that you would advance your kingdom, build your church, and edify the saints. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. So, our text, our focus this morning is chapter 5, verses 1 to 2.

[4:15] And what's going on in this passage, what this text is about, is this, to walk in a manner worthy of your calling is a new creation imitation of Christ's self-sacrificial love.

[4:31] So, we see in this text, the believer's privileged relation, the believer's divine orientation, and the exemplar's loving propitiation.

[4:43] So, first of all, the believer's privileged relation. You'll notice that the text starts with therefore. So, when we see the word therefore, we know that what's about to follow is connected to that which was before it.

[4:58] So, the therefore of verse 1 connects this text with chapter 4, the section of 25 to 32, especially verse 32. 32 says, And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

[5:17] Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children. Now, this context, therefore, that the context reaches into, as it reaches back into verse 32 in that section of 25 to 32, it also is encompassed in the whole context of what we read, as we read through Ephesians.

[5:35] And 4, so if you remember, 1 to 3 speaks mostly of the theoretical, and chapters 4 to 6 speak of the practical.

[5:47] Theoretical first, then the practical. Right doctrine informs right conduct. Now, when Paul starts the shift to right conduct, he says, 4.1, I, and then later in the verse, I beseech you to walk worthy.

[6:08] So we're talking about the Christians, the believers, walk, to walk worthy. So that walk has given us a positive imperative, walk worthy.

[6:20] And then in 17, a negative imperative, no longer walk, as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of mind. So no longer following after the course of the world, after the prince of the power of the air.

[6:30] There has been a renewed frame of mind. There has been a 180, a repentance, a turn, and reoriented. So that reoriented walk, to walk worthy, no longer, but to walk worthy.

[6:46] And then we see it more laid out in chapter 5, walk in love, verse 2, walk in light, verse 8, and walk in wisdom, and verse 15.

[6:57] So in verse 2, it says, be imitators of God as dear children. Sorry, verse 1, it says, be imitators of God as dear children.

[7:11] So what we're looking at is the believer's privileged relation. Now, it's that the theoretical informs the practical. So that which goes before 4 to 6 is of course 1 to 3.

[7:23] And 1 to 3, what we learn there, the doctrine we learn there, we take with us. And as the catechism questions actually laid out quite well, we see that, we see redemption purposed by the Father, purchased by the Son, and applied by the Spirit.

[7:43] Purposed, accomplished, and applied. So redemption applied to the believer. So the redeemed are accepted in the beloved.

[7:54] We see this in chapter 1, so we take that with us. So then, when we see the believer or as dear children, we think, what makes the person, what makes the believer a child of God?

[8:07] It's redemption purposed, accomplished, and applied. The redeemed are therefore accepted in the beloved. The beloved being the Son of God and our being with, remember, redemption applied that we learn in the catechism is being united to Christ.

[8:21] So our being united to Christ, who is beloved to the Father, we are adopted as children in Christ who are beloved, as beloved children, or your version might say as dear children.

[8:34] Be imitators of God as dear children. Galatians 4, in 4-7, it says, But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive adoption as sons.

[8:57] And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son.

[9:08] And if a son, than an heir of God through Christ. So, no longer a slave, but a son. Those who are sons are free and under grace.

[9:22] Those who are slaves are in bondage and under the law. So, note, the believer's privileged relation is that of sons, not slaves.

[9:34] And if you've read the book, Pilgrim's Progress, you'll remember when Christian comes to Mount Morality. Mount Morality, if you remember in the story, is before he comes to the wicked gate, before he comes to the holy way, before he comes to the cross.

[9:48] It's before that. And he comes to Mount Morality. And Mount Morality is essentially, it's the law. The attempt to be righteous by adherence to the law. So, in the story, Pilgrim's Progress, Christian, who is the pilgrim, on his pilgrimage, seeking access to God through the law, Mount Morality, only increased his burden and was a deviation to keep him from the right way to the celestial city and from losing his burden, which is the misery of his sin at the cross.

[10:24] The believer's privileged relation is not of slaves and bondage under the law, but as sons. Adoption is an act of God's free grace whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God.

[10:42] Believers don't acquire adoption or divine love as a result of imitating God. That's where text says, imitate God as dear children.

[10:53] So, adoption doesn't come from a result of imitating God. It doesn't come as a result of moral living. It doesn't come as a result of morality. Rather, because they are renewed and adopted, they consequently imitate him.

[11:11] So, the believer's privileged relation is that as sons, not imitators of God as foreigners alienated to God, but as children of God, as beloved children.

[11:26] So, if you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, you are the adopted son of a loving father. Once children of wrath, walking according to the course of the world, after the prince of the power of the air, but now, children of God, forgiven and walking in love.

[11:54] And as beloved children, believers are loved with an everlasting and unchangeable love. The source of the believer's adoption is God, who is the fountainhead and bottomless source of divine love.

[12:08] The basis of this orientation of walking, remember, the greater context is to walk worthy, no longer walking, the positive imperative of walking.

[12:21] And walking is to walk in a direction. The direction of that walk is the orientation. The basis of this orientation of walking in love is being children of God. If you remember back in chapter 1, verse 5, it says, predestined to adoption.

[12:37] And our text here, 5.1, speaks of being beloved children. So remember, adoption is an act of God's free grace.

[12:49] Not on the value or merit of our lovability, but the Father's love for the Son and the believer united to the beloved. This is a wonderful truth because we still have, those who are regenerated, still have remaining corruption.

[13:06] And if God's love for us was dependent on our lovability, first of all, it's, we did not first love God, but God loved us and showed his love for us. In fact, while we were at enmity with God, while we were enemies, while we were sinners, God loved us.

[13:20] And if our behavior were to lose God's love, that would be a very terrible thing for us. But our, our being beloved is being our united to Christ and the Father's love for the Son and our being in Christ.

[13:41] Consequently, believers have free access to the Father as beloved children and that access is not dependent on our deserving it, but on the merit and mediation of Christ who is the beloved Son of God.

[13:54] So, being imitators of God as dear children is to walk in love. 1 John 4, 7, Beloved, let us love one another for love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

[14:11] He who does not love does not know God for God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him.

[14:25] In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

[14:41] So, the orientation of the new creation walk imitates God as beloved children by walking in love. Which brings us to the believer's divine orientation.

[14:57] That is, imitate God, walk in love. Now, when a child is born, it's a very exciting time. It's very exciting and of course we all want to see the child.

[15:10] And when we see the child, we start to make observations and one of the first observations we make is how the child resembles the parents.

[15:21] So we might comment about how he has his mother's eyes or how she has her father's smile. And then we start to observe and remark on the child's behavior.

[15:33] How the child begins to act like the parents. How the child begins to imitate their parents. Now, man is made in God's image.

[15:44] Or after God's likeness in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. With the power of intellect to contemplate divine things.

[15:57] God's image, man being made in God's image, God's image was corrupted and distorted by the fall. And descending mankind, all of Adam's descendants, descending mankind, inherits sin nature, which conflicts with God's law and deviates from the order for which man was created.

[16:19] Man's sin is an active privation or it's an absence of righteousness and holiness. Man was made in the image of God in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness.

[16:33] So man's sin is an active absence of righteousness and holiness. It is a corruption but not a removal of God's image. So man is made in the image of God and though it has been corrupted, mankind is still made in the image of God but as we act less like God in righteousness and holiness, it is less the likeness of God but still made in God's image although corrupted.

[17:00] Now the synopsis of pure theology states that the subject of sin is the rational creature made in God's image who falls away from the good that the law of God prescribes and who falls into the evil that it forbids.

[17:16] But what was corrupted by sin is being restored in those who have been renewed and reoriented. Renewed and reoriented image bearers live as a close copy of God and in harmony with the will of God and are to imitate God and their thinking and their perception, discernment, discourse, reasoning, recollection, consideration, forethought, self-reflection, self-awareness, knowledge of God and worship of God.

[17:48] In other words, believers are to be imitators of God in both doctrine and practice. In 1 Peter 1 it says, as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written, be holy for I am holy.

[18:12] now they say that the life of a pastor's family is like living in a fishbowl. The classic chin-pointing is people make observations.

[18:28] They'll look at the wife. Does the wife respect him? Does she look to him for leadership? They'll look at the children. Do they listen to him?

[18:38] Do they bring honor to the family name? Likewise, the world looks at Christians. Do they revere and follow Christ? Do they listen to the heavenly father and bring honor to his name?

[18:53] Be imitators of God as dear children. Being imitators of God as dear children is to walk in love. Our text says, walk in love, and to love God with heart, mind, soul, and strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself.

[19:17] It cannot be denied that the disposition of love permeates all of scripture. Both the positive impairments which we have seen of loving actions, words, and thoughts, as well as the negative impairments that we have seen, such as rejecting the socially destructive evils of lying, corrupt speech, bitterness, ungoverned anger, and malice.

[19:42] Believing the gospel and looking to Jesus crucified in our place, believers experience the forgiving grace of God. There is no higher example of the grace of forgiveness.

[19:57] Imitate God in this regard, even more so now as adopted into his family as a child imitates his father. So the reoriented walk is a self sacrificial life modeled after Christ's sacrificial love.

[20:16] Which brings us to the exemplars loving propitiation. Propitiation, that's a big word. The Bible uses it as we've read earlier. Propitiation is the appeasement which makes it possible for a just God to forgive sinners.

[20:36] Propitiation is the appeasement which makes it possible for a just God to forgive sinners. See, for example, Romans 3.24, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

[21:06] God's justice was satisfied by Christ receiving the penalty in our place by his suffering and dying on the cross that we might receive his righteousness.

[21:24] So, you see, the example of Christ marked by love is shown in his giving himself up in death on the believer's behalf.

[21:35] 1 John 3.16 By this we know love because he laid down his life for us. Jesus' self-sacrifice was not merely an example to follow.

[21:46] It accomplished something earth-shattering. Christ's substitutionary sacrifice was, our text tells us, a sweet-smelling or a pleasing aroma.

[22:00] Now, what does that mean? A sweet-smelling aroma, or a pleasing aroma. Now, this is a reference to Old Testament ceremonial sacrificial system of burnt offerings.

[22:13] For example, the sacrificial ram, which points to Christ's sacrifice. Now, when we think sacrificial ram as a burnt offering, what might initially come to mind is rack of lamb rubbed with coarse salt and seared over open flame, and certainly while that is a pleasing aroma, and it certainly is a pleasing aroma, that's not what our text is referring to.

[22:45] So, it's not referring to that which entices the appetites of the stomach, but it's a reference to the, sorry, it's not a reference to the act of smelling, but as a figure of speech.

[23:02] And what it signifies is this, that is, it is acceptable and pleasing to God in fulfillment of his commands and satisfies his justice. Now, when you even think of it, even the bodily, that which intends, the smelling, the act of smelling requires a body, it is a bodily function.

[23:22] Smelling, which entices the appetites of the stomach, these are things that relate to a body, and God is spirit. So, this is figurative, and it signifies that it is acceptable and pleasing to God in fulfillment of his commands and satisfies his justice.

[23:42] A fragrant aroma in the Levitical system signifies its acceptance by God that is well-pleasing to God. That's what our text is telling us. It's using Old Testament language to tell us something about what's going on, that which was a type we see here fulfilled.

[24:01] So, Christ's sacrifice was acceptable because it was unblemished, voluntary, complete, full, and adequate payment of divine justice.

[24:13] It is finished and complete forever. We read Psalm 22 this morning. Remember, he has done this.

[24:26] Or in John, it is finished. Jeremiah and Hebrews, the believers sin, God will remember no more. He has done this.

[24:38] It is finished. The believer sins, God will remember no more. So, what is the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice? God's wrath was appeased and justice satisfied.

[24:51] That is, propitiation. Christ, as both priest and sacrifice, offered himself up as a once-for-all sacrifice of payment of sin, and he ever lives to make intercession for us, the redeemed who are purchased by his blood.

[25:07] God. So, what does this have to do with being imitators of God? In Christ's sacrifice, divine justice and unfathomable love is the supreme model for the believer's self-sacrificial acts of love, acceptable and pleasing to God.

[25:28] So, in conclusion, the new creation orientation of the believer lives to God in Christ Jesus in thought, word, and action in accord with the moral principles of God's commands.

[25:40] Christians aren't under the law in terms of legally binding sanctions. Believers are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, and Christ alone. However, the moral law still reveals to us God's will for the Christian life to walk worthy, to walk in love.

[26:00] 1 John 5, 2-3 says, By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.

[26:14] And then Romans 13, 9-10, For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet, and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

[26:29] Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. So the connection, our text, Ephesians 5, 1-2, the connection of this text is to 4-32.

[26:44] Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of Christ. Now notice in our text the one another, the one another component.

[26:59] What does it say? It says be kind to one another, forgiving one another. The one another component, it implies community, and it also implies a mutual disposition towards true reconciliation.

[27:14] So, for they're in a community, for one to be forgiving one another, it's not that there is one who is always needing the forgiveness, but it is a disposition that is mutual.

[27:31] So we do not walk around demanding others forgive us for our unrepented socially destructive behavior. Rather, seeking forgiveness is consequent to repentance.

[27:48] Luke 17, 3-4 says, take heed of yourselves if your brother sins against you, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, I repent, you shall forgive him.

[28:07] When we are the brother that has offended, whether once or seventy times, seven times, our focus then is not on everyone's requirement to forgive, but on our own repentance and going and seeking forgiveness.

[28:24] Now, sadly, it is a sin-cursed world, and in a sin-cursed world, not all offenses are repented of, and as a result, not all relationships are reconciled. Take, for example, Jesus and Judas Iscariot were not reconciled.

[28:43] And in Matthew 18, in verses 15 to 17, it provides a procedure for when relationships are not reconciled. And in such situations, we are not to take it upon ourselves to inflict a vindictive punishment, but speak the truth in love, faithfully follow Matthew 18, and entrust it to God.

[29:05] So that being said, when we are called upon to forgive a repentant brother, it means absorbing the penalty. That being said, sometimes penalty is required, for example, when there's theft or when there's damage, it does require, I say penalty, I mean repayment.

[29:22] So some situations do require repayment, such as theft and damage, but interrelationally speaking, it means not vindictively punishing the repentant transgressor.

[29:34] It is figuratively similar to penal substitution. It is saying, I will absorb the grief of the offense, your debt is no longer owing, I will recall to mind no longer.

[29:48] So this means not dwelling on it, it means not brooding over it, it's not being given over to bitterness, resentments, anger, and malice. It means not posting it on social media, it means not slandering the person behind their back.

[30:03] What it does mean is, it is finished, I will remember it no more. Such conduct of forgiveness imitates Christ, who is the very model of penal substitutionary atonement.

[30:20] Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the second person of the Trinity took to himself a body in our nature in order to rectify what we had done and which we could not do.

[30:36] So mankind has sinned and is under condemnation, but mankind is unable to satisfy divine justice. While the wages of sin is death and all who sin will die, that death in itself does not satisfy divine justice.

[30:57] So, the person of Jesus Christ, the divine nature, united with the human nature, perfected righteousness and obedience, accomplished what we could not do, and in our nature, paid the price that was due to us, his suffering and his death, his pouring out of his life on the cross, in our place, absorbing the penalty, that we might have a full pardon, a full forgiveness of sins, and his righteousness credited to us.

[31:29] So, back to that first question, the rhetorical question for your consideration, the answer to the opening question is a hard no.

[31:40] As beloved children of God, we do not imitate Christ by impersonating his once-for-all sacrifice for the payment of sin. Rather, we follow after his pattern of self-giving, self-sacrificial love.

[31:56] What about when it's costly? Do we even do so when it's costly? Jesus' love was expressed in an unimaginably costly sacrifice of both body and soul.

[32:09] Counting the cost and carrying our cross is not a hyper-literal interpretation such as the Filipino Roman Catholic fanatics. It is to be understood figuratively of how the believer patterns his or her daily walk after Christ.

[32:28] Furthermore, Christ's sacrifice was to please God. Remember, it was a sweet-smelling aroma, pleasing to God. The Christian's walking in love is to be done not to please ourselves, but to please God, to live unto God.

[32:44] We are aware of the grievousness of heretical doctrine. Equally grievous is heretical conduct.

[32:56] The gospel transforms the whole man. Every aspect of life, it shocks, disrupts, dislodges, relocates, and reorientates both the theoretical and practical, that is, faith and conduct.

[33:11] So, some further points of application. Being imitators of God, the call here, be imitators of God as dear children, how does that text relate to the different states of mankind?

[33:28] When we consider how God first created man, namely Adam, God created him upright and with integrity, and he was able to not sin.

[33:41] But he was also able to sin. Of course, as we know, he did sin, and the result was the fall. And all of his descendants are born with sin, in a state of nature, or what we may say as in a state of sin, in sin and corruption.

[33:59] And our choices or our wills are bound to the nature which we are in. So, being born in sin and in a state of sin, of sin and corruption, mankind is in an inability to live without sin.

[34:18] Able to sin, not able not to sin. But those who are in a state of grace, those who have been regenerated, those who have been born again, those who have repentance and faith, in a state of grace, are in a state of renewal and restoration.

[34:36] While they are still able to sin, they are now able to not sin. And that is the state in which this call is. Be imitators of God as beloved children.

[34:50] And as children of God, our blessed hope, looking forward to the state of glory, is the beatific vision. Beholding God's glory with glorified bodies, renewed in holiness, with no more corruption, no more sin, no more sorrow, no more suffering, no more pain, and no more death.

[35:12] So you'll take your Bibles, keep your fingers in Ephesians 5, but turn over to Revelation 21. Revelation 21, verses 1 to 7.

[35:29] Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

[35:40] Then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.

[35:59] God himself will be with them, and be their God, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.

[36:11] There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.

[36:23] And he said to me, It is done, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.

[36:35] He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. now as we see in Christ's as Christ trusted the Father in his suffering, and Christ trusting that it would be accomplished, that it would be finished, that redemption would be accomplished.

[37:00] As Christ trusted the Father in his suffering, we also are to hope in and trust in him in our suffering. furthermore, God's everlasting, unchangeable, and bottomless love shown to us, it demands our duty to return to him, return unto him, all thanksgiving, praise, adoration, and glory.

[37:25] Now such discoveries of God's love requires from us to be imitators of God as dear children. There are five different things to note here.

[37:38] First one is faith and repentance. To be dear children of God requires, of course, faith and repentance. That turning, that renewed frame of mind, once as once walked according to the course of the world, that turning from that course, turning to Christ with faith in Christ in his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.

[38:09] Those who do not have repentance and faith in Christ are not dear children of God. So, having turned in repentance and faith as dear children, then, reverence of God.

[38:23] This requires of us reverence of God. Furthermore, it requires conformity to his will or keeping his commands as dear children, imitate God as dear children.

[38:34] Furthermore, delighting in his presence as those who are children of God, having turned in faith with reverence to God, keeping his commands, delighting in the presence of our Savior.

[38:49] And finally, making his glory the chief end of our thoughts, words, and actions. But the believer's renewed orientation, the believer's walk, imitates God in love as his beloved children.

[39:04] That orientation, everything that we do, seeking for it to be done to the chief end of the glory of God, which we'll see unpacked much further in the next passage which we tackle in the next sermon.

[39:18] So, where do you fit in? Everyone who is hearing the sermon, where do you fit into this? What does this require of you?

[39:30] Does such discovery of God's love require of you faith and repentance? Does it require of you to turn from sin to Christ? Does it require of you reverence of God, to revere him, to fear him, to be in awe of him?

[39:47] Does it require of you conformity to his will? Are there unrepentant sins, commands which are not being kept? As dear children of God, who have repented and turned in faith to Christ, are you delighting in Christ's presence and communion?

[40:05] And finally, as dear children of God, are you making his glory the chief end of all of your thoughts, words, and actions? Back to our text.

[40:20] Ephesians 5, 1-2. Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

[40:41] Lord, we thank you for your word and what your word tells us. we know by nature that you exist, that you are divine, that you are eternal, that you are wise, and that you are almighty.

[40:55] We also know by nature that we are accountable to you. But Lord, your word tells us that you are a triune God, and it tells us how we may be in a right relationship with you, you who are a holy and just God.

[41:12] It is in you whom we live move and have our being, and we all will give an account to you. So I thank you, Lord, for what your word tells us, the gospel about propitiation, about how your justice is satisfied in the Lord Jesus Christ, who has taken our nature and suffered and died in our place to satisfy divine justice.

[41:37] And I pray, Lord, that if there are those here or those hearing the sermon, who have not repented in faith and turned to Christ, I pray that you would shine light in darkness and call them out of this world, out of darkness, out of sin, into marvelous light, into your kingdom of glory.

[41:57] I pray, Lord, that those who are beloved children of God, that we would indeed marvel and revere you for your divine intervention and this work of redemption, purposed by the Father, accomplished by the Son and applied by the Spirit, and that those who have been purchased by the blood of Christ are adopted children of God.

[42:18] We thank you that this offering of Christ's self has accomplished what was required for divine justice. There's a sweet-smelling aroma as appeased divine justice.

[42:32] Help us, I pray, Lord, to be filled with such gratitude that we can but keep ourselves from glorifying you with all of our thoughts, words, and actions.

[42:43] We praise you, we thank you, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. If you'll take your hymnals, I will stand and sing hymn 175, Man of Sorrows.

[42:56] That's hymn 175. Man of Sorrows, what a name for the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim, hallelujah, what a Savior.

[43:36] Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned he stood, sealed my pardon with his blood, hallelujah, what a Savior.

[43:58] Guilty, vile, and helpless we, spotless Lamb of God was he, full atonement can it be, hallelujah, what a Savior.

[44:19] Lifted up was he to die, it is finished, was his cry, now in heaven, exalted high, hallelujah, what a Savior.

[44:40] When he comes, our glorious King, all his ransomed home to bring, then I knew this song will sing, hallelujah, what a Savior.

[44:59] Amen. Lord, again, we thank you for your work of salvation, thank you for saving sinners such as us.

[45:14] Lord, we pray that you would go with your people, pray that you would bless your people, and we thank you for all the ways which you provide for us, that you have provided a way for us to be right with the holy and just God, and you also provide our needs for this life.

[45:30] We thank you, Lord, for all that you've given us. I thank you that we're able to take these provisions and share it with one another, and as we enjoy this shared meal together, I pray, Lord, that you would bless it to us and help us to enjoy your blessings and enjoy you through these blessings with the chief end of your glory.

[45:51] I pray these things in Jesus' name, and may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Amen.