Human life under the sun is vanity, but we as believers should no longer walk in the vanity of the mind but live the life of the new man as the reality is in Jesus.
Hallelujah, reality is in Jesus, and we have Jesus living in us to be our reality! We human beings are not like the rest of the creatures on earth; we are not made for this world, and nothing in this world can satisfy us.
Nothing that is temporal or visible can offer us lasting satisfaction, and nothing and no one on earth can fulfill the deeper longing in our being.
God has put eternity in man’s heart; He has put in us a sense of purpose that nothing under the sun but God alone can satisfy.
What an amazing thing to know that there’s a divinely implanted sense of a purpose in us, and that our real, deepest seeking is not for anything in this world but for something eternal!
Temporal things can never satisfy man – only the eternal God, who is Christ – can satisfy the deep sense of purpose in man’s heart.
What a mercy it is for us to know the meaning of our human life and to remain in the organic union with the Lord!
We were created in the image of God and according to His likeness so that we may express God and represent Him by living out His divine life.
Unless we are filled with God, saturated with God, and permeated with God so that we may live in oneness with God and have God expressed through us, we live in the vanity of the mind, and everything we do is chasing after wind.
We may read the news and find out how this or that one had a unicorn startup and reached fame and glory, how he earned a lot of money and “changed the world” by what he invented; however, the deeper sense of a purpose in this one is not satisfied until he knows God and is filled with God.
The richest of the people do the craziest and most silly things because there’s a deeper longing in them for reality.
Man longs for reality, for a sense of a purpose, and nothing in this world can satisfy this need. Human life in the corrupted world, the system of Satan to usurp man from enjoying God, is a vanity and chasing after wind; however, God has put eternity in our heart, and all men are hungry for reality.
Reality is in Jesus and nowhere else; when He came, He came full of grace and reality, and now we learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus so that we may live the life of the new man.
Hallelujah, what a salvation is this! We not only can know God, contact God, and be filled with God, but we can also no longer walk in the vanity of our mind but live the life of the new man even as the reality is in Jesus!
We should no longer Walk in the Vanity of our Mind but Live the Life of the New Man as the Reality is in Jesus
In Eph. 4:17 Paul says and testifies in the Lord that would no longer walk as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of our mind.
Before we were saved, we walked in the vanity of our mind even as the rest of the Gentiles in the world.
However, there is a chance that even after being saved, after receiving the life of God in us, we would still walk as the Gentiles do, in the vanity of our mind. Oh, Lord Jesus!
May we no longer conduct our life in the vanity of the mind!
Such a walk means that the mind takes the lead over the soul and vanity saturates our mind.
We are children of God indwelt by the processed and consummated Triune God, so we should not live in that way anymore.
The basic element in the daily life of the fallen mankind is the vanity of the mind. How many billions of words are uttered every day expressing the vanity of the mind!
On the news media outlets, on the internet, on YouTube, on all the social media platforms, how much vanity is expressed!
May we learn to close our being and not take in such vanity but rather, take in words of life and reality!
The gentiles, the nations, are the fallen people, who have vain in their reasonings (Rom. 1:21); they walk without God in the vanity of their mind. Such ones are controlled and directed by their vain thoughts.
May the Lord save us from being shaped according to the image of those in the world; may we be saved from being educated and formed in that way of walking according to the vanity of the mind!
There is no peace and satisfaction in a Christian who loves the Lord and yet walks in the vanity of his mind, for such a person is a living and walking contradiction!
Our whole being should be in harmony, for we are here for God, for His will, His purpose, His economy, and His heart’s desire, and our walk should no longer be in the vanity of our mind.
In the eyes of God and of the apostle Paul, whatever the people in the world think, say, and do is nothing but vanity, and they live in the vanity of their mind.
This vanity of the mind is intensified to the extent that man wants to go against the God-ordained way of being and doing things.
When we live in the vanity of the mind, we go along with what Satan is doing in this world and the end is judgement; when we exercise our spirit, however, and live the life of the new man as the reality is in Jesus, we stand as a counter-testimony against the tide of this age.
May we stand on and believe the word of God, and may we not try to change others’ minds or criticize them for walking in the vanity of their minds, but just walk in newness of life day by day.
When the mind of fallen men is filled with vanity, their understanding is darkened in the things of God (Psa. 93:11); how can one understand the things of God if he walks in the vanity of his mind?
The hardness of the fallen man’s heart is the source of darkness in his understanding and the vanity of his mind (Eph. 4:17-18).
May we be saved from living in the vanity of our mind, as the Gentiles do, and may we allow the new man to live out God!
May every detail of the living of the new man be expressed in our living so that God may have a corporate expression in reality and of reality on earth.
May we no longer walk in the vanity of the mind but rather, may we live the life of the new man as the reality is in Jesus!
Lord Jesus, save us from walking as the Gentiles also walk in the vanity of their mind. Oh Lord, may we see that whatever we do according to our fallen mind, being directed and controlled by our vain thoughts, is just vanity and void of reality. Oh Lord, we turn to You. We allow the new man in our spirit to live out God so that God would be expressed in all the details of our living. May we as believers in Christ no longer walk in the vanity of our mind but live the life of the new man as the reality is in Jesus! Hallelujah, reality is in Jesus, and Jesus lives in us! We can learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus, and we can live the life of the new man as the reality is in Jesus!
In the Godless Walk of Fallen Man there’s Vanity but in the Godly Life of Jesus there is Reality!
In Eph. 4:17-21, we see a contrast between the reality in Jesus and the vanity of the fallen human mind.
On one hand, in the godless walk of the fallen man, there is vanity, but on the other hand, in the godly life of Jesus there is reality. When Christ came as God becoming man, He was full of grace and reality (John 1:14, 17).
When Christ came, grace and reality came; He was full of grace and reality, and in the godly life of Jesus there is reality.
Grace and reality are not just some things – they refer to a person, the Triune God incarnated and expressed in humanity.
For the living of the new man, we need grace and reality.
The new man was created by Christ on the cross (Eph. 2:15) and the way for the new man to live is by grace and reality (Eph. 4:17-32).
May we see the reality in Jesus so that we would walk no longer in the vanity of the mind.
It is interesting that, when Paul says that reality is in Jesus, he doesn’t say that reality is in Christ but “reality is in Jesus”.
When the Lord Jesus lived on earth as a man, in Him there was always the reality; whether He worked as a carpenter or carried out His earthly ministry, in Him and in His living there was reality at all times.
People were drawn to Him because He expressed God in His living, and in His work, deeds, actions, living and words there was reality.
Such a living, such a reality in Jesus, is in contrast with the vanity of the fallen human mind.
The Lord Jesus, the One in whose living was reality, went through death and resurrection, and He became a life-giving Spirit, the Spirit of reality.
As such a One, He is in us and lives in us; the function of the Spirit of reality in us is to guide us into all the reality.
We are hungry for reality; we do not want to live in the vanity of the mind but live the life of the new man as the reality is in Jesus!
Only the Spirit can implant such a hunger for reality in the lives of the saints of all ages; only He can expose the vanity of the world and give us a genuine hunger for reality.
How blessed we are to know the reality in Jesus, to learn Christ and hear Him, to come to Him as we are and take His yoke upon us to learn of Him, for He is meek and lowly in heart (Matt. 11:29).
The Lord must have the one new man matured and perfected in function; He must gain a group of people who live in the reality of the one new man as the reality is in Jesus so that He may gain His prepared bride and He can return!
The deceit (Eph. 4:22) is the personification of Satan, and the reality (v. 24) is the personification of God; the deceit is the devil and the reality is God.
God as the reality was exhibited in the reality of Jesus; as we read the Gospels, we can breathe in, inhale, and absorb the reality in Jesus.
When we look at the world and the things in the world, we realize that it is a “vanity fair” with all kinds of departments such as wealth, fame, position, entertainment, material possessions, sports, news and media – all of these are vanities.
Everything in the daily living of the man Jesus is reality, and none of His words were vain (1 Pet. 2:22). Christ is our life and also our example (John 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:21); in His life on earth He set up a pattern for us to follow.
Then, He became a life-giving Spirit to come into us, and today we learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus by being molded into the pattern of Christ, that is, being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
May we be saved from living in the vanity of our mind and live the life of the new man as the reality is in Jesus!
Lord Jesus, we love You! Show us the contrast between the reality in Jesus and the vanity of the fallen human mind. May we realize that in the godless walk of fallen men there is vanity, but in the godly life of Jesus there is reality! Hallelujah, reality is in Jesus, in His godly walk, and in His daily living! Thank You, Lord Jesus for setting up a pattern, a model, for us to follow. We want to learn Christ as the reality is in Jesus by being molded into the pattern of Christ. Amen, Lord conform us to Your image so that God in Christ as reality would be expressed in our daily living! May You gain the reality of the one new man all over the earth – may there be the living of the new man as the reality is in Jesus in all the local churches on earth so that You can return to rapture Your bride and end this age!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 118, 253, 341 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-study of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes (2020 winter training), week 12, Vanity of Vanities, the Reality in Jesus, and the Revelation of the Sons of God.
- Hymns on this topic:
– In your living there is a lack you sense, / And thru the years it grows the more intense; / Only Jesus this need can satisfy; / All vanity He will defy, / So you need Jesus! / You need Jesus! You need Jesus! / Men and women all need Him! / To escape from vanity, / To obtain reality, / To make life significant, / Yes, you need Jesus! (Hymns #1024)
– All things are vanity of vanities, / Christ, the reality all things to fill; / Though everything we may enjoy and own, / If we’re devoid of Christ we’re empty still. (Hymns #496)
– Jesus is the Lord, and He lives in me; / Now I’m as happy as I can be. / O Hallelujah! O Hallelujah! / Jesus lives in me! / All the world is filled with vanity; / Jesus is the one reality. / O Hallelujah! O Hallelujah! / Jesus lives in me! (Song on, Jesus is the Lord, and He lives in me)
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No longer should I walk in the vanity of my mind, but instead, I should choose to live the life of the New Man – the life that comes only through a relationship with Jesus. With Jesus in control, I can be sure that I am living the real, true life and not the one that is only based on the world’s definition of success. When I look through the lens of Jesus, I can see that the vanity of my mind is a lie and what I am really searching for is a fullness of life that only He can provide. As I give my life to Him and seek to live in alignment with His will, I can be sure that I am living a life of true reality and not an illusion.