Life According to the Spirit, Part 8

We are in that most lengthy of
sections in Chapter 8 pertaining to the divine assistance that
the Holy Spirit has provided. Chapter 8 being essentially the
exposition of the divine assistance that the Godhead in its totality
has rendered to us. God the Father, God the Son and
the Holy Spirit. But this particular section In
verses 12, all the way down through verse 27, focuses in on what
the Holy Spirit has done on our behalf. And as I’ve already outlined,
there are four elements that we’ve already considered, and
we’re in the midst of the fourth. And just by way of a very brief
review in verse 13, we touched upon the first element of the
spirit divine assistance to us that of mortification of sin
that leads to life in verse fourteen. We saw that the spirit provides
guidance that essentially reveals us as sons in verse fifteen B. We see that the spirit renders
acceptance That essentially engenders affection, in other words, we
find ourselves so accepted by God himself that we can’t but
love him in return. But the most lengthy exposition
of the Spirit’s work on our behalf begins in verse 16 and courses
all the way down through verse 25. And. So that we can put things in
context, if you would pick up there in verse 16, as we reconsider
this point number four, which is an affirmation. A God given
affirmation provided by the spirit that promises an inheritance. Verse 16, the spirit himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
And if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs
with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, in order that we may
be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing
of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons
of God For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will,
but because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation
itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption
into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we
know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains
of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also
we ourselves having the first fruits of the spirit. Even we
ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption
as sons, the redemption of our body, for in hope we have been
saved. But hope that is seen is not
hope. For why does one also hope for
what he sees? But if we hope for what we do
not see with perseverance, we eagerly we we wait eagerly for
it. Paul had opened up and in the
first few sentences had given us point number four. That of
affirmation that promises an inheritance that the spirit bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and we
talked about that interface that takes place deep within the hearts
of the Christian. where the spirit through the
process of conviction and affirmation gives such affirmation that we
have no doubt that we are children of God. And if we are children
of God, we know that we’re heirs as well. We know that we stand
to gain not only in this life, these blessings that we enjoy
daily, the salvation that we have, the forgiveness from sin,
but also one day we are going to gain and inheritance. We talked about exactly what
that looks like. It’s God himself. And we almost wish that Paul
had stopped there, but he didn’t and he didn’t for a specific
purpose. And it’s really that specific
purpose that lengthens the point at hand. We wish that Paul had
stopped with the statement, we are heirs of God. In our humanness,
we wish that all Paul had told us that we’re children and we’re
children and we’re heirs and we’re heirs and we’re heirs of
God. Let it be that. But Paul didn’t stop there. He
interjected one little condition. And it’s almost as if Paul reigns
on his own parade. He says we’re children, we’re
heirs if we suffer. And the retort of every heart
is that Paul, you have no idea what I’m going through. You have
no idea of the pain and the difficulty, the suffering. You have no idea
how prolonged and profound my personal suffering is. We thought. That as Christians, we might
be freed of such suffering simply because we are followers of Christ. And now we find it not to be
true. No wonder Paul interjects in
verse 18, for I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be
revealed to us. Paul heaps on these profound and overwhelming
thoughts. The fact that the glory of the
future makes this present suffering inconsequential. Paul takes even
the most excruciating suffering of this life and he puts it in
a scale and essentially says it doesn’t measure up. It doesn’t
even compare to the glory that is coming. It’s not worthy to
be compared. How can he say that? Verse 19. The anxious longing of the creation
waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. This is not
the way things are always going to be. It’s not always going
to be heartache and difficulty. It’s not always going to be suffering. And we look for and we long for
that day. We look for the day when our
bodies will no longer ache. We look for the day when we will
no longer be impoverished. Not only financially, but spiritually. Here and now, All creation is
patiently enduring this present suffering. But we’re confident
of change to come. It’s true that creation longs,
which brings up the question of how creation got to this place
in the first place. And Paul tells us it’s all God’s
doing. Look at verse 20 and 21. For
the creation was subjected to futility, God did it. The creation
was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because
of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself also
will be set free. Free from its slavery to corruption
and free into the freedom of the glory of the children of
God. Here’s the reason. Here is the reason why creation
is so eagerly waiting. It’s not now in the condition,
the state that God designed it to be. Creation knows that the
trees know that the birds know that the bugs know that the inanimate
creation, the non-human element of creation knows that it’s not
what God designed it to be. That’s a profound statement,
but it’s biblical. So how do we know? How do we
know that this subjection to futility, this cursing of creation
really occurred? It’s exactly what Paul does as
he wraps up this section. He gives us the proof, and there
are two. The proof of the futility. If you would go to verse 22. Where Paul simply says, and quite
plainly. We know. For we know that the
whole creation groans. The verse essentially echoes
what Paul has just said in verses 21 and 22. The creation was subjected
to futility, and because it’s subjected to futility, it now
groans. It now is echoing back to God
in an almost constant, incessant laborious sigh because it has
been subjected to this. Futility now, I want to clarify,
I didn’t do this last Lord’s Day, so I’ll do it now. This
futility, a lot of times when we hear the word futility, we
just think it’s absolutely hopeless. This is the way it’s always going
to be. Creation was subjected to a fruitlessness, to a kind
of futility that forces it to look beyond itself. Because it
won’t always be this way. Right now, things are tainted.
Right now, things are imperfect. Right now, things are incomplete.
But it won’t always be that way. Look again. Paul says, we know. He appeals to the common experience. He says to the to the Christian,
look around. Look around you and all of life,
all you have to do is pause and see that all of life is bearing
witness. To this very truth, we know we
we have it on perfect authority. It is an appeal to common experience,
the common experience of life. What Paul does is introduce an
idea, a fact that was known well among the Christians, it doesn’t
have to argue for it. And as I said, he sums up. Completely
what he does, what he says in verses 20 and 21. That the creation’s
present painful condition. Its fruitlessness, its futility. Is ever present. I suggested
to you that every person ought to plant a garden, if you planted
a garden, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Because you
go out there in September and you know that there is fruit
that will never ripen. There is fruit that will never
be eaten. It’s served absolutely no purpose at all. It is fruitless. It is futile. Glanced down again, though, because
Paul says we know not just that the creation groans, but the
whole creation. And that’s different from what
he said earlier. Last week, we were very careful to consider
what Paul meant in verse 20 by the creation. He said it in verse
19, the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the
revealing of the sons of God, and we said that that’s the inanimate
creation. Likewise, in verse 20. Creation
was subjected to futility, not Adam. We were very careful to
look and to find out who he meant there by creation. But here Paul says the whole
creation, the creation in all of its elements, all of its parts. Not only nature, not only the
animal world, not only the heavens, but the weather, the dynamic
intricacies of every facet of life are included here. Disease
and drought and all of those things that we talked about last
Lord’s Day. But here. Here, when Paul says the whole
creation, I do believe that here he means to include not only
nature, not only the trees and the rocks, not only the weather
patterns of this world, this fallen world in which we live,
not only bugs and bugs that bear disease. But here, I do believe
that he includes not only angels, but fallen men as well. The whole
creation groans. Not only unsaved people. But angels as well. Angels grown
because not because they’re under the weight of any curse, they’re
not. They’re not fallen in the sense
that we are not elect angels, but in a longing to see God’s
glory restored to creation, the angels grown and long for that
day. But in a longing to see that
glory restored, the angels look to a day, a day which God has
designed, a day where things won’t be as they are now. Unsafe
people grown. Unsafe people grown under the
sheer weight of the curse that lies over the face of all the
earth, they’re burdened. And they face and they feel the
weight of this curse every day, every moment of every day. They
feel the effects of the fall. The heat, the sweat of the brow,
the pain in childbirth, the frustrations of life, the futility of it.
Unbelievers face. God cursed creation. God cursed
the inanimate world. But in doing so, that had effects. And those effects touch not only
the angels, but unbelievers as well. One pastor summarized this way
when he said the scriptures lead us to believe that the interest
of creation is centered around and to some extent its welfare
dependent upon the one great event for the created universe,
the redemption. The redemption of this earth
by the Lord of Glory, together with the eternal glorification
of the redeemed, all creation groans and yearns for that day. Now, unbelievers won’t ever know
it unless they come to Christ. Look at the passage once again. The whole creation groans and
suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. All of the
parts of creation unite in this one. Heartbreaking grown, the
things are not now the way God designed them to be. I’ve said
it before in another context, whenever I read an obituary and
see that someone died of natural causes, no, that’s not true.
That’s not that’s not the way God designed it to be. All creation together. utters
this sad and sickening groan, and it says that it does that
together until now, up to this present day and until the moment
that Christ’s Christ returns, it will continue as such. And
you say, well. I know what grumbling sounds
like. That’s not what Paul’s talking
about at all. But what does the groaning of creation sound like?
We know what human groaning sounds like, and we’ve heard unbelievers
in that we’ve heard them burdened under the weight of the futility
of this world, the cursing that has come. But what does it mean?
What does it look like when we say creation itself groans? All you have to do, and that’s
why Paul says we know, we know it to be a fact, all we have
to do is look around. As we observe the pain and disturbance of every
element of the world in which we live. Temperature fluctuations. Spates of extreme cold and spates
of extreme heat. Intense and unpredictable storms
even as our nation saw this very week. Thunderstorms. Tornadoes. Add to that hurricanes and in
the right time of the season, blizzards. The plant world itself,
as we talked about briefly last Lord’s Day, is constantly under
a barrage from every angle. Drought weakens the plant for
insect activity. Insect activity exposes it to
disease. Disease either kills the plant
or weakens it to the point where it’s subject to wind or fire. The greater majority of fruit,
as I said earlier, never ripens. the greater majority of fruit.
And if it does ripens, it’s subject from everything from microscopic
bugs to large animals, even human theft. Speaking of insects, insects
that gluttonously… See, if you had a garden, I wouldn’t
even need to give these illustrations, right? Insects that gluttonously
never seem to have their fill, but they never finish their plate.
Do you realize that? An insect, all it has to do to
ruin a piece of fruit is take one bite out of it and it injects
disease into that particular piece of fruit and ultimately
into the entire plant. The mere sampling of the choicest
fruit renders that particular piece unedible. The prophets often grew from
These very observations, simple observations from the garden. Joel, one for I talked about
it yesterday with one brother, Joel, one for said of the nation. That what the nine locust had
left, the swarming locust had eaten and what the swarming locust
had left, the creeping locust had eaten. And what the creeping
locust had left, the stripping locust had eaten. Joel would
never have used such an illustration. If people hadn’t looked around
them. And been brought to the knowledge of the depth of the
cursing. That all we have to do is plant
a garden and we can see the fallen nature of creation. Even the most beautiful flower
in our gardens is fleeting. It’s there to remind us not only
of the beauty of God’s creation, but also its cursed condition.
And the hope of restoration. In this world, we have carnivorous
animals, we have a futility and a frustration in our work, we
have breakdown and decay, the wear and tear of everything that
we own. The whole creation groans. Under
so many floods and droughts and tornadoes and hail and calamitous
weather events and fire. Paul calls it. Not only groaning,
but the pains of childbirth, it is the groaning under the
pain of childbirth. And only those who have been
in that moment. Know the depth of that pain. One described these terms as
a powerful and expressive word indicating both great and present
distress and the definite result, which is close to it. In other
words, these groanings, these pains of childbirth, groaning
from the pains of childbirth are both agonizing and fruitful. I’m already on record. is saying
that having a baby is not that hard. Bear with me. John Calvin said it and he said,
well, he’s a guy, too. Well, let’s hear him out. John Calvin said. That these
are referring to the pains of birth and not death, these groans. After sorrow comes the joy of
a new existence. You see, these are the groans
of one about to bear. And I say that it’s not that
hard giving birth because every woman I’ve ever talked to says
that they would do it again. To have the blessing that comes. That’s a consistent testimony
that I’ve drawn from women themselves, that giving birth is not so hard
with the end in view, the birth, a child, The pain of childbirth
immediately receives. The joy of a child in your arms
takes over. That’s the image. That is used
here. And greater than any. Human commentator,
Jesus himself weighed in on this very image, and he did so in
Matthew, chapter 24, if you would turn. In Matthew, chapter 24, Jesus
talked about the pain of childbirth. And he said essentially that
that is. A harbinger of the end harbinger
of the end times, that these things are an indication of God’s
soon return. Look at Matthew, chapter 24,
beginning in verse six. You’ll be hearing of wars and
rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened
for those things must take place. That is not yet the end for nation
will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. And
in various places there will be famines and earthquakes that
all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. I’m
not meaning to suggest that Jesus is coming tomorrow. What I’m
merely indicating is that What Jesus essentially says is the
way things are now is not the way things always will be. And
that those things point to a day of glory, those things point
to a better day, a perfect day, a day when not only we will be
perfected in Christ. When every every person who would
ever come to Christ. Is glorified, but also this fallen
earth in which we live. He mentions famines. The whole
earth groans for a day when famines will be done away with. There
was a famine I read that occurred in 1959 to 1961 in China that
almost nobody knew about. A famine that wreaked such havoc
that nearly 30 million people suffered because of it. Either
direct effects or the effects from the fallout of it. which
began as a drought and then added to crop failure and then in time
began to take its toll through pestilence and disease. Earthquakes,
we’ve talked about earthquakes before, but the one earthquake
that I noted the greatest ever was one that occurred in 1556
in China that killed almost one million people. Those things
are going to be ever present. As with tornadoes, as with disease. Smallpox, I read this past week,
has killed more than 300 million people just in the 20th century. Add to that the Black Plague
and all other manners of disease. It’s part of the fallen world
in which we live. The whole creation groans. And Jesus calls them birth pains. The whole creation groans and
suffers the pain of childbirth together until now. But Paul essentially says that’s
not enough proof. He could have said, all you have
to do is look around. All you have to do is look around
and you can see the fallen nature And you can see the hope of glory. But he says, there’s one other
proof I want to offer to you. Look in your own heart, look
in your own heart, he says. Go back to the book of Romans
and back to chapter eight and glance down at verse 23. Where
Paul says, and not only this, he doesn’t want to discount.
The great testimony of the fallen and futile nature of creation,
but he doesn’t want to leave it stand alone either. He wants
to add to that, and he does so. By looking internally, not only
this, but also we ourselves, that’s astounding. You’re talking
about believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s who’s in focus,
and he says, essentially, we too grown. Paul. Adds to this argument by
saying not only does creation grown. But even Christians even
Christians. And note the way that he says
this, having the first fruits of the Spirit. These are people
who the Spirit has touched. These are people who have been
led to Christ by the Spirit. These are people who have been
convicted by the Spirit and encouraged by the Spirit, affirmed by the
Spirit, indwelt by the Spirit. And he says those are just the
first fruits. That’s just the first inkling. Which means that
there’s so much greater to be bestowed upon the life of the
Christian. These are just the first fruits. That word first
fruits was often used to speak of the first of the production
of the harvest, the first of the production of the flock,
the first of the production of of the fruit of the vine, whatever
you had, you brought the first fruits to God in offering. But there was another element
to that when God said, bring the first fruits, what he indicated
is there would be an abundance to follow. And so, in a sense,
this idea of first fruits speaks of something that is incomplete.
When you bring the first fruits, you don’t bring everything, you
don’t bring the entire flock, you don’t bring everything that
you grew. And likewise, in this case, When Paul mentions the
first fruits of the spirit, we haven’t even begun to experience
the fullness of the spirit, the gifts that the spirit has for
us, the usefulness that we have in God’s kingdom because of the
spirits. Use of us. Here in Romans eight, this idea
of first fruits is used with reference, not something that
we offer to God. Not the first first of our flocks
or the first of our harvest, but something that God gives
to us by means of the Holy Spirit. And that gift, Paul essentially
treats as a down payment. It’s a pledge on something so
far greater. If you would bring to God. As
the first fruits of your vineyard. A clipping of grapes. Knowing
that there is an entire orchard filled with grapes, what must
our future be as Christians if God has given us this incredible
Holy Spirit to aid us in this fallen world? And as much as
we know and love, God is all attributed to the Holy Spirit.
How much more must be waiting for us? Even we ourselves. Having the
first fruits of the spirit, Even with the spirit resident within
us, we groan. That almost sounds impossible,
doesn’t it? It almost sounds dishonoring to God. Except that
it’s God who’s telling us, look inside your own heart, look inside
your own life. You don’t necessarily need to
be satisfied with the testimony of the fallen and futile creation.
Look at your own heart and your own heart says, even with the
spirit resident within you, you groan. We Christians. We’ve had a taste
of heaven, it isn’t heaven itself. We’ve had a taste of God, but
it’s not God itself, himself. We have these first fruits, this
taste of the glorious inheritance that we’ll have, but it’s not
in its entirety. Because of that, we long and
we groan for the completion, for the consummation of that
glory. Paul said the same thing to the Corinthians in his second
epistle to them, second Corinthians five. He said, we know that if
the earthly tent, which is our house, is torn down, we have
a building from God. A house not made with hands eternal
in the heavens. For indeed, in this house, we
groan. Longing to be clothed with our
dwelling from heaven in as much as we, having put it on, will
not be found naked. For indeed, while we are in this
tent, we groan being burdened because we do not want to be
unclothed, but to be clothed. So that what is mortal will be
swallowed up by life. We long to be. what God has designed
us to be. We long to be glorified, just
like creation does. We long to be perfected. It isn’t
just that we long to be rid of this life and long to be rid
of its frustrations and long to be rid of its hassles and
troubles and strifes. We long to be what God has designed
and destined us to be. What is that? Paul says it plainly.
We, we ourselves grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for
our adoption as sons. The redemption of our body, you
said, I thought we were already adopted. Paul already covered
that. He did and we are, and yet it
still isn’t fully realized. Ephesians 1.5 says he predestined
us to adoption. From eternity past, he said,
I want him or her. And he said, is electing love
upon us. You say, how can you say that
God chose us, predestined us for adoption, and yet we’re waiting
eagerly? Except to say that adoption is
a process, isn’t it? And that word can be used either
of the beginning of the transaction or the end of the transaction
or the whole transaction. That’s why I love the way so
many people in this day and age, especially believers, especially
believers, when they are in the actual act of adopting a child.
They’ll speak of it in those exact terms, they’ll say, we
are adopting a baby. Well, where’s the baby? Well,
it’s in China or in some other place. It hasn’t been born yet,
we are adopting a baby. Oh, what do you mean by that?
Well, we’re filling out the paperwork. And months later, the paperwork
is done, we’re adopting a baby. Where is the baby? We’re going
to get the baby. And even once they get to the
orphanage, we are adopting a baby. Where’s the baby? It’s a process. And it’s a process for the Christian
as well. We are adopted. We have been predestined to adoption
as sons, and yet that has not been fully realized. We long
to sit at God’s table as God’s children, don’t we? We long to
be fully glorified and to be what God has called us to be. He spells it out in a second
phrase, the redemption of our body. And I believe that what
he’s talking about is the physical body, just like he says in 1
Corinthians 15. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all
sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling
of an eye at the last trumpet. The trumpets shall sound. The
dead in Christ will rise. It will be raised imperishable
and we will be changed. This perishable must put on the
imperishable. This mortal must mortal mortal
must put on immortality. But when this perishable will
have put on the imperishable and this mortal will put on the
immortality, then will come the saying that is written. Death
is swallowed up in victory. We’re waiting for the redemption
of our bodies. You said, well, I thought that took place already,
too. I’ve been redeemed, I even sing about it. Scriptures testify of it. Colossians
114, for example, he rescued us from the domain of darkness
and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son. In whom we
have redemption. The forgiveness of sins you say
I’ve already possessed that I already have that and there’s a real
sense in which we do. And there’s a real sense in which
we long to have that consummated. We long to have the fullness
of our redemption and to enjoy it in heaven with God forever. It’s not just a groaning. It’s
not just a groaning about the burden of the difficulties of
our life. It’s not just a groaning that
brings to mind all of the hardships that we face in this life, the
sweat of the brow, the pain of childbirth. It’s not just that. Those things produce a groaning
to be sure. But what Paul’s talking about
is the groaning that is to for the glory rather that is to be
revealed. And he wraps up this whole entire
thought, and the reason I printed out the bulletin for you again
is to show you the linear fashion in which all of these things
lay argument beneath argument beneath argument. Paul comes to the last for in
hope we have been saved. God didn’t bring you to heaven
immediately. He brings some to heaven more
quickly than others, but he didn’t bring us. Not yet. We were saved
in hope. We were saved longing for that
day. We were saved looking toward
the future. For in hope we have been saved,
but hope that is seen is no hope. This is so simple, it almost
defies, and I say almost, defies me commenting on it. But we’ll
comment. For in hope we’ve been saved,
but hope that is not seen is not hope. In other words, if
you’re hoping for something and you come to find it and come
to see it, then you’re no longer hoping for it. It’s really a
simple statement. For why does one hope for what
he does not see or for what he sees? The simple promise that’s
woven throughout. Paul’s writings. That when we
believed we received salvation in faith, we received it in hope.
Of glorification in the future, we. Received salvation that we
knew would be fully realized one day. And because of that,
we were left in a state of hope. We were left in a state of expectation
and anticipation, not wishful thinking. We were left in a state
where we took it in faith and because of that, we looked forward
to that day. No wonder Paul says in verse
25 as he wraps up this point. But if we hope for what we do
not see, And that’s the state that we’re in. If you’re here,
that’s the state that you’re in. You’re hoping for what you
do not see. You have not seen glory and neither
has anyone else on this earth, contrary to whatever popular
books might say. If you hope for what we do not
see with perseverance, we eagerly wait for it. I love that word
perseverance. I love that that is part and
parcel of the doctrines of grace. The yes, we’ve been chosen. Yes,
we’ve been saved. But yes, we need to persevere. It speaks of, as one described
it, a steady resistance to adverse influences, and no matter what
this world says, no matter the echoes of the difficulties that
we face in this life. The challenges from the futility. Regardless of what is against
us, we persevere. You think immediately of Hebrews
12.1, don’t you? Therefore, since we have so great
a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every
encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us. And let
us run with endurance the race that is set before us. This whole plan of redemption,
it’s God’s plan. And it was part of God’s plan
of redemption that in order to bring us to glory, there must
necessarily be this season of suffering. There must necessarily
be this season of difficulty in our preparation for glory. To be called upon to suffer is
not inconsistent with God’s design. It’s not inconsistent with the
fact that we are called children, and it’s not inconsistent with
the fact that we are called heirs, heirs of God himself. Because
of that, we anticipate. Firmly resolute in our perseverance. As we await our glorification. Charles Spurgeon said it much
more pointedly as Charles Spurgeon had a tendency to do. We have
a tendency, and this is exactly what he was addressing, we have
a tendency to think that God has abandoned us as we suffer.
We have a tendency to think that God is being unfair or is picking
on us. Or that perhaps this is a raw
deal that we have gotten that we have been saved and we are
serving him and now this is the thanks that I get Charles Spurgeon addressed those
thoughts in these terms. He said, what would you choose
that you alone may fare better than all of God’s saints, that
God should strew carpets for your nice feet only to walk into
your heaven and make that way smooth for you, which all patriarchs
and prophets, evangelists, confessors, Christ himself have found rugged. Away with this self-love and
come down, you ambitious sons of Zebedee. And before you think
of sitting near the throne, be content to be called to your
cross. Now is your trial. Let your Savior
see how much of his bitter portion you can pledge. Then you shall
see how much of his glory he can afford you. As snow is of
itself cold, Yet warms and refreshes the earth so afflictions, though
in themselves grievous, yet keep the soul of the Christian warm
and make it fruitful. Let’s go before him in prayer. Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves before you. Lord, we were surprised by this
section. We thought that you were only
going to tell us pleasant things of what the Spirit has done for
us and in us and through us. And suddenly you surprised us
by reminding us that Christian life is fraught with suffering. And Lord God, we see that it
is by your design and for your glory. And we pray that by your
grace, you would have your way with every one of your children
here, that you would bring us to a joyful heart and a seasonable
expectation of the restoration, not only
of creation, but us, even us ourselves, to the glorious condition you
designed. Lord God, we rejoice before you as we come to the
Lord’s table. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray.