So our key verse this morning is 1 John 3, verse one. And I'll read that verse, and then we'll talk about the background of 1 John. So 1 John 3, verse one. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. So today we're gonna talk about the love of God. Fantastic verse, but as I said, it's right in the middle of a book that we've not been reading. So I wanna give a little context as to why 1 John was written. So 1 John was written, it was a circular letter, that meant it went to many churches, it wasn't written to a specific church, it went to numerous churches, and it was a letter that was meant to foster assurance within the church. to help them to understand what it is to know God and to know that they knew God and that they were loved by God. And so John did this really in three different ways. First of all, he points out that there are false teachers. He calls them antichrist. And you can see that in chapter four, verse two. And he says, by this, you know the spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. And every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. So there's false teaching going on amongst the churches and there's false teaching really in two different ways and you can see it as you read the entirety of this book. One way is that there's a belief that Jesus didn't come in the flesh. You see this is predominantly in the first century. There was an idea that anything that was fleshly, anything that had material was evil. And so if that's the case, then Jesus could not have come in the flesh because then he would have been evil, right? Gross misunderstanding. It's a heresy known as Gnosticism, right? And so John is writing to combat that. You see that in the very first chapter where he talks about that we've handled him, we've touched him, right? He's insinuating the fact that, no, he was real. He was in the flesh and he dwelt among us. and we saw him and we believe him to be the Messiah. But secondly, there was also a group of people that seemed to deny their own sinful nature. They denied the fact that they even had sin that affected them. And so John deals with that in the first chapter in verse eight, where he says, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Right? So there's two major issues that are going on in these churches that they're dealing with. The idea that Jesus didn't really come in the flesh. And if Jesus didn't come in the flesh, we are without hope, my friends. I thought somebody was coming in on us. Secondly, it was this idea that we don't have sin, which is starting to crop back up in our society now. And we'll touch on that a little bit later. But secondly, John wrote this book to assure the church of God's love. He wanted the church to know that God loves his children. He doesn't just merely like us or put up with us or just kind of deal with us. No, he genuinely, truly loves us. And God loved us first, right? So in chapter four, in verse 10, he says, And this is love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sin. We're gonna talk about that a little bit more in just a few minutes too. So John wanted to make sure that the church knew that God loved the church and that God has made us his children. We are the children of God. Think about that for just a minute. You have heard the verse, we are co-heirs with Christ, right? How can we be co-heirs with Christ if we're not also God's children, right? So the inheritance that we get comes from God and is given to his children. And beloved, we are his children. If we are His, we are His children, that should stir our hearts to astonishment, that the fact that the God that created us and sees us and knows us for who we really and truly are, that God loves us. That's a miracle. But John also calls the church to holiness. He says that if you are truly a child of God and you are loved by God, You're therefore going to love God and your life is going to be different. You're going to live a life that reflects the character of the God that loves you. You see this particularly in 1 John 1, 7, when he says we are to walk in the light as he is in the light. You see it also in chapter two, verse 15, where he says that we're not to love the things of this world, right? So that's kind of the very brief background of why 1 John was written. He's fostering assurance amongst the church of God to let them know three things. There are false teachers among you, be careful. Don't believe everything that they say. Test the scriptures. He also is assuring them of God's love. And then thirdly, he's telling them if you are truly a lover of God, then your life is going to be lived in holiness. So this morning, I want us to focus in on chapter three, verse one, see what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God, and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. It was about 20 years ago, I was reading a book and I came across this question, and it fundamentally changed the way I thought about God's love. The question is this. Do you feel loved by God because you believe that he makes much of you or because you believe he frees and empowers you to enjoy making much of him? It's the difference between the modern world where everything terminates on self and the biblical world where everything terminates on God. And he followed it up with this statement. Since only God can satisfy the soul forever, His freeing us to make much of Him is the deepest act of love possible, especially when it happens at the cost of His Son. See, the issue is a lot of times for us, especially when you're dealing with this issue of assurance or you're dealing with this understanding of the love of God, the problem that we have is that we start looking at the love of God and then we immediately turn to ourselves. What is in me that makes God love me? Right? That's the question that we ask. And that's the wrong question. The question is not what is it in me that makes God love me? It's what is it in God that makes him love me? God is the author of that love, not me. You see, that's prideful thinking. And pride has two sides of the same coin, right? The one side says this. I am worthy of God's love. I am worthy of God's love, and so therefore, everything that I do, he loves, right? That's what's so prevalent in our culture, this idea of the love of God being based on self-worth. It's based on what I have done. It's based on how worthy I am. I am worthy of God's love. Nobody is worthy of God's love. because all of us are sinners. But this is the reason that you have this idea in the culture now and predominantly in a lot of churches now of not only are we not really sinful, but God really is going to condone us because he loves us. He's going to condone what we do. So we can be whatever we wanna be. We can act however we wanna act. We can do whatever we wanna do because God's gonna love us. Because that's, why wouldn't he? Look at how lovely I am. We would call that arrogance. But it's pride. But you need to understand there's a second part of pride. This is where I struggle the most. It's this idea of I am not worthy of God's love because of what I have done. And yes, it is true that I am a wretched sinner. But it's also true that God's love for me is not based on my performance, but based on who he is. See, God didn't choose to love me because I've done something right or wrong. But if I live in this mentality of God loves me, but the minute that I do something, he's angry. And now I've got to deal with the wrath. I've got to deal with his anger. I don't know how long he's going to be mad, but I know he's going to be mad, and I've got to deal with that. We've missed the gospel. We've missed the gospel. The anger of God for his children has been poured out onto Christ, not onto us, right? We're not the recipients of anger anymore. We're the recipients of lavish grace over and over and over again. So you need to understand this. God does not love me because I am lovable. God loves me because he wants to. Hear that. God does not love me because I'm lovable. He loves me because he wants to. It brings him pleasure to love his children. And we're understanding this, we're talking about God's love, and I want us to have this base understanding of what we're talking about here. We're talking about God's loving of his children. Right? Not his general love for everyone, but specific love, saving love. And that's what we're gonna see in just a minute, hopefully when I conclude the introduction. But the point is, is that God loves us because he wants to. This is exactly what he said to the children of Israel, Deuteronomy chapter seven. This is after the children of Israel have been rescued from Egypt, they've been brought out of bondage. Deuteronomy 7, starting in verse 7 and going into verse 8, he says, it was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loves you. and he's keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Now, that almost sounds funny to our ear. Well, why does God love you? Because he loves you. That's why. It's his choice. It's his desire. He wants to love you, and so he does. And it also, we can't miss this part at the end of that where he says, and he is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers. Remember God's covenant promise to his people, that he will save a people for himself and he will lavishly pour out his love on his people. That's the beauty of understanding the covenant. The covenant does not change just as God does not change. And so as we understand and we look towards the love of God, there are three things that I want us to see out of this passage. One, the love of God makes us children of God. Two, the love of God compels us to live holy lives. And three, the love of God separates us from the world. I think all three will be seen as we go through this verse. So number one, the love of God makes us children of God. This is the first sentence in that verse. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God. And so we are. My mom and I were talking about this last week and she reminded me in the NIV, there's an exclamation point there. So we are, we are the children of God. How did we become the children of God? Was it us? Did we just, you know, hey man, I buttoned my coat. God's gotta love me, he's calling me his child, no. We are the children of God because that's what he chose to do. Because God was gracious and merciful and he looked upon a sinful humanity. And he said, I know that they are all deserving of justice and wrath forever, but I'm going to pour out my love on some that they may know me and may love me. That's the beauty of the grace of God. So under that heading of the love of God makes us the children of God, we see, number one, that God does make us his children. In 1 John 4, 10, he says, in this is love, Not that we love God, but that he loved us and he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sin. Big word, right? That's one of those 25 cent seminary words I learned, propitiation, great word. But propitiation is not only seen here, it's mentioned a few times in the New Testament, but it's really seen to me, one of my favorite passages is Leviticus chapter 16. Anybody familiar with Leviticus 16? That's what I thought. Yeah, we're going back to the old law, right? So Leviticus 16, Leviticus 16 outlines the day of atonement. You see this on your calendar every year probably. Yom Kippur, right? Yom being day, Kippur, atonement, the day of atonement. The day of atonement was an interesting day. There are a lot of things, a lot of different details that we could go into, but I want to focus in on just two, right? There's two animals that are brought to the high priest on the day of atonement, two goats in particular. The first goat is what they call the scapegoat. And why do they call it the scapegoat? Because the scapegoat was brought before the high priest. The high priest would lay his hands on the head of that goat, and he would confess all of the sins of Israel onto that goat. Now, I can't imagine how long of a process that would take. That's a lot of sin to try and cover at one time. He's confessing all of the sins of the people of Israel onto the head of that goat. And then what did they do with that goat? Did they kill it? No, they took that goat and they set it free out in the wilderness, never to be returned to the camp again. And then they took the other goat and that was the goat of the sin offering. And they would slit the throat of that animal and they would sprinkle that blood onto the mercy seat. which is on the Ark of the Covenant. And that goat was the propitiation for the sins of the people. That word propitiation meaning this. It took the punishment and the wrath for the sins of the people that they deserved, right? Now, we understand on this side of the cross, just as they understood that there was a Messiah coming, we understand now that the blood of the goats didn't do anything, but it was a foreshadowing of the blood of the Lamb who was slain before the foundation of the world, who would come to be the propitiation for our sin. In other words, he would take the full wrath of God, everything that God could throw at sin, all of his wrath and anger and justice towards sin, he put on to Jesus. And then he gave me Jesus's righteousness. That's propitiation. But there's still that second goat that we haven't talked about yet. The one that's out in the wilderness somewhere. And that's another 25 cent word I learned in seminary called expiation. It's the removal of sin. It's the picture of not only when Jesus died did he take the full wrath of God on our behalf, but he removed from us all of our sin. Never again. never again to receive punishment or anger or wrath from God, but to receive nothing but love, grace, and mercy instead. Because all of that was put onto Christ so that it wouldn't have to be put onto me. Church, that ought to cause us to be astonished. That ought to cause us to fall at his feet in worship. that God chose to do this. He wasn't, nobody had him in an arm bar and said, no, you're going to do this. No, God chose to do this. Why? Because he loves us. He loves us. That's why. not because we're great, not because we're a multitude of peoples, not because we're worthy of love, but because he wants to, because it brings him pleasure to love his children. That's who we are. That's why there should be an exclamation point. And so we are, because that's what God has done for his people. So the next time you sin, confess your sin. Yes, confess it, repent, but understand it has already been paid for. And there is no anger from God. There is simply you being clothed in the righteousness of Christ. You are completely and utterly safe in the presence of God. No fear of ever being cast out. No fear of ever being turned away. When you need Him, which is always, He is there, which is always. That is who He is. Now see, doesn't that cause the love of God to be stronger in our life, not lesser? We think if we move away from ourselves that somehow that weakens the love of God. No, it strengthens the love of God in our eyes because we are weak. We are fleshly people. We falter and we fail, often. If you don't, I do enough for all of us, okay? But the love of God reaches beyond all of that, because Jesus took it, all the wrath, all the anger, all the justice, for me. That's what it is to be a child of God. So God makes us his children. Romans 5.8, Paul says, but God shows his love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Now I mention this because this is important because a lot of us, probably not in this room, but there are a lot of people that think When I do enough good, or I make enough right decisions, or if I just will go to church long enough, or if I'll just read enough of the Bible, then I'll do enough to where God will love me. And then I can become his child. And we've missed the point. There's nothing that we can do that will ever make us lovable in that sense. That's the beauty of the grace of God in loving us in spite of that. He loved us while we were sinners. Not when we were okay, but when we were sinners. Because here's the thing, there was never a point where we were okay. One sin is enough to incur the eternal wrath of God forever. So if I sin one time, I'm without hope. I am born with a sinful nature. I am born with a nature that has a proclivity to go, I want to do what I want to do. If you had children, you understand what I'm saying. If you were a child, you should understand what I'm saying. We have a bent that says, I want to do what I want to do, no matter what. And we do. And we incur the wrath of God. But God. Right? Probably my two favorite words in the Bible, but God. But God showed his love for us, and that while we were still sinners, that's when Christ died for us. Christ died for sinners. He didn't die for the lovable. He didn't die for the likable. He died for sinners, such as us. And he saves sinners. Rejoice in that. He saves sinners, not just in the past, all throughout until he returns. He saves sinners. Why does he do that? Because he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1, 3, and 4, blessed be the God of our father, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Now what, just stop for just a minute. What had you done before the foundations of the world? This is a real easy answer. There you go, nothing, not a thing. Nobody has done anything. If nothing exists and none of us exist, there's nothing that we could do, right? Right, so we need to understand from that, God doesn't save us based on what we do. God saves us based on who he is. So, He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. Why? That we should be holy and blameless before Him. How can you be blameless before God? The blood of Christ. The blood of Christ. We can't make ourselves blameless before Him, but He can make us blameless before Him. This is why this understanding of the imputation of Christ's righteousness to us is so critical and crucial for our understanding of our relationship with God. Because not only did he take away our sin, not only did he take the punishment for our sin, but Jesus gave us this perfect life that he lived in every way, word, thought, and deed, And he gave us that life and covers us in his righteousness. And we are safely in the presence of God. And all of that was chosen before the foundation of the world. Before anything ever existed, God said, these are my people and I will keep my promises and my covenant with my people because I am God. That is what he does. To finish it off, he says that, in love, notice those two words, in love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has blessed us in the beloved. Now, most of you know, I have an adopted son. If you didn't know that, I have an adopted son, he's not mine, biologically, but he is mine. In every other way, he is mine. I can remember, the adoption process was a long process for us. It was about a two and a half, almost a three year journey, in which we were waiting for a phone call to say, you now have a child. And I can remember the day we got that phone call. Most of you know I work for Chick-fil-A. This was a point in which I was working both in the restaurant and for our corporate office. I was kind of in between. I was in transition from moving from the restaurant to the corporate office. And so one day I happened to be at the restaurant, just randomly, and I was there. I was chatting with my operator. We were talking. one of our servers came up and said, hey, you've got a phone call from a young lady named Katushka. Well, the first thing in my mind is, this is somebody who's put in an application, they're checking on an application, I don't have time to deal with that right now, just take a message, tell them I'll call them back, right? I got other stuff I gotta deal with. So I asked the young lady, I said, just take a message, tell them I'll call them back. And a few minutes later, she comes back, and she's like, they said they can't take a message. I was going, okay, what is this? You know, because I get it. People are like, I want my job. And I understand that. So I went over to the phone and I picked it up. And she said, this is Katushka so and so. I'm doing good to remember the first name. I certainly can't remember the last. She said, I'm your social worker with Bethany Christian Services. And I just wanted to tell you, we have a baby boy for you and for your wife. And I'll never forget that day. And I had the privilege of calling my wife and saying, hey, baby, we have a new son. And he's waiting for us to go get him. Three-week-old baby boy named Makai. There's hardly a day in my life that was happier than that day when I got to meet my son for the first time. I cannot imagine the heart of a father who loves well beyond this old sinful heart, how he must feel about his children and the love that he has for us, that he would predestine us before the foundations of the world to be adopted into his family to be his child, to love and to take care of for all eternity. What a beautiful picture that Paul paints in the first part of Ephesians. So God makes us his children. I'm looking at the time and I'm hoping we make it. Secondly, the love of God compels us to live holy lives. And we see this in the second part of the verse where he says, the reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. We need to understand there's a, the world does not know us. The world does not know the children of God. I think another way to say this is they don't understand the children of God. They don't get it. They look at us and expect us to be exactly like they are. They don't understand. But there's a difference here. And that's what John is really trying to drive home is. the love of God, when he makes us a child of God, it compels us to live a holy life. It compels us to live a life that's different from that of the world. If you read the entirety of 1 John, which I would encourage you to do if you've got some time this afternoon, it takes less than 20 minutes really to read through the book of 1 John. I would encourage you to do so because you'll see kind of these things mapped out over the entirety of this book. But he goes in 1 John 1, verses 6 and 7, he says, if we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie, and we don't practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us from all sin. What I don't want you to hear is if I do these things, then I'll be saved by God. That's not what he's saying. He's saying when you are saved, when you are a child of God, you will live a life fundamentally different because your desires have changed. You don't desire to live under the control of sin anymore. That's what you've been set free from. That's what God has set you free from. That's what you are drawn out of, just as the children of Israel were drawn out of Egypt, out of slavery and set free to be his people. So we are saved out of sin and are set free to live lives of holiness towards him. That should be our desire. Right? It's what we should long for. So he's saying here that if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, the body, and that we know that the blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin. Holiness is the desire of the child of God. As children of God, we long to live lives that are pleasing to him. 1 John 2. starting in the second half of verse B, of verse five, going into verse six. But whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him. Whoever says he abides in him, ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. He being who? Jesus, right? So our lives ought to be a reflection of what Jesus' life was. We ought to be walking in holiness. We ought to be living lives that love one another, encourage one another, but above all else, our lives lived in holiness before God. We often ask this question, what is God's will for my life? I can answer that really simply, just as he answered it. God's will for your life is sanctification. God's will for your life is holiness. Let that be your main concern. Young people, if you're concerned about what you're gonna do for a living, don't let that consume you. Let God's holiness consume you. Whatever you do, whatever path he puts you in, because I can promise you, I am not on the path that I thought I was going to be 20 years ago. But you know what? Today, by God's grace, I hope that I am more like him than I was 20 years ago. And the people in my life can attest to the fact that he has worked and moved in me to make me more like him than I was 20 years ago. That is God's will for your life. A child of God, if God makes you his child, He gives you a compulsion to live a holy life. And that's what separates us from the world, which is point number three. The love of God separates us from the world. As a child of God, I won't live as the world lives. Why? Because I long to live a life that's pleasing to God. They live for themselves, right? If you wanna make the world happy, just go do whatever they wanna do. don't have any morals, don't have any standards, don't have anything, just go do what they wanna do. The world will love you for it. Tell them everything that they do is right. They'll love you for it. God will not. Because if you are a child of God, there's no way you could do that. Because you realize, and I realize, that as a child of God, my life is different, and that separates me out from the world. And that separation, Please know that is not a peaceful separation. In fact, Jesus made it very clear in John chapter 15. If the world hates you, just know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you're not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, the world's gonna hate you. When we see things like we saw at the Olympics, or we see anything in our life that's making a mockery of our Savior, it should hurt us, but it shouldn't startle us or surprise us. Because the world hates Jesus. It has, and it will. Because the world loves its sin, and Jesus has none. Therefore it hates Jesus because it reminds them that they are sinners and there will be a price to pay As a child of God The world hates what I love The world hates what I love because I love Jesus And I want to do everything in my power everything that I can to make much of him and to make him known and Why? I'll let the catechism answer this one. Catechism, chapter four, question four. What is the chief end of man? Okay, we're almost answering in a round, which is really funny. Bingo, there it is. I love it. To enjoy God, To glorify God and to enjoy him forever. I'll get it in a minute. I read it. I promise There's two parts to that My life when I'm living a life of holiness that brings glory to God Because it's revealing the character of God to everyone around me It's showing the world who God is right not perfectly Only the scriptures do that and we should be living according to the scriptures so that those messages agree right But there's a second part of that, and this is the part that I think we neglect the most. Enjoy God. Enjoy God. Enjoy God. That's why you were made. That's why you were made a child of God, to enjoy Him. So you can't enjoy Him if you're constantly scared of Him. You can't enjoy Him if you think you're better than He is, right? You enjoy God by seeing what he has done for you, believing that he did it for you, receiving his grace and mercy, living in a way that glorifies him. All of your life is geared toward enjoying God. What do you think eternity is all about? Jesus made it very clear. This is eternal life. that they know you, Father, and the one whom you sent. If you wanna enjoy God, know God. How do you know God? Right here. If you're not enjoying God, find Him, seek Him, because He promises, if you seek Him and you seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him. You will find Him and you will enjoy Him. Because He's made to be in joy. He made us, rather, to be enjoying Him for all eternity. So when you think about eternity, a lot of us think eternity is boring. We're just gonna sit around, what are we gonna do all the day? I can tell you what we're gonna do all day. We're gonna marvel at who God is. And we're gonna worship who God is. And just about the point you think you've got everything figured out and you know all there is to know about God, you'll come to the point where you go, oh wait, there's more to know. And the more you know, the more joyful that you are. Well, guess what? When we talk about God being infinite, this is what we talk about. God has no limits, no bounds. There's never a point where you'll reach where you've reached and known everything there is to know about God. You cannot, because he's infinite. But that also means so my joy is infinite. Because the more I know him, the more joy I receive. And if I can't ever reach a limit where I know everything there is to know about God, then that means I can't reach a limit to where my joy would be stopped. My joy will continue on for all eternity. Brothers and sisters, enjoy God. If you are His child, enjoy Him. That is the point and purpose of your life, to live a life that glorifies Him and to enjoy Him forever. Three minutes, three observations, okay? One, rejoice in the Lord and His unchanging love for His people. Rejoice in the Lord and his unchanging love for his people. Knowing that God does not change. We know this verse well. I the Lord do not change, therefore you are not consumed. Okay? That should cause rejoicing. Because that was a choice that God made to love us. and we should rejoice in the fact that he loves his children and he proved it by sending his son to be the propitiation for our sin, okay? Number two, live a holy, God-pleasing life. In all that you do, in every way that you can, live a life that is pleasing to God. Live a life of holiness. Will you falter and fail? their forgiveness? Of course. And not only that, their strength. Remember what Paul said in Philippians chapter 2? Philippians chapter 2 says, therefore my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now not only in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. And most of us stop right there and we go, uh-oh, I'm in trouble. I can't do all that. Correct. Verse 13, for it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. You do the work and he gives you the strength and empowers you to do what you need to do to live a life that's holy, to live a life that honors him. That's the beauty of God's love. Last observation. Don't be surprised that the world hates us. Don't be surprised. When you live a life that makes much of who God is, and the world hates God, don't be surprised that they're gonna hate you. That's exactly what Jesus was saying. We read the verse, right? Don't be surprised that they're gonna hate you because they hated me first. It's okay. In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, they're going to malign you. Just know it's coming. You will receive persecution, but know that all of this will pass away. And there will come a day when you are in the presence of God for all eternity, enjoying Him forever, and there's no one to despise you. No one could, and all those that did are receiving their just reward. Enjoy living for God. Know that you will have enemies, but know that He who made you is greater than he who is in the world. Amen. Let's pray. Father God, how thankful we are for this time that you've given us today. Thank you that you have allowed us to see the beauty of the love that you have for your children. Thank you that that love is based not on who we are and what we do, but it's based solely on who you are and the fact that you chose us and you before the foundations of the world, that we may honor you and glorify you and live a holy life to represent who you are. Father, thank you. Thank you that we can enjoy you. Thank you that you've changed our hearts You've changed our hearts from hearts that hated you to hearts that love you. And thank you that you have recreated us so that we may love you for all eternity and we may enjoy who you are. God, thank you that you have caused our hearts to be satisfied with nothing less than you and you alone. And I pray that as we continue into this time of worship, that our hearts would be fully engaged in enjoying you and worshiping you and praising you for the mighty, mighty works that you have done in us, not the least of which is saving us to yourself. May you receive all glory, honor, and praise. In the name of Jesus we pray, amen.