In this sermon, Trinity Church Member, Sean, shares insights on Jesus as the ultimate source of life. Referencing John 5:19-30, Sean contrasts human attempts to find fulfillment apart from God with the true life offered through Jesus Christ. He highlights Jesus perfect obedience to Gods will, His role as the giver of life, and His authority to judge. The message challenges both non-believers and believers to turn to Jesus for life and to live in obedience to Gods design, finding true purpose and fulfillment in a relationship with Him.
Transcript
Well, good morning, Saints. We here at Trinity Church are extremely blessed to have very gifted members that serve in a variety of ways, that serve in the music ministry, that teach, that do sound and work with the kids and everything else, and we have gifted men who can bring us the Word. And if you haven’t had a chance to meet Sean, shame on you. Sean and Sarah are faithful members. They’ve been at Trinity for about two years now, members for about a year and a half, and they serve in a variety of ways. You’ve surely seen Sean leading in music and singing, while that angelic voice is being put to use in another way today, and Sean is going to bring us the Word of God. So thank you for serving us, brother. Can I pray for you? Father, I thank you so much for your church.
I thank you for faithful men and women, and I thank you for faithful men who can bring the Word to your saints. Lord, thank you for gifting Sean. Thank you for equipping him. Thank you for calling him and making him your own, and for allowing him to serve in this way. Lord, if he has any nerves, calm him down. Lord, help him to lean heavily on you. Help him to lean on your strength and on your power and not on his own giftedness. Bless us through the preaching of your Word. Incline our hearts and our ears to hear and be transformed into the image of Jesus as we hear him preached from the Gospel. I thank you for your love and your faithfulness to us, Lord, and we pray for blessing over our brother as he preaches to us from your Word. Amen. Thank you, Andre.
When at first you don’t succeed, try. Try again. The idea that failure is part of the learning process is built into our education and growth as human beings. As a young musician, I was taught, practice makes perfect. Later as an engineering student, I learned iteration drives innovation. Stories like Thomas Edison trying a thousand times to design a light bulb resonate with us because contrary to our desires, human beings rarely succeed on the first try. I wonder if we can be tempted to feel the same way about God. I wonder if we can become suspicious that life, the way God designed it, isn’t as good as it could be if you were to try again. Why didn’t God create me taller, prettier, smarter, skinnier? Why didn’t God make me a man or a woman instead? These questions of identity aren’t limited to the confusion and uncertainty of our current
culture. They’re rooted in the problem of sin and rebellion that started in the Garden of Eden. Do we trust God as the source and giver of life or do we define life and satisfaction on our own terms? Do we rest in God’s good purposes for us or do we try to reshape our identity through external and circumstantial transformation? Do we try and try again as humans do to find fulfillment in a life apart from God? We know the feeling. We know the feeling of emptiness that happens when we set a goal for ourselves, when we define in our hearts where fulfillment will come from, only for it to disappoint. Surely the next purchase, the next job, the next relationship, the next church, the next worldview, surely it will be life-giving. Surely it will show me what it means to truly live. Friends, the Bible is clear.
God does not make mistakes. He got humanity right the first time. The mistake is that we rejected his plan and purpose for us. We rejected his good authority and life-giving instruction. If we are to truly live, we must find our place, our purpose, our reason for being within the design of the creator himself, the source of life. And friends, the good news of Christianity, the good news that we gather around and celebrate is that God has offered us true and eternal life in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus alone is the source of life because Jesus is life. In other words, to truly live, to truly be human is to receive his life and be conformed to his image as new creations. And so we’re left with a choice. Do we continue to define what it means to live for ourselves? Do we continue the endless process of self-discovery, the perpetual search for identity?
Jesus Alone Is Life
Or do we submit to the maker in obedience and receive his life? Jesus said, I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Choose life by receiving from God what it means to truly live. Turn with me to John chapter 5, John chapter 5. Our passage this morning is Jesus’ response to the accusations and opposition that the Jewish religious leaders brought against Jesus for healing a man on the Sabbath, for making a claim to deity by calling God his father. And John, writing to both first century Christians and to us, teaches us that Jesus alone is the source of life because Jesus is life. If you’re taking notes, that will loosely be our outline for this morning. Jesus alone is the source of life because Jesus is life. Read with me starting in verse 19. So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own
accord but only what he sees the father doing. For whatever the son does, whatever the father does, that the son does likewise. For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing. In greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel. For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will. For the father judges no one but has given all judgment to the son that all may honor the son just as they honor the father. Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but is passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the
voice of the son of God and those who hear will live. For as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life in himself and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man. Do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who were in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. We’ll stop there for now. Jesus alone is the source of life. These verses I just read are bookended by the statement that Jesus makes as a response
to the Jews who are seeking to kill him. I can do nothing on my own. It’s a strange response. Jesus is pushing back a bit on the Jews’ conclusion. He’s just claimed that God is his own father and the Jews have interpreted that to mean Jesus is making himself equal with God. And while that is true, which we’ll see, Jesus here is providing some nuance. Yes, Jesus, the son, is equal with God the father in being, in power, in divinity, in godness. Yet here he is claiming that he’s not acting out of his own authority, rather he’s submitting, he’s subordinating himself to the father’s will. Look again at verse 19. It says, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord but only what he sees the father doing. And in verse 30, I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
It’s with this posture that Jesus can say, father, not my will but yours be done, even as he walks straight toward his crucifixion. And he goes on to explain the purpose, some explanation behind his submission in the next few verses. We see four statements, beginning with the word for, F-O-R. The first one is in verse 19. We see that Jesus is perfectly obedient to the father. For whatever the father does, that the son does likewise. Do you remember learning about Venn diagrams in school? Two circles that overlap a little bit in the middle, they show similarities but also differences. They remain separate on either side. Well, in this case, when it comes to the work of God, these two circles perfectly overlap. They’re the same circle. There’s nothing that the father commands that Jesus does not do, and there’s nothing that Jesus does that the father does not command.
In other words, what God says, Jesus does. What God says not to do, Jesus leaves undone. And this is different from us. Even this morning, we have confessed that we have sinned against God actively. We have done what he says not to do, and passively, we have not done what he says to do. Jesus provides the perfect model for obedience, and that’s at the heart of what it means to live according to God’s purposes. Jesus chose life in his obedience. The second four statement we see in verse 20, the father loves the son, for the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel. Nothing that the father does is hidden from the son. All of his commands, all of his revelation flow out of love for the son.
And this is a beautiful picture of the triunity of God, a perfect illustration of submission and authority even, and it displays a unity, not just in obedience, but of intent and desire from God as well. Jesus’ submission to the father’s will flows out of a response to the love of the father as he reveals himself and his plans. And the father exercises his authority in the way that displays his love and reveals his heart. The third and fourth reasons are found in verses 21 through 23, for as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will. For the father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the son, that all may honor the son just as they honor the father. Jesus submits to the father so that he will receive glory and honor as he gives life and
judgment. Again, there’s full inclusivity between the son and the father. If you honor the son, you honor the father. If you do not honor the son, you do not honor the father. They’re united as recipients of the same glory. What does this all mean? Why does it matter that Jesus submits to the father but is still deserving of the same honor and glory as the father? Jesus is both affirming and denying the Jews’ claims that he is making himself equal with God. Yes, he is equal with God in divinity and nature, he is equal to God in the receiving of glory and honor, in the giving of life and judgment, but he is unequal in his role in the Trinity as one who submits and subordinates himself to the authority and will of the father. Philippians 2 tells us that he did not even count equality with God a thing to be grasped.
I think the implications for us are clear. It is possible to submit to God and others in the role that God has designed for you without being counted as inferior or less human. Jesus was not less God for submitting to the father even as he humbled himself to the point of death on a cross. And this is a radical and counter-cultural message. Rather than being a degradation of humanity and identity, differences in God-given role are an opportunity to lean into the life that God has designed for you, whether that’s as a husband or a wife, a child or a parent, master or servant, citizen or governing authority, church member or church elder, nurturer or protector, helper or leader. I want to be very clear, this is not a question of competency or ability. A wife can be more capable to lead and manage a household than a husband, but God
has not given her that responsibility. A woman may be skillful at interpreting the scriptures and public speaking, but God has not appointed her to be the pastor of his local church. Instead of competency, it’s about obedience to God’s design for human flourishing. God has fashioned men and women in different ways that complement each other in their unique roles as a display of his glory. But this doesn’t just apply to gender roles and distinctions, and it’s not based on tradition or culture. For any of us to submit to God and what he has designed for us is to tell the world that we are creatures, not the creator. We are man, not God. We live for the glory of our maker and not for ourselves. To truly live is to live out our design. And God did not make a mistake, because our obedience to God as we submit to those in
authority over us displays an eternal reality, the glory of Christ’s subordinate posture to the Father, his selfless and sacrificial love for the church, without which we would have no hope for life or eternity. And this also applies to those of us who exercise authority, which in a sense is the duty of all people. We were created to rule and have dominion over God’s creation, according to Genesis 1. But let me speak specifically to those of you who have authority over other people for a moment. Husbands, teachers, parents, managers, coaches, I even hesitate to add, elders of Trinity Church, how are you exercising your authority in a way that emulates the Father’s heart? How are you leading in a way that displays love? How are you governing or managing or administrating or parenting or shepherding in a way that gives life so that those under you will grow more and more in their obedience to God, in
his authority, so that they more and more reflect his image and experience true life? Or are you using your authority to dominate, to degrade, and to destroy human life? All authority is given by God. It is meant to sustain and flourish human life. We need to reflect our Creator in the way that we lead and serve those under our authority. And before we move on, I do want to be sensitive to any of you who may be suffering under the abuse of authority. If you feel that your life is threatened, not just physically, but spiritually, if you are limited in your ability to grow and mature, if you are being made to sin, if you are being exploited and manipulated for the pleasure of others, if over the course of time you look less and less like the image of God, know that there are good authorities that
God has placed in your life. Please reach out to them, whether it’s leaders in this church, trusted friends and family, or governmental agencies. The Lord sees your suffering and is in no way a stranger to it. And he has given his church, maybe even this church, to walk alongside you, to help you as you make sense of your circumstances and seek freedom to live the life that he has designed for you. How is it that we’re able to do any of this? How is it that we’re able to seek obedience to God’s design for human relationships? Is it just that we try or work harder? Well, I think thousands of years of human history will tell us that left to ourselves, we harm, we kill, we destroy on a path that leads to death. If we are to learn what it means to truly live and actually attain it, we need to look
The Source of Life
outside ourselves to Jesus, the source and giver of life. Look again with me at verse 24. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who were in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who
have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Try as we might to prolong life through biomedical and technological advances, we know that the human condition is one that is destined for death. The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy, which is the state of disarray or disorder or randomness, only increases over time. A broken vase will still have cracks in it even after it’s fixed. My car with 200,000 miles on it will never work the same as it did when it was new. Potholes don’t disappear from Portland roads even after they’re fixed over and over again. We break, we scar, and eventually we die. Because of sin, existence itself is on a direct course for disarray, disorder, and decay. We’re not born into a neutral state. We’re not waiting for external circumstances to point us either to life or to death. There’s no middle ground.
Our default state is one of sin, judgment, death, and condemnation. Look at verse 24, the intervention of Christ and his word is enough to bring one from death to life, but the natural state is death. The same is said in verses 25 and 28. Jesus speaks, God reveals himself to dead souls, those who are in tombs. And that’s both physically and spiritually. Earlier in chapter three, Jesus says, whoever believes in him, that is the son, is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of God. Because of our sin, because of our disobedience, because we pursue fulfillment and satisfaction in a life outside of God’s good design, because we reject Jesus alone as the source of life, we are condemned already. And it’s in these verses that we see a definition of life that’s more than just consciousness,
a definition of eternal life that’s more than just immortality and living forever. Under these definitions, every person will experience eternal life because it says when Christ returns, all people will be resurrected. The difference is found in verse 29. Those who have done good will be resurrected to life. Those who have done evil will be resurrected to judgment. We will all live forever. Here’s the distinction. Will we experience the fullness of joy in the presence of God? Will we finally and forever live according to God’s good purposes, his new creation, unstained by sin, free from pain? Or will we experience the just and righteous wrath of God, an infinite God, fully removed from everything that is good and true and beautiful and lovely? These are the options. How do we choose life? How do we, under the standard of a holy God, live as those who have done good?
I’ve already made the case that apart from Christ, this is impossible in our fallen condition. John 3, 20 and 21 actually makes it clear what Jesus is saying. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come into the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. Apart from Christ, there is no hope for life. We are dead in our sin. In order to be justified, in order to be counted as righteous in God’s sight, we need God to look at us and see the obedience of Christ, to see that our works have been carried out in him. And this is what he offers us. Jesus, the source of life, means that Jesus alone can grant us eternal life, life to the
fullest, life according to God’s good and perfect design because he is life and he offers himself to us freely and graciously. Look again with me at verse 31. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
And the Father who has sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father.
There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? If our search for life does not end in Christ, then we have not found it. This is the point that Jesus makes very clear in the second half of our passage. And Jesus here highlights several ways that God has graciously granted for us to find life in Christ. These are several forms of God’s revelation that are meant to be exclusively a witness and testimony to Jesus, not the source of life in themselves. In Numbers 35, God commands that in order for justice to be served for the crime of murder, multiple witnesses need to provide testimony, not just one. And what we see in John 8 is that it seems the Jews have transformed and expanded that
False Witnesses
law to become the defining characteristic for what truth is. So if multiple people agree on it, it’s true. In John 8.13, the Pharisees say to Jesus, you are bearing witness about yourself. Your testimony is not true. Rather than taking Jesus, who is God himself, in the flesh at his word, they’re claiming that more testimony is needed in order to figure out if what he says is true. And Jesus takes this requirement and uses it to condemn them. You want witnesses about me? You want testimony to confirm that what I say is true? You already have it. The problem is not the testimony, it’s the fact that you happily receive the testimony without receiving me, the very person they’re testifying to. And here in John 5, Jesus highlights three ways that the Jewish leaders of his time had accepted witnesses to Jesus without accepting Jesus himself.
We see John the Baptist, we see the works of God the Father, and we see the scriptures, specifically the law of Moses. And let’s look at each of these witnesses and see how we might be tempted to fall in a similar trap, how we might be tempted to receive God’s truth without coming to Jesus for life. First, John the Baptist. As we already saw in chapter 1, it’s clear that the religious leaders of their day had definitely seen John the Baptist as having some kind of divine office. They’re thinking he’s some great prophet, like Elijah. They’re thinking he might even be the Messiah himself. And for the most part, they’re very receptive to his teaching. Verse 35 says that he was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. The important thing to note, however, was the temporary nature of John’s testimony.
A lamp is not the source of light. Oil runs out, wax is consumed, batteries die. Does the light in your life disappear when the messenger does? Family, it’s possible to receive the messengers of God without receiving God himself. It’s possible to rejoice in those who proclaim truth about Jesus without coming to Jesus himself for life. And being able to access sermons or podcasts online, to be able to read books from many wise and helpful authors is a good thing, but we must not mistake the fact that these are mere messengers who point ultimately to Christ. Identification with your favorite celebrity pastor, however correct they may be theologically, however effective they may be in their ministry, they are not the source of life. They are simply messengers of King Jesus. And we must also be wary of those who promote their own brand, their own influence over
and above the glory of Christ. I find a good indicator of this is how well they cooperate with other believers, specifically those that differ from them. This is something that John talked about earlier in chapter 3. Even here at Trinity, we want outsiders to come in and meet Jesus. We want them to have a relationship with him, not just to hear good and true things about God and his word. And that brings us to the second witness about Jesus, the works of the Father that he’s doing. Verse 36 says, for the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. Jesus makes similar statements in verse 17, my Father is working until now, and I am working. And in chapter 10, verse 25, the works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about
me. Whether it’s turning water to wine, or feeding 5,000, or raising the dead, the fact that Jesus is performing these supernatural feats proclaims that the Father affirms what he is doing. And people recognize this. Nicodemus in John 3, 2, no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. The blind man that Jesus heals says in chapter 9, if this man were not from God, he could do nothing. Why is this significant? Well, the Jewish leaders clearly saw the works that Jesus did. They maybe even experienced them firsthand, and they still rejected Jesus. They still rejected his offer of eternal life. Scripture is filled with examples of people who received and bore witness to supernatural and divine intervention from God, miraculous feats to heal, to conquer, to rescue, to judge, and yet they still rejected him. Pharaoh saw awe-inspiring and devastating signs in Egypt, and he hardened his heart.
Solomon bountifully received wisdom from God, yet he turned his heart to other gods. King Jehu was anointed king. He was appointed as conquering authority and judge over Israel, but he failed to turn aside from the sins of his predecessors. Judas beheld the casting out of demons, power over storms, power over creation itself, and he betrayed his friend and his Lord. Nine lepers in Luke 17 received a new chance at life, a restoration not just of body but a restoration to community, to society, and they were thankless of the mercy that they were shown. Friends, unless the sovereign providence, unless the intervention of God in your life leads you to Christ, all of that restoration, all of that goodness that he has given you will not carry on into the next life. God has worked in your life from before you were conceived in ways that range from mundane
to supernatural, not for your own benefit but so that you would find fulfillment and satisfaction in him through Jesus Christ. You were meant to turn to him for life, not merely become enchanted with the gift. Do not presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience that is meant to lead you to repentance. When you see God working supernaturally and providentially in your life, use that as an opportunity to turn to Jesus in thanksgiving and honor and praise. Third, we see that scripture itself provides a witness that the Jews were very happy to accept at face value what it says while completely missing its purpose. The fact that Jesus overturned so much of the Jewish religious systems like the Sabbath was proof that they didn’t believe or understand Moses and why it is that he wrote about these things. Look at verse 37,
And the Father who sent me has borne witness about me, his voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. Their problem started all the way back in Exodus. Moses is first revealing the law to them and listen to this from Exodus chapter 20. The people are gathered around the mountain of God, they’re about to be received and welcomed as his covenant people. And this is what the people say to Moses, You speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die. The people stood far off while Moses drew near to where God was. They’re perfectly happy to receive truths from God and commands from God mediated by his divinely appointed servant and they’re unwilling to approach God himself.
And this is the full force of the condemnation that Jesus brings in verse 39. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. It is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me so that you may have life. It’s not just the religious leaders of Jesus’ time, it’s not just the Israelite nation at Mount Sinai. All of us are tempted to pick and choose truths from God’s word, merely receiving its benefits without the savior that they point to. This isn’t just limited to scripture, I think it applies to all truth. We can easily become tempted to receive, to believe, to even apply truths from law or self-help or philosophy or even God’s own divinely inspired revelation without receiving and believing Jesus. This is what Jesus’ arguments point toward. This is what they build to. It’s not enough to receive God’s messengers or God’s miracles or God’s morals found in
scripture to find life because ultimately we are still dead in our sins. We are still unable to obey God and his purposes. We can’t earn our way back to a true and full human life. No matter what theological brand we subscribe to, no matter how many times God has healed or protected us, no matter how many times we commit to following the commands of God and his word because what we need is Jesus’ life traded for ours. We need Jesus who is the source of life, who is life itself, who perfectly embodied what it means to be truly human, to give us his life so that we can be counted as righteous before God and begin to be conformed into that image of perfect humanity by the power of his spirit. Friends, this is the gospel. Jesus, the source of life, the only one who perfectly found fulfillment in an obedient
Choose Life
relationship with the Father, offers you his works, his merit, his life in exchange for our sin, our emptiness, our shame, and our failure. Every way that we have abused our authority, every way that we have perpetuated the curse of sin in other people’s lives, every way that we have rebelled against those in authority over us rather than humbly submitting in the roles that God has given to us, every way that we have sought the gift rather than the giver, every way that we have sinned against the holy and righteous God, Jesus bore the wrath of God for you and offers you his life. Martin Luther said of Jesus, I strip death from you and clothe you with my life. If you’re not a Christian, this is the offer of eternal life. It’s not just immortality. It’s not just a get out of hell free card.
Jesus offers you his life so that you can enter into a loving relationship with the triune God, a life free from sin that separates us from him. And he offers you his spirit so that you can begin to experience this life now so that the more and more we trust in him, he will make our lives look like his until it’s completed when he comes again. Choose life. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him for he is your life and length of days. This is God’s call to you today. Jesus is the eternal life that the scriptures bear witness to. Repent of searching for life apart from Jesus and turn in faith to Christ who lived in your
place, who died for the judgment and condemnation that you deserve for your sin. Choose life by believing that Jesus traded his life for your death on the cross. And Trinity Church, Christians, our response is the same. To turn from the pursuit of life apart from God and to turn in faith to Christ each day. To live by faith in the son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. To live as those who have been crucified with him and now carry with us the name and life of Christ. To pray that God would use our ransomed life according to his purpose, according to his design. To pray that he would give us strength to follow his commands so that the world would see what it means to truly live. Jesus alone is the source of life because he is life. So choose life.
Family, let us bring glory to Jesus by imitating his obedience and joyfully submitting ourselves to the roles that God has given to us. Let us honor Jesus by coming to him for life rather than simply his gifts or his revelation or his providence. Let us choose life so that as we bear the image of Christ, we might be a witness to Christ that leads others to the source of eternal life. Let us proclaim that apart from Christ, I am nothing. All I have is Christ. Jesus is my life. Let’s pray. Take a moment in the quietness of your heart and think of ways that you are looking outside of Christ to find purpose or fulfillment or life. Ways that you are resisting God’s design for your identity and role. Ways that you have become enamored with God’s gifts and truths rather than God himself. Confess that to him.
Lord we pray that you would complete this work in our hearts. Help us to turn to Jesus alone for life and to follow him in obedience as we are clothed in his robes of righteousness. Thank you that you sent your son not only to show us how to live but to live for us so that we might enjoy a perfect relationship with you for eternity. We ask in Christ’s name, amen.
Amen. Amen. Amen.