"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience---among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. BUT GOD, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ----by grace you have been saved----and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."-Ephesians 2:1-10
Adam
By: John Newton
On man, in His own image made,
How much did God bestow!
The whole creation homage paid,
And owned him lord below.
He dwelt in Eden's garden, stored
With sweets for every sense;
And there, with is descending Lord,
He walked in confidence.
But, oh, by sin how quickly changed!
His honor forfeited,
His heart from God and truth estranged,
His conscience filled with dread!
Now from his Maker's voice he flees,
Which was before his joy,
And thinks to hide, amid the trees,
From an all-seeing eye.
Compelled to answer to his name,
With stubbornness and pride,
He cast on God Himself the blame,
Nor once for mercy cried.
But grace, unasked, his heart subdued,
And all his guilt forgave;
By faith the promised Seed he viewed,
And felt His pow'r to save.
Thus we ourselves would justify,
Though we the law transgress;
Like him, unable to deny,
Unwilling to confess.
But when, by faith, the sinner sees
A pardon, bought with blood,
Then he forsakes his foolish pleas,
And gladly turns to God.
Adam
By: John Newton
How much did God bestow!
The whole creation homage paid,
And owned him lord below.
He dwelt in Eden's garden, stored
With sweets for every sense;
And there, with is descending Lord,
He walked in confidence.
But, oh, by sin how quickly changed!
His honor forfeited,
His heart from God and truth estranged,
His conscience filled with dread!
Now from his Maker's voice he flees,
Which was before his joy,
And thinks to hide, amid the trees,
From an all-seeing eye.
Compelled to answer to his name,
With stubbornness and pride,
He cast on God Himself the blame,
Nor once for mercy cried.
But grace, unasked, his heart subdued,
And all his guilt forgave;
By faith the promised Seed he viewed,
And felt His pow'r to save.
Thus we ourselves would justify,
Though we the law transgress;
Like him, unable to deny,
Unwilling to confess.
But when, by faith, the sinner sees
A pardon, bought with blood,
Then he forsakes his foolish pleas,
And gladly turns to God.
3 comments:
Sarah, this is a wonderful article;It is always a joy to read Ephesians!! and John Newton's poem is truth beautifully expressed. You have a great blog and I will now visit it more often.
Thank you for it, and The Lord bless you, dear sister,
Tom
Tom Mor De Lasa.
Thank you for sharing such a nice poem!
Glad ya'll enjoyed it. I honestly was just reading that and was reminded of my propensity to forget where I was without Christ and how helpless and hopeless I was. "But God" I think those are two of the most precious words in all of Scripture! In spite of myself God intervened on my behalf and did what I could never even imagine doing in the atoning death of Jesus Christ! All of God's wrath justly deserved by me was redirected towards Christ and all punishment for my sins past, present and future were laid on Him, that I might never be punished for them! Yes, my sins have consequences, but the punishment for them was taken completely by Jesus Christ in my place!
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