Open your Bibles, please, to Genesis 25. Genesis 25, starting in verse 19. It's on page 23, if you're going to be using that red pew Bible there. Genesis 25, 19, in just a moment here. So just over a month ago, we held national elections. Together, as a people, we chose our government. That's what an election is. It's choosing. To elect someone or something is to choose them or it. Think about it. The courses in college, which were not dictated by the department for your major, those courses that you were free to choose were called electives. To choose is to elect. To elect is to choose. Caleb, our career soldier, spent three weeks in a TRADOC unit. TRADOC is Army speak for training and doctorate. We tend to think of the word doctrine as a religious word, but it's not. Doctrine simply means teaching, instruction. Caleb was part of a unit that was teaching and instructing, training and doctrine when it came to new lieutenants and their knowledge of tank warfare. Doctrine is instruction, it's teaching, and teaching is doctrine. Thus, the doctrine of election, that simple phrase, that phrase which stirs all kinds of consternation among Christians, the doctrine of election is quite simply, first and foremost, the Bible's teaching about choosing. It's the Bible's instruction about selections. about how choices are made, who makes them, why, when, with regard to what. And the answers to those questions and a whole lot of other questions are the sum and substance of the doctrine of election. The passage we are about to read is the Bible's go-to illustration on the subject of election. In later centuries, when future biblical authors would try to teach on the subject of choosing, that is, when they would present the doctrine of election, they would lean on this text here. With that in mind, let's attend now to the Word of God, the only infallible rule for faith and for practice. If you want to understand what to believe about God's loving election and how it impacts your life, then you must know this book. Genesis 25, beginning in verse 19. Right off the bat, we recognize the phrase, the generations of Isaac. That is to say, we've begun a new section. in Genesis. It is the account of the sons of Isaac, Esau and Jacob. These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son. Abraham fathered Isaac and Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean of Patam Aram, the sister of Laban, the Aramean, to be his wife. And Isaac prayed to the Lord for his wife because she was barren. And the Lord granted his prayer and Rebekah, his wife, conceived. The children struggled together within her and she said, if it is thus, why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you shall be divided. The one shall be stronger than the other. The older shall serve the younger. When her days to give birth were completed, behold there were twins in her womb. The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. If I may interrupt and comment here for a moment, anytime I come home to my wife with news of childbirth, she immediately asks me four particular questions. Was it a boy or a girl? Oh, good. What was his name? Oh, that's cute. And then she asks, was he red and hairy? She doesn't. I point that out to say this. While we might ask for things that are mere facts, like a child's birth weight and length, these are not being given simply because they happen. This is a reminder that what we have in Genesis, what we have in the vast majority of the Bible's historical narratives, is not journalism. It is a story being told. It's literature. And the fact that he was red is a real fact, but it's given to us because it anticipates the red stew that's going to come later in his life. The fact that he was hairy is a real fact, but it's shared with us because it anticipates the way in which the blessing will be stolen from him. This is literature. It is excellent literature. Afterward, his brother came out with his hand holding Esau's heel. So his name was called Jacob. This name, Ya'aqob, is a play on two Hebrew words. You can hear the sound alike, Ya'aqob. Aqeb, meaning heel, and aqab, meaning to deceive. It's an idiom. To grasp someone's heel was to trip them up, to cause them to stumble. This also is given in anticipation of what's going to come later in the life of this child. Lord willing, we will be back looking at these things in March of next year. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebecca bore them. To those who have ears to hear, let them hear. Let's pray. Spirit of God, we ask for such ears. We ask for ears to hear. I ask for clarity of my words. Let what I say reflect accurately what you are teaching in this text. And if I should say anything that is out of line, out of accord, out of step with your truth, let it be quickly forgotten so that your doctrine, your teaching, your instruction is what rules in our hearts and minds. We pray this in Christ's name. Amen. I expect that every one of you, if I gave you the opportunity, could share a story about election, about choosing. Perhaps the very fact that we're using the word election would spur you to explain the choices you made last month. Well, I just thought Candidate Jones had the best approach for dealing with the economy or for dealing with this, that, or the other thing. And that's why I elected, why I chose Candidate Jones. Maybe you would talk about how among all the guys at your college, he alone had that combination of intelligence and humor, rugged good looks. And I'll let Becky finish the rest of that story later. Every one of you has a story about choosing, of making a selection, of electing. So Becky and Drew and I visited the Humane Society a couple years ago and we were smitten by the kitten. Our little Bella was the most playful, the alpha kitty in the whole shop there. And we were really taken, and we chose her. We elected her, and we brought her home. It's stunning to me. She still rules the roost. Neither pet has figured out that Tigga is 10 times bigger. the cat is in charge. And whether it's choosing a cat, or a spouse, or a job, all of our choosing stories have one thread woven through them. And that thread can get us into trouble when we take up the Bible's doctrine of election, when the Bible talks about choosing, when the Bible gives us an explanation of why we are the people of God, we can trip ourselves up if we don't get rid of our thinking about election and adopt God's thinking about election. And it's for that reason that Paul leans on this text. Because it is, perhaps, a better illustration of the problem. Now let's be clear. It's not as though there were no other places in scripture to go teach the doctrine of election. Noah did not go to God and say, hey, I got an idea to build a big boat. God chose him. Abraham was not in Mesopotamia going, I think there's another God out there. I'm going to move to Canaan and worship him. Did Gideon say, hey, I want to lead an army? No, God came to him in the wine press. Did David leave the sheep in the field and run to Samuel and say, anoint me king? Which of the prophets said, I want that job? Which of the prophets even liked having that job? And what of the 12 students? Did John or Peter or Simon or Matthew or any of the others run to Jesus? Or did Jesus come select them? Paul's own life is a testimony to who chooses whom. As he walked on the road to Damascus and Jesus called out to him. There are a lot of accounts in the Bible of God's election, of God's loving choice. Paul turns to this one. Paul leans here. So why? Well, there are a couple of things we need to learn about the nature of God's choosing, the nature of God's loving election. And let's look at how this passage brings at least one of those out. All of your stories, from choosing a spouse, to choosing a job, to electing a candidate, all of my stories, they all have in them the problematic element I alluded to earlier. So what is that element? It's the reason we choose. All our experiences with election, with selection, with choosing, all have the common thread of the reason which lies behind the choice. And our reasons for choosing always have something to do with the one chosen. We chose Tigga because she was the right size and had the right person. We chose Bella because of her alpha kitten characteristics. Becky chose her husband because of his rugged good looks, as I alluded to earlier. I know, you just have to believe it. You chose your job because it paid better, had better benefits, was closer to home. The reasons in our choices always include an aspect of some worthiness found in the thing chosen. That is an inescapable reality for us. There are two key things here we need to learn about God's election, about God's choosing, about the divine selection process. And the first is made plain in this account of Rebecca's pregnancy. God does not choose upon anything in the chosen. Main point number one is this. God's loving election is not based upon anything. Any characteristic, any trait, any morality, any skill. God's loving election is in no way rooted in those whom he chooses. God's reasons for choosing, though not capricious or arbitrary, are nevertheless entirely rooted in who he is and have nothing to do with who we are. Why did Paul use this passage? What did he say in our New Testament reading? Take a look back at Romans 9. In fact, we're going to be in there a lot. You might want to actually open your Bibles to Romans chapter 9, kind of stick a finger in there. Or you can look at it in the bulletin if you'd like. Romans 9, verse 11. What does Paul stress? Though they were not yet born and had done nothing, either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, Not because of works, but because of him who calls. She was told the older will serve the younger. Paul's whole reason for choosing this example is to drive home the point that God's reasons lie completely outside those whom he chooses. There is nothing in one person or people that is the basis of God's choosing them. In fact, Paul leans in the opposite direction. God's choice is based in the hidden reasons in order that his purpose of election might continue. God hides his reasons so as to be God. He is not answerable to anyone else. He does not need to explain his choices. He has his reasons, but he doesn't owe them to us. Paul's point is that this account brings that out so richly. Now, why is it in the Book of Romans? Well, the church in Rome was struggling. Some years earlier, the emperor had driven, expelled all the Jews from the city. Remember, in the early church, the vast majority of Christians were Jews who believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah. And now, Jews, the Jewish Christians, a new emperor had lifted that expulsion and the Jewish Christians were returning to Rome. In the meantime, Gentile Christians had taken over the leadership of the church in Rome. And there was difficulty, dispute, disruption. The Jews who had been leaders were returning and just assuming they were going to walk back into their place of leadership. And it appears that what was going on was something along this line. That the Jewish Christians were saying, well, we were God's chosen. There's something in us. God loved us more than the Gentiles. He chose us. Clearly, there's some reason behind that, and therefore we ought to return to the church leadership. And Paul has gone to great lengths to dispel that view. Back in Romans 3, you'll be reminded of some of the things there. He says, all men are sinners and all have fallen short of the glory of God. All men have gone astray and together have become worthless. There is no one who seeks God. No, not one. Paul has already blasted this view. that the chosen people of God are somehow inherently superior to those who are not chosen. And so here in Romans 9, he says to the Christians, to the Jewish Christians, don't you remember? You're called Israel. Israel, his first name was Jacob. And did God choose him because he was something special and something great? No! God chose him before he was born, before he had done anything. And by the way, it's not that Esau was that terrible. He hadn't done anything either. God's loving election is rooted in who God is and the choices he makes. Before our Bella, there was another cat, Humphrey. Drew and I were at the same Humane Society, and we saw this one in the cage. He was a mess. Humphrey had been in the home of a very elderly woman whose senility had set in, and she couldn't remember if she had fed the cat or not, so she just didn't feed the cat. And he was starving to death, and he was malnourished. His fur was falling out. His skin was flaking off. He was emaciated. and Drew and I chose him. And you might say, aha, there's the illustration of God's electing love. There it is. No. We chose him because when we went up to the cage feeling sorry for him, he was so affectionate. We still chose him because of something in him. Do not look at this and say to yourself, well, I was really bad. but there was a little something in me. That's not the point here. The point is quite the opposite. If you are thinking to yourself, well, you know, babies are babies. You know, God chose the one over the other, but I mean, come on, it's gonna be adorable either way, it's a baby. We heard the one cooing earlier, that was so sweet. Babies are babies. and everybody's going to love them, right? That's not a biblical view of a human baby. For the wages of sin is death. If God is just, and if he's in control, then why do babies die? Why are there miscarriages? Earlier in the same book of Romans, Paul explained that all of us are born into sin. All of us are born sinners. We are all born enemies of God. And so death reigns over all humanity, even over those who have not broken the law in the way that we think of it. Even over babies. Precisely because They are born sinful, rebellious creatures. How did David say it? Surely in sin did my mother conceive me. Paul in Ephesians and Colossians explains it. You were dead in your sins. in which you formally walked when you followed the ways of this world. I've been using animal adoption illustrations, so let me try another animal account. Some months ago, I was walking Tigga, and she stopped to sniff something, and I wasn't really paying attention until I heard a crunch. And I looked down, and I saw hanging out of her mouth the back half of a roadkill squirrel. dried up, nasty, gunky bones that she had picked up out of the gutter. I scrambled. I pried her jaws open. She's looking at me like, why not? It tastes so good. I peeled it out of her mouth. I felt around inside there. I got every bone, every chunk of nasty fur, all of it out of her mouth. And there I was holding. Disgusting roadkill squirrel, but at least I was covered with tiga slobber. That is a more accurate picture of us spiritually. That, had I taken that roadkill squirrel home and said to my wife, this is our new pet, Maybe then I'd have an illustration of God's loving election. We were like Jacob, yet unborn, spiritually speaking. But God chose to give us life. Worse than that, we were like the roadkill squirrel covered in tiger slobber. We were dead in our sins, enemies of God, repulsive to him, disgusting to him. But God chose to make us alive. Before the twins were born, Paul reminds his Jewish audience in Rome, before your namesake forefather Israel had done anything, God chose him and through him, you. That's the first point we've got to learn from this passage if we're gonna rightly understand the doctrine of election. God does not choose the likable, the intelligent, the pretty, the attractive, et cetera. Unlike you and me, God's choices are based on nothing worthwhile in the chosen, but are rooted entirely within His good pleasure and purpose. Before I move on, let me just comment quickly on how wonderful that news is. For as much as our pride would like there to be something in us that warranted God's choice of us, He looked into the future and saw that one day I would believe Jesus, and that's why he chose me. But if that's the case, then our future hope rests in our ability to hang on to that characteristic. Praise God, his choice for us is entirely based in him and not in us. So I've argued that in one sense we cannot answer the question of why. Why did God choose Jacob rather than Esau? We don't know. It has nothing to do with anything good in Jacob or, comparatively speaking, anything particularly bad in Esau. But that's not the only why question we could ask. There is another question we need to step back and consider. Why did God choose to save either of them? Why does God choose to save anyone at all? Why did God choose to call Abraham to repentance and faith? Why did God choose to save Paul? Why did God call out from the burning bush to Moses? Why did God call Peter or James or John or Matthew or any of the others? The Bible does not answer the question of why God chose Jacob rather than Esau. It does, however, address the question of why God chose anyone at all. Keep in mind, both boys were conceived in sin. Both boys were rebels by nature. Spiritually speaking, they were both roadkill squirrels, shriveled up, covered in tiger slobber. Now if I had brought that squirrel carcass home that morning as the newest addition to the family, Becky wouldn't have asked. So honey, I saw a roadkill rabbit along the same route. I'm just wondering, why did you choose the squirrel over the rabbit? That wouldn't be the discussion point at all. I think her response would be, get that thing out of here. But then I would say to her, honey, I love this squirrel. and I have the ability to bring it to life. I have the ability to restore it to what it was supposed to be. Let's take a look at what the Bible says about God's loving election. We don't know why one over the other, but we can answer the question of why any at all. Look back at our Old Testament reading in your bulletin on page six. It's page 179 if you're gonna use the Pew Bible. Deuteronomy 7, for you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people, the reasons not in you, that the Lord set his love on you and chose you for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves you. Why does God choose any at all? Because He loves them. The reason God chose Israel over Edom, Jacob over Esau, are known to God alone. But the reason He didn't leave both unchosen, both to die in their sin, is explained. It's because of His love. It is because the Lord loves you, Moses wrote. God's election is rooted in his love. Skip from Deuteronomy to the other end of your Bible. Go to 1 John 4.10. If you're using the Pew Bible, it's page 1212. 1 John 4.10. 1 John 4.10. And I am having you flip around your Bibles more than I usually do, but I think it's with good reason. 1 John 4.10. In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. In the desert wilderness in Deuteronomy, Moses explains to the people of God, you were chosen because he loves you. In the New Testament church, in the spiritual wilderness of their lives, John says, God chose you because he loves you. And now back again to our New Testament reading in Romans 9. I hope you kept a finger there and stuck the bullets in there. Page 1123 in the Pew Bible. Keep it there. We're going to be in that section a lot now. Look at verse 10, starting in the middle of verse 10. When Rebecca had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad, in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works, but because of him who calls, she was told, the older will serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob I love. Paul says right there, he's taking that out of Malachi, and I wish we had time to go into Malachi, it's rich, it's wonderful, we don't. He's taking this out of Malachi 1, and he's saying here's the reason he chose Jacob, because he loved Jacob. God's loving election is not based on anything in you or me or anyone else, but it is a loving election. It's not a capricious election, a fanciful election, a whimsical election. It is not a fad that he's going to get over someday. It's loving election. God elects those whom he loves and loves those whom he elects. Look at page 15 in your bulletin. Your bulletin page 15, right near the end there. You see the three verses in the middle of that page? I put them there so we wouldn't have to skip quickly between these three passages. Page 15 of the Bulletin. I'm going to start at the bottom and work my way up. Now, the reason for these verses are here. There are four occurrences in the New Testament of the word predestined. Predestined. Pre, before, destiny, what's going to happen. Predestined is the idea of God deciding beforehand. And it's closely tied to this doctrine of election. In fact, the two almost always go together. Election and predestination, predestination and election. And there are four occurrences of that word, the Greek word, in the New Testament. And let's take a look at those, starting at the bottom one, in the Ephesians. In love, he predestined us for adoption as son. I've underlined that Greek, that key Greek word that goes through all three of these passages. We don't know why God elected us over others, but he did so in love. In love he predestined us. There is so much ire in a discussion of election and predestination that we miss the simple profound truth that God's election is a loving election. He could have left Esau and Jacob both to live out lives of sin, unredeemed, and face his wrath. He didn't. Move up one verse to 1 Corinthians 2. And there are several English translations that actually have the word predestined here. I don't know why I picked this one, but the underline is still the same Greek word. We impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God which God decreed before the ages for our glory. Does God choose some so as to be mean to them? A big cosmic bully who won't let them have what they want? No. It's for our glory. Because on our own, we are roadkill squirrels. For you were dead in your trespasses and sins. Dead people cannot bring themselves to life. Lazarus could do nothing to fix his situation. It was the call of Jesus that made him alive. And we impart this secret wisdom of God which God decreed beforehand. He predestined. He made a choice in advance for our glory not to be mean. I know I've printed Romans 8 29 there in the bulletin, but I'm going to ask you to actually go in your Bibles to Romans 8. It's right before Romans 9 where I've told you to stick your finger. So it's pretty easy to find. Grandma's couch have verses from here needlepoint, needlepointed? Needlepoint? They're sewn onto those pillows. There are refrigerator magnets and t-shirts and bumper stickers that use these verses. Many people's life verses come out of Romans 8. But right now I want to step back and take a look at the bigger picture of Romans 8 and let it hit us. I'm gonna begin in verse 28. And we know, for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined. There's our key word, predestined. God chose beforehand, he elected them to be conformed to the image of his son. Well, isn't that just mean-spirited of God? in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Why does God choose so? So God could be mean? So that he could impose his will on them? No. So that he, Jesus, might not be the only one in heaven. He's the only one that lived a perfect life. All the rest of us deserve hell. But so that Jesus would not be the only human in heaven, God predestines others so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers. This is not anything but loving. Verse 30, and those whom he predestined, he also called, and those whom he called, he also justified, and those whom he justified, he also glorified. God didn't just predestine us, choose us, elect us, and then leave us on our own. He's going to bring it all home. What shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? No one. I hope you're calling out deep within you, this is one time it's not always great to be a Presbyterian. There are churches where people would have answered that for us. In fact, we're going to. The answer is no one. Let me ask the question. If God is for us, who can be against us? You want an application point from the doctrine of election? God chose you. Is there any power in the universe that can thwart his choice? If God is for us, who can be against us? Moses says to a beleaguered and frightened Israel, remember, God chose you because he loves you. He loves you because he chose you. And thus, our Old Testament reading went on to say this, know therefore that the Lord your God is a faithful God. He's going to see it through. He will bring it all home. The application point is simple. Because God chose you, because he loves you, your future is And if our future is dependent upon something in us, we're in trouble. Verse 32, he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Come on, the hard part is done. He already sent his beloved son from his heaven. He already allowed his beloved son to go to the cross. He's already done the difficult things. You don't need to wonder if this Christian faith is real, if it's going to come to fruition. God's not going to leave you withering on the vine. He's going to harvest all of us. He's done the near impossible thing of letting his son die. Bringing his son to the throne to reign over all the earth for all eternity, piece of cake compared to that. Verse 33, who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It's God who justifies, Paul's point. The judge is also the justifier. So who's gonna indict you then? In verse 34, who is to condemn? We gotta pause here for a moment. I think we read through this way too fast. Who is to condemn? This is not merely a rhetorical question. Jesus himself answered this question. Who is to condemn? Not coming to you? That's okay. Let me ask the question a little differently. Who has the right to throw the first stone? Jesus said, let him who is without sin throw the first stone. The one who has the right to condemn is Jesus. He's the one who lived out a perfect life, who never sinned, who never did anything wrong. He's the one who knew no sin. He's the one who has a right to stand before the tribunal of God and go guilty, and guilty, and guilty, and guilty. But he's not going to. What do we have here instead? He asked the question, who is to condemn? The answer is Jesus. But he says, Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who is interceding for us. Why would he condemn us? He died for us. He came back to this earth after his resurrection to show us it was for us. And he's interceding in heaven for us. He's not gonna condemn us, and if he doesn't, no one else can. God chose these things. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? There it is. This predestination is rooted in love. Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long. We are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen? Amen. Wow. We could spend weeks and weeks unpacking that. But sometimes it's good to step back and see the big picture and just let it all hit us. smack us upside the head, and be reminded of what it means to be chosen by God. Because he loves us. And he's promising and assuring us of all those things. In Ephesians 1, God predestined us, he chose us, he elected us in love. First Corinthians 2, God predestined us, he chose us, he elected us for our glory. In Romans 8, God's loving election provides absolute security and assurance and peace. Is anyone out there keeping score? It's okay if you missed it, I didn't stress it. But I did say there were four passages. And we looked at only three. Turn in your Bibles to Acts 4. And with this, we'll close. Turn in your Bibles to Acts 4. If you're using the Pew Bible, it's page 1084. Acts 4, we'll be looking at verse 24 in just a moment here. Peter and John were arrested for preaching in the temple. Upon their release, they go running back to the gathering of the saints. They go running back to the church in Jerusalem, and the saints pray this prayer we find here in Acts 4, beginning in 24. This is a prayer of the apostles. Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who threw the mouth of our father David, your servant said by the Holy Spirit, why did the Gentiles rage and the people's plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed, against his Christ. Now listen to this. For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever pleased them, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. Do you see what the apostles are saying? The father predestined, he chose, he elected the arrest, abuse, mocking, and death of his son. Oh, to be sure, the scriptures assure us that Jesus went along willingly for the joy that was set before him. But it was a plan of God. It wasn't like God came to earth, Jesus came to earth at Christmas and all these bad things happened and then God scrambled quickly to find a plan B. God did not make lemonades out of the lemons we handed him. It was his plan all along. And so here you are this morning, if you're struggling with the concept of God's election, the doctrine of election, if you're sitting there saying, well, why would God elect some and not others? Why would God, you know, I'm pretty sure I chose God, I'm not sure that he chose me. If you're struggling with all this, set all that aside for a moment. And deal with this. And by the way, those are all legitimate questions, and I'd be happy to talk with anybody about all of them. But set them aside for this moment. Don't ask yourself why this person or that person. Ask yourself why he sent his son. Why he predestined Jesus to die. The only birth in all of recorded history that was for the explicit and sole purpose of dying was the birth we celebrate later this month. The apostles are clear, it was plain, it was the plan and choice of the election of God. So questions about election, why Jacob over Esau, why anyone at all, those questions need to take a backseat to this question, why would God send his son to die? There really are just two answers to that question. Either God is an absolute monster, who hated and abused his own son. Or else he loved others enough to have his son go through that. God chose us and he chose the path by which we would be his. and he did all of it because of his love for us. That is good news. Let's pray. Lord, there's really only one thing we can say and that is thank you. Thank you, Father, Son, and Spirit, for working together, for having this amazing plan by which we could be saved. Thank you, Father, for sending your Son to this earth. Thank you, dear Son, for coming willingly and staying the course to the end. And thank you, Spirit of God, for applying this to our lives. for taking the choice of God, his loving election of us and making it known to us, revealing it to us by faith. Help us to praise you in this good news. Help us to recognize what a blessing we have by being chosen of God. We pray this in the name of Christ, amen.