Alright, please turn with me to question 11 in Benjamin Keech's Catechism. We're on page 228 if you're in our Blue Confession books. Otherwise, the questions are in the bulletin this week. Last week we studied the Catechism's treatment of God's decrees in the 10th question. Question 10 asked, what are the decrees of God? And the answer is, the decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby, for His own glory, He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. Basically, God has determined to do His will, and that's exactly what will happen. Nothing can keep Him from doing His will, and He doesn't need anyone else's opinions or counsel when it comes to what he wants to do. He alone is his counselor, and he alone is able to accomplish his holy will. And what do we learn was his will? The will of God can be a really confusing topic even among Christians, which is why it's often called a mystery. And that's true to a degree. It is a mystery. We can't know with perfect understanding what God's will is, what he thinks or how he thinks, our minds, for one, are messed up with sin. Even when we think we understand the pure and holy things of God, there's so much sin obscuring our thinking, we don't even know how cloudy our thoughts are. So our sin and sinfulness prevents us from understanding God's will perfectly. That's part of why it's mysterious. It's also mysterious because even if sin hadn't messed up our ability to think clearly and wholly, our minds are limited. We are finite beings and God is an infinite being. To understand the mind of God would be more than even Adam could have understood prior to his fall. God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. That in itself reveals a mystery about the will of God and the mind of God. So we're definitely told that His will is mysterious. And yet we saw last week that He reveals it to us plainly in Ephesians chapter 1. I read from Ephesians chapter 1 last week. But listen just to verses 7 through 10 now. And here, God's will revealed to us again. As I mentioned last time, there's a tenderness and a mercy and a loveliness about God that we see so clearly in his will and in his decrees. So as much as God's will is mysterious, the most important aspects of his will are revealed to us so that we might understand who he is and what is most important to him. That's how you understand someone, right? To know what's most important to someone really shows us who they are. And God tells us what's most important to him in Ephesians chapter one, starting in verse seven. So let's begin our study today with that as our introduction. Paul says, in him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom, and prudence. Now listen to this. Having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, in him. That's God's will. That's the mystery of God's will revealed. God created the world and everything in it, knowing that sin would enter in to destroy it. And all of that was worth it in his mind, because his plan all along was to redeem a people to himself in Christ. That's God's purpose in everything he's done, to be glorified in creating and saving a people for himself, so that his overflowing love might shine upon them for all of eternity. I certainly have reasons for everything I do, and you probably do too. But who has reasons like these? Some people like to say that God is a narcissist for wanting to glorify himself. But no narcissist does everything they do for others. And if God is all that we believe he is, if he's everything the Bible says he is, in other words, if God is infinite and eternal, and holy and righteous in all things, and utterly perfect, then why wouldn't he glorify himself? The actual definition of a narcissist is someone who has an excessive interest in themselves. But how can you have an excessive interest in yourself when you are infinite? Only a finite being can have an excessive interest in himself. God is infinitely interesting. and infinitely good. And so to glorify himself is a good thing. To emphasize his own glory isn't narcissistic at all. Philippians 4 in verse 8 even tells us to emphasize his wonderful attributes when it says, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, If there is any virtue, and if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. These are descriptions of God. So if God commands us to meditate upon those things, because they are good, and if Jesus says no one is good but God, then what else would God think upon? He wouldn't think upon our goodness, would he? Of course not. He might think about our neediness, or our fallenness and our need for mercy, or our need for his goodness. But if God were to set his mind upon something good, he can't think on anything else but himself. As Jesus said, God alone is good. So that person, God, is not a narcissist at all who thinks upon himself if he is in fact the source of all good. And God is the source of all good. So now think through God's will with me. His purpose in everything he does is to glorify himself as he saves sinners. He glorifies himself as he draws attention to his infinite goodness. And his infinite goodness is seen in gathering together all things as one in Christ. meaning saving sinners and bringing them to Himself. God wants us to enjoy Him and love Him, and so He desires for us to think upon His goodness, meditate on these things. That's what Philippians 4 is teaching us. It's not teaching us to think about things that make us feel good, or things that seem wholesome, or things that are just nice. It's teaching us to think upon God. He has revealed himself to us so that we might enjoy him. That's the will of God. Gathering together in one all things in Christ. All things will be gathered together in one so that the overflowing goodness and love of God can be poured out upon his kingdom. That's not a narcissist. That's a glorious God who has chosen to give everything he has to an unworthy and unlovable people. People who have nothing whatsoever to offer in return. That's not a narcissist. So what are the decrees of God, again? The decrees of God are His eternal purpose according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory He has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. Ephesians 1 told us what the counsel of His will is. that all would be gathered together in one in Christ. So his eternal purpose, according to that will, is that he would save a kingdom of lost sinners, and he does that by foreordaining whatsoever comes to pass in order to accomplish that purpose. And he does it all for his own glory. He does it all to reveal his own goodness. He showers us with blessings so that we might know his goodness and glory and love. And so when the world appears to be spinning out of control, we can say with certainty that it's not, can't we? God is using even Satan and the demons and sinners and saints alike to accomplish his will according to his decrees. And everyone who works every day, both good and evil, are going to contribute in accomplishing his holy will. And no one can stop him. No one can prevent him from accomplishing his holy will. And no one can limit his ability to do good in this world. God is infinitely capable of accomplishing his will. And he rules by decree, meaning his will is law. He declares it, and it will be done. He decrees the seas to stop at the shore, and they stop. He decrees the sun to rise every morning, and it rises. He decrees that sinners will be redeemed and brought into his holy presence forever, and those sinners come. He has decreed according to his will that all will be gathered together in one, and on that last day, all will be gathered. Today we will consider how he executes his will. Question 11 asks, how does God execute his decrees? And the answer is God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence. So creation and providence are the ways he executes his decrees, and that'll be our topic for today. Our summary this morning can be found in your bulletins. It says, God's decrees tell us what he has determined to accomplish. The works of creation and providence are his means in accomplishing them. His decree is to save a kingdom of saints for himself, and he accomplishes that decree by creating and then providing for that creation. So God isn't just a creator. He is also a provider. He doesn't make a plan and hope it works. He carefully and thoughtfully executes his plan to the end, ensuring that everything goes perfectly according to that plan. This means that his will to have a kingdom of redeemed saints for himself will be accomplished without any exception. And he does that by creating and then providing. All right. Well, that is our introduction. Let us pray before we begin. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you. We thank you that you've brought us to this place today to be gathered together. We thank you, Lord, for this worship service that we as a group of worshipers of the true God can come together and worship as a local congregation. And we thank you for the gift that that is. We thank you that we have others that we can fellowship with, that we can pray with and pray for, and that we can love and learn to be loved by the saints. Lord, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for the gift of your word. We thank you for those who came before us that teach us. We thank you even for this catechism, and we just ask, Lord, that you would bless your word as we look into it. We pray, dear Father, that even these doctrines would be used to humble our hearts and warm us to your mercy and your grace. And may we even see again the loveliness of your person as we gaze into these doctrines. So we thank you again and we ask your blessing as we always do. We ask that your Holy Spirit would be our teacher and we ask that you would do it all in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, so first I want to notice that there aren't any proof texts for this first question, this 11th question. And I'm going to go out on a limb and make an assumption here that the reason for this is because this question does not stand alone. I think this question is kind of like a section heading, which just introduces us to the two ways God executes his decrees. First being creation, second being providence, and then we see that the catechism under this section heading deals with creation and particularly providence, and at least the next 20 questions. So I think we should consider question 11 as a heading, And so to study question 11, I want to jump straight into question 12 now in the context of God's decrees. So question 12 asks us, what is the work of creation? And the answer is the work of creation is God's making all things of nothing by the power, by the word of his power in the space of six days and all very good. Okay, so in order to execute his desire to gather together all things in one in Christ, he first had to make all things, right? Pretty straightforward. God is not so mysterious after all, is he? God's desire to gather everything together begins with creating everything. That's exactly what he did. And we find his work of creation in the first chapter in Genesis, of course. So I'd like to read through the entire first chapter so we can see it in the light of his decrees. First, listen to our first proof text, which is Hebrews 11 in verse 3. It says, By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. So we see there how God created. He created everything from nothing. He used nothing that was here before, and so he is the originator of all things. He is the foundation of all things. I remember listening to a podcast or reading an article once, I can't remember exactly, where the presenter made the remark that no one person can make a pencil It was kind of a provocative statement that got me thinking. By the time he worked through his point, it was true that no one person can make a pencil. First, the pencil has a couple simple parts. Wood, paint, lead or graphite, a rubber eraser, and a metal band to hold the eraser in place. The wood comes from a tree. Trees cut down. The logger uses a saw that someone else made, which was made with metal and plastic that someone else mined and refined and then heated and pounded and cut into the tool we all know to be a saw. One person relies on another person who relies on another person, and there's always someone further down the line who supports the next, and so on. So one person alone can't even cut the tree, never mind shape the pencil into the shape we're all familiar with. Same goes with the graphite. One person can install the rod of graphite but he relies on the one who mined it and the one who formed it in the factory and those workers rely on tools that help them do those jobs as well as the workers who made their tools and so on and so on. One person can paint the pencil But he relies on a paintbrush that someone else made and the paint that someone else made. Never mind all the equipment that supports those industries and so on and so on. One person can install the rubber and put the metal ring around it. But think of all the people who are behind the scenes to make those parts as well. At the end, I think his point was pretty well made. Everyone relies on someone who came before them, except for God. God made everything from nothing. He created the finished products from raw materials that He created, or from no materials at all. For us to get our heads around that is pretty impressive, especially in the light of the illustration I just gave. We can't even make a pencil single-handedly. And God gave us all the raw materials. What's more simple than a pencil? Everything God made, he made from what was invisible. He made matter from non-matter. And that's the backdrop of Genesis 1, nothingness. Now turn with me to Genesis 1 and let's read through the creation story. Genesis 1 starting in verse 1. And we read this with the intent of seeing creation as a way of executing his decrees. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Let's just stop there. The earth again was without form and void. Just think on that. just as the book of Hebrews told us, right? Hebrews 11 in verse 3 says, the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. There was no form and all was void. There was no matter. God executes his decrees using creation and we see the great glory of God and that he created the world so that he might reveal his glory to it. But his decrees are executed using the creation of all things. He creates all things so that he might gather together all things in one in Christ. All part of God's plans and purposes. His decrees require his creation. He cannot gather a people until he first creates a people. Then in verse three, we read, then God said, let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Once again, we see that God speaks, and it's so. This is a God who rules by decree. He commands the empty nothingness of the uncreated world, and the nothingness obeys him. That's an incredible thought. Then God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so. And God called the firmament heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. He speaks, and the earth is created, and then he speaks, and the heavens are created. He speaks and his will is done. To gather a people to himself, he first creates a place for his people, and then he creates a place for himself. He will gather them from the earth and bring them into his heavenly presence. And so first he created both of those places. Verse nine now, then God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself on the earth. And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day." Pretty amazing, right? God speaks and the world goes from formless to this majestic and amazing place we call earth. From nothing, everything comes to be simply by God speaking. God rules over creation by decree, and he uses it to accomplish his decrees. It obeys him without any delay, and that's still true today. God is infinitely powerful and able to accomplish his will. And while we're thinking about the seas and the trees, think with me for a minute about a couple examples that show us that the Lord is still ruling over the creation by decree. Think about the New Testament. We see something of the person of Christ in the ways he still rules over creation. You might remember Matthew chapter eight, which tells the story of Jesus calming the storm. Starting in verse 23, it says, Jesus got into a boat and his disciples followed him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea so that the boat was covered with the waves, but he was asleep. Then his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we're perishing. But he said to them, why are you fearful, O you of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey him? None of this should surprise us, should it? The winds and the seas obeyed him way back when he created them from nothing. And the winds and the seas will obey him for all of eternity. He is the great king and he rules over all of creation by decree. And he even uses his creation to execute his decrees. Jesus Christ is a mighty God. He uses his authority over creation to illustrate his ability to accomplish his will, and then we see he uses it to teach his disciples about faith. Faith, by the way, is how God has chosen to gather all things to himself. The question is, do you believe that God can calm the storm? And more importantly, do you believe that Christ can forgive sins? If he can calm a storm, he's telling us that he can also forgive sins, have faith, trust him. God is able to do these things. God is sovereign over his creation, and that includes forgiving you and me in our sins. God's decree is to gather all things in one in Christ. And he does that by creating all things. And then Jesus even used that creation, we saw, to teach people that he gathers people who come to him by faith. God is wise beyond our understanding. How about Matthew 21? Starting in verse 18, here we see he is sovereign over a tree. Matthew writes, now in the morning, as he returned to the city, he was hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the road, he came to it and found nothing on it but leaves, and said to it, again, he speaks, let no fruit grow on you ever again. Immediately, the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, How did the fig tree wither away so soon? So Jesus answered and said to them, Assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but also if you say to this mountain, Be removed and be cast into the sea, it will be done. Now listen to this, and whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive. Amazing truth here again. Jesus spoke to the tree and it withered. He is sovereign over his creation and so there's no doubt he can use his creation to execute his decrees. He created everything so that he might gather everything into one. He created so that he might bring everything to himself so that his creation might know him and love him and enjoy him forever. And so he claims authority by demonstrating authority over creation and then points his disciples once again to the faith that's required to be gathered together forever. All of it is for the same purpose, to gather a kingdom together to himself by faith Pray to the God who saves and you will be saved. You will be gathered. And he illustrates his ability to do that by withering the fig tree. Back to Genesis 1, then God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night. And let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth. And it was so. Then God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Again, he speaks. and the sun, moon, and stars come to be. It's just amazing. God rules by decree, and the entire plan and purpose of his creation is to be used by him to execute the plan and purpose of his will, which is to bring his children to himself. Oh, that we might enjoy this God of ours for all of eternity. Then God said, let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens. So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded according to their kind and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters and the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. Then God said, let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind, cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind. And it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So in question 11 asks, how does God execute his decrees? It says God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence. And so then it asks the question, what is the work of creation? What does the work of creation have to do with God's decrees? The answer is he creates so that he can accomplish his will, which is to gather all things to himself. He creates so that he can pour out his love upon his creation. Everything he does goes back to that perfect will of his and his perfect desire to glorify himself and do good to those who love him. His entire creation is so that we can be the recipients of his overflowing love. We see his love and the beauty he surrounds us with and we see it in that he has made a perfect plan to save us. That's his plan, and that's his purpose, and that's his decrees. He created everything so that he can gather everything to himself. The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing by the word of his power in the space of six days and all very good. That work is for the purpose of accomplishing his greater desire, which is to love and be loved by human beings. What else did God create? He created the earth and everything in it, but who did he create it for? Man, right? The crown of his creation made in his own image. So question 13 asks now, how did God create man? Now this probably seems like it has nothing to do with his decrees, but this is just an extension of his work of creation. And just look at the surrounding catechism questions again. We have a question in number 11, which just says that God executes his decrees using his works of creation and providence with no proof text. And then we see two questions in a row about creation, followed by 20 some odd questions about providence. Seems like these are helping us to understand his decrees, don't you think? And so we see God's next work of creation is when he created man, male and female, after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures." God created man to rule over his creation. He created man to enjoy the earth, and cultivate the earth, and fill the earth with God's righteous and holy kingdom of priests. That was Adam's mission. Genesis 1 and verses 26 through 28 is our proof text. And it says, then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Then God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Once again, we see a connection to the mystery of God's will. He desires to gather all together in one, in Christ, and so he created a creature who is even able to commune with himself. A creature with a mind to think upon God and a heart to love God and an eternal soul to enjoy God forever. God's decree is to share his love and goodness with his children and so he created a race of children who are uniquely able to glorify him and enjoy him. A race of children who are made in his very image. created for the sole purpose of receiving the gifts and graces of God through Christ. So we can see once again that the creation is used to execute his decrees, right? How does he gather all things into one in Christ? He does it by creating all things. And by giving us dominion over the fish and birds and cattle and commanding us to take his kingdom and spread it throughout the entire earth, He's revealing that he intends us to work alongside him in doing that will. Be fruitful and multiply is a way of saying fill the earth and subdue it. And to fill the earth and subdue it means more than having kids and overcoming the animals. It means bringing the holiness and righteousness of God to the four corners of the earth and bringing God's order into every wilderness in the earth. And it means taking the knowledge of God to the four corners of the earth. We are to do the work of God. We are to bring his kingdom to every corner of the world, overcoming the wilderness with that holy kingdom. We are to conquer the world with the peace of Christ. God will use his creation to gather all things to himself. He will even use his creation because he'll use his people. He executes his decrees by commanding his children to teach the world about his mercy and his love and his kindness and his tenderness. He will have a kingdom and he will accomplish that. He will execute that decree using his creation. But what happened when Adam and Eve fell in the garden? The kingdom was threatened, wasn't it? God's creation, including the creation of his image bearers, who were created in holiness, righteousness, and the knowledge of God, became unholy and unrighteous and ceased to know God. How would God overcome that? The people meant to establish his kingdom in every wilderness failed before they even got started. And so this holy God had to fix the problem of sin that now plagued his kingdom. He needed to recreate his creation. And so to execute his decrees, to gather all into one in Jesus Christ, he now needed to restore the image of God in his children, and that's exactly what he did. That's the gospel. God is glorified in that he saves sinners and restores them to righteousness and holiness and the knowledge of God. Amazing, right? God's decrees cannot be thwarted no matter what the enemies of God do. And so we see a new creation promised in the pages of scripture, don't we? Consider with me Colossians 3 in verse 10 as our proof text. I want to start in verse 6. Colossians 3 in verse 6. It says, because of sin, The wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now, verse 8, you yourselves are to put off all of these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all, God's decrees, are seen accomplished there, aren't they? Christ is all and in all. And Paul says, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. If anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. As sinners, that first list describes us. The old man is full of anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, and filthy language. But as saints, saved according to God's mercy, and according to the gospel, and according to the mystery of his will, we're no longer described like that at all, are we? No, we're described as new men. renewed in the knowledge of God, holy and beloved, tender in mercies, kind, humble, meek, and long-suffering, and most importantly, love. You see that God makes us completely new. He restores us to the image of God so that once again, we might be gathered to himself and can again be the recipients of his mercy and grace, able to spend all of eternity in his blessedness. That's a God whose decree won't be thwarted, right? No matter what. And he uses creation and then the new creation to accomplish that will. Here's our last proof text, Ephesians 4 in verse 24. And it's part of another passage that reveals God's purpose of gathering a kingdom by a new creation. He will restore people through a new creation. so that his decrees are accomplished, starting in verse 20. It says, but you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that you put off concerning your former conduct the old man, which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Therefore, putting away lying, let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. There's that gathering all together in one again, right? That's God's decrees accomplished in creation. Now skip to verse 31. Let all bitterness wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." God's decrees are that he would gather all together in one in Jesus Christ, and the works of creation are how he chose to accomplish that eternal will of his. My question for all of us as we draw to a close is this. Has God gathered you to himself and made you into a new creation? Was there a time when you became new? When you trusted Christ to save you and set out on a new path to serve God and love God? The gospel is the good news of God's decrees. He will gather all together in one. and he will do it by the blood of Jesus Christ. Sin stands between us and the holiness of God. Christ stands in the place with open arms, offering you and me the holiness we need. He offers his righteous robes, and he offers a new mind and a new heart to know God with. And sin's penalties that might prevent us from being gathered have been destroyed at the cross. God's decrees will not be thwarted. He will have a kingdom. His kingdom will gather at the marriage supper of the Lord one day. And the blessings of that day will go on for all of eternity. God will have his bride, his church, to receive his blessings and his mercies and the overflowing love of his forever, just as he decreed. And he will gather the people he created and bring them from this earth that he created to the heavens that he created. And we will all spend all of eternity in his wonderful presence. And we get there by faith, faith in his blood. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for this wonderful doctrine. We thank you that there's so much depth to these things. These aren't just conversations to be had or studies to be done for the sake of knowledge for the brain. These are things that truly warm our hearts as we see your purposes and your plans for us and for yourself and for your kingdom and your glory. And Lord, as new creatures, we do have a new and wonderful interest in your glory. And so we thank you for that. And we pray, Lord, that we would spend all of this life pursuing an understanding of your glory, pursuing the mystery of your will as it pertains to your goodness and your mercy upon sinners. We thank you for Christ and his work. We thank you for the work he did to live up to the standard that you set for us that we failed to live up to. And we thank you for his work to dying in our place. Lord, both of those things are amazing to think upon. We could spend a lifetime contemplating these things and not know the depths of them. We thank you that your decrees point us to them. We thank you that all things point us to the gospel, and that all good things point us to you. And we just ask your blessing upon the rest of our day, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.