1)“…no longer live to themselves, but to Him who died for them and has been raised” (2 Cor. 5:15).
The purpose of our consecration to the Lord is to live to Him. Living to Him is higher than living for Him. When we live for Him, we and He may still be two, but when we live to Him, we and He must become one. When we live to Him, we take Him not only as our life but also as our person. In all our living and actions, we should cooperate with Him and allow Him to live Himself through us.
2)“Present your bodies a living sacrifice” (Rom. 12:1).
When we consecrate ourselves to the Lord, as mentioned previously, we present ourselves to the Lord as a living sacrifice to satisfy His heart’s desire. This is a significant purpose of our consecration to the Lord.
3)“Present your bodies…which is your most reasonable service” (Rom. 12:1).
To present ourselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord is a most reasonable service. Such service does not depend on our working for the Lord but on our satisfying God. This also should be a purpose of our consecration to the Lord.
4)“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God before prepared that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).
We believers, who have been chosen and redeemed by God, are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which He has prepared for us to walk in. This requires our consent, which results in our offering ourselves to Him that He might work on us to complete His good works. This should be another purpose for which we consecrate ourselves to the Lord.
5)“For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:20).
The consummate purpose of our consecration to the Lord is to glorify God, that is, to allow God to be lived out from us and expressed through us as a manifestation of His glory.
1)“Christ’s slave…bought with a price” (1 Cor. 7:22-23).
The first result of our consecration to the Lord is that practically we become slaves bought by the Lord, submitting to His authority in all things.
2)“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works” (Eph. 2:10).
We are God’s workmanship under His molding, just as the clay vessel is molded in the hands of the potter (cf. Isa. 64:8). Another result of our consecration to the Lord is that the Lord has our consent to freely mold us.
3)“Present yourselves to God…and your members as weapons of righteousness to God. For sin shall not lord it over you” (Rom. 6:13-14); “Present your members as slaves to righteousness unto sanctification” (6:19).
When we present ourselves and our members to the Lord, there is still another result; that is, our members become weapons of and slaves to righteousness that we may be freed from sin, no longer being lorded over by sin, unto sanctification.
4)“The priest shall burn all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah” (Lev. 1:9).
The result of offering a burnt sacrifice in the Old Testament was that the burnt offering became ashes before men and a sweet savor to God. If we present ourselves as a living burnt offering to the Lord, and if we are truly faithful to Him, we will be like ashes before men and a delightful savor to God.
(Life Lessons, Vol. 2 (#13-24), Chapter 6, by Witness Lee)