Category: Theology Page 5 of 67

Lord God, from all eternity You have existed as one God in three persons. You worked together for our salvation, bringing us near to You forever. As our Father, You set Your loving affection upon us, Your people, even before the creation of the world, to make us Your very children who You would redeem through Your Son and Spirit, bringing glory to Your name. As our Saviour, You Lord Jesus took upon Yourself human flesh to live a life in perfect righteousness from our side, suffering the judgment we deserve for our sins, in our place, and rising to life by the very divine power at work within You. As the One who would apply that redemption and bring us to You, in time Your Holy Spirit drew us out of our sin, helping us to see our broken, fallen estate and the greatness of the majesty of Christ. You gave us the gift of faith, eyes to see and ears to hear Your call, and graciously drew us when we were wayward and turned away. Lord we praise You that You have revealed who You are to us through Your Word, illuminated by Your Spirit, that You are One God in three persons, the Holy Trinity. We ask that You would impress this wonderful mystery of the Trinity and Your work of salvation into our hearts that we might revel in Your glory and so be changed into Your likeness.

Father in all of your ways You are righteous and holy and good. In Your sovereignty, you reign as the One who works all things after the counsel of Your own will and providence, for the good of Your people. In Your justice and righteousness you right all wrongs and yet Christ chose in mercy to bear the very punishment we deserve in our place. Lord we see in Scripture the unfolding beauty and glory of Your redemption plan as You work it out through time, seeing Your faithfulness throughout generations and generations. Lord in our own lives though, we are so tempted to doubt Your goodness and faithfulness to us. In trial and suffering Lord help us to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to us at the revelation of Jesus Christ by seeing Your faithfulness in Your Word and also how You have proved Yourself time and again in our own lives. May we not be tempted to doubt Your goodwill toward us when difficulty enters our life. And in our prosperity and material blessing Lord, may we not forget You and Your love toward us and have our faith crowded out by the things of this world. In both trial and blessing, may we not miss the hope and glory of the mercy we have received and would You impress Yourself upon our hearts by Your Spirit, giving us peace and joy.

Father God, it is out of our own weakness and frailty that You show Yourself strong and mighty, to those who wait for and call upon Your name; it is out of our own lack of internal resources or the ability to lift our hands to do anything to help ourselves where you show up and provide an abundance of greatness with all of Your benefits, lifting us up from the mire and breathing life into our souls; it is out of our poverty and wanting that You produce a wealth beyond what this world could never offer or provide, because You Jesus are our treasure; it is in suffering and experiencing the corrosion and decay and loss within this world that You show Yourself to be the only one who could ever console, heal, satisfy, and comfort us at the deepest level of our being, in our heart of hearts, creating a joy in us that transcends understanding. It is You who loved us even when we were turned away from you in disobedience, while we were yet sinners. It is You who set a plan in motion together with Your Son to bring us back to Yourself, and it is You who is with us even as we await the fullness of our salvation when Your Kingdom comes in power and glory at Your return.

Father, we’re in need of your light to shine in our darkness. Just as the people were turned away and seemingly without hope before the time of Your Son’s arrival and His revelation as Your beloved Son, so also Lord our world is in darkness and without hope apart from the gospel of Your Kingdom. We thank You that You made Him known to us in power in Your Word and by Your Spirit, such as when Simeon proclaimed that he had seen the salvation of God in the temple while holding Jesus in his arms, and at His baptism when You Father proclaimed that this is Your well beloved Son in whom You are well pleased. And not only this but He demonstrated His power in miracles, at the cross and ultimately in the resurrection, to show beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is the Christ and that He is good and merciful and just and that He is the One who rescues us from our sins, making us citizens of His Kingdom. Lord grant us to love Him with all of our affections, our hearts and minds, our wills, with our actions and the way we live, as those who have been delivered from sin, and that in this way we would honor Him as the One who reigns and the One who delivered us from evil.