Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

It’s easy to miss what’s going on here. Something happened to Jesus in this world of dust and swiftly passing time. God the Father raised the crucified and buried Jesus to new life. Jesus got up from the dead. Now that historical event that happened to that one particular man still has power to change what you feel in your heart, mind and soul, right now. Today. Jesus rose. The same guy, but made new. Risen Jesus was a new creation, a man no longer mortal. Still a man but outfitted for everlasting life. When someone opens their heart to this news, he or she gets made new on the inside. We become a new creation. It’s like getting born all over again, but into a higher, fuller life.

When the church is truly living out of our identity in Christ, we know that we are not really home here. We are fish out of water when our neighbors think the real meaning of life is actually accumulating the most wealth. We do not repudiate material things, we simply hold them but lightly. These are means, not ends; gifts not possessions. We weep when we have losses of property and houses but we never say, “I have lost everything” for everything to us is Christ and he cannot be lost. We speak the common language in the marketplace, yet we know that the language of our homeland--the words of worship, the story of God’s redemption, the precious Scriptures—may well sound like gibberish to our neighbors. We may well live in the same home for decades but we never feel truly home there, for this world is but a stop on the way to the heavenly country. We know there is a higher way than revenge, a more excellent path than the constant jockeying for respect found in the world. We live under the law of love.

A pilgrim on the journey to God sings out, “I lift up my eyes to the hills? From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” That word for “help” is a beautiful Hebrew word, ezer. It was first used by the LORD when he saw that it was not good for the man to be alone. I will make an ezer for him. Not a maid. Not a trophy. Not a project manager. An ezer. One called alongside to do for us what we could not do alone. A complement. A completer. One who is other than we are. Who has something we don’t have.

We are on a journey. The long, long journey of life. The journey to God, our true home. The journey of his mission for us in the world, our true purpose. We will not make it if we look only unto ourselves. Psalm 121 calls us to lift up our eyes. To own the truth that sets us free, “My help comes from the LORD.” Then, only then, can we journey in the depths of joy and peace and hope: The LORD will keep your going and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.”

What’s your story? Can you remember a time when the Spirit woke you up to the truth of Jesus Christ? Even if you were a Christian all your life, normally there are experiences of coming to a new level of faith, of surrender, of need and fulfillment.
Can you recall any of those times?

If not, you may have a momentous decision to make. Is the Spirit calling you to faith in Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord? As the one who rescues you from emptiness, guilt, brokenness, fear of death and loneliness. As the one who calls you to submit to his benevolent kingship? It is never too late to say, “Lord I am yours. I accept my need for a savior and you Jesus are the one. I give my will, my mind and my affections to you. Make me the person you created me to be, for your glory.”

We see a picture of the Lord's delight in us in the story of Zacchaeus, when Jesus called out to him (a tax collector!) and wanted to go spend time with him, and was delighted to do so. And we see such rejoice in Zaccheaus' response, whereas not long before this he likely was rejoicing his wealth and riches, now none of that matters, he rejoices in Jesus.

We are called (instructed!) to rejoice in the Lord, but often feelings of unworthiness and doubt that God really loves us prevents us from doing so. We know he loves us, and yet, we can't help but feel like he's shaking his head in disappointment, thinking, "Can you believe she did that again?" And yet Scripture tells us a different story. In Zephaniah 3: 13-17 we see that "on that day" (on Judgment Day), God says he will be rejoicing over us with gladness, and exult over you with loud singing! And so take heart, sisters, that if the Lord rejoices over you on THAT day, he is rejoicing over you on THIS day.

Why does God rejoice over us? He rejoices over HIS work of redemption in our lives! So instead of believing God is thinking, "Can you believe she did that again?" we can trust that he's rejoicing, "Look at how my love is transforming my beloved daughter." We can trust that because Jesus not only took the punishment for our sins to the cross, he also took God's disappointment and displeasure over us too. So all that has been redeemed.

How does God show us that he loves us? By giving us HIMSELF. And what we need more than anything else is HIM.

In love, you are chosen:

If you’ve come to Jesus, you can know for sure that you were chosen. You weren’t chosen because you came; you came because you were chosen. If you believe, you know for sure you were chosen. You weren’t chosen because you believed; you believed because you were chosen.

God, in his mercy and LOVE, chose you . . . not because of anything in YOU, you were dead in your sins, and still, he chose you, he woke you up into new life in Christ. And the REASON he did that, was because of the great love with which he loved you.

His divine love was (and still is) the deepest and ultimate basis of his choosing people to belong to him. His loving you is rooting in his choosing you. His choosing you is rooted in his loving you. “This truth should fill you with both a sense of utter unworthiness and utter amazement that God took delight in making you his own. . . that in love, God overcame the rebellion in your heart of stone and transformed it into a heart of faith.” John Piper

God has called us OUT of the darkness of the world into the marvelous light, he sets us apart, claims us as his people, and gives us a new identity in him (his chosen people, his royal priesthood, his holy nation), and he does all this out of the great love with which he loved us (1 Peter 2: 9-10).

In love, you receive unimaginable blessings (Ephesians 1: 3-14):

You are adopted into his family (you are his daughter, and he is your Father), you are an heir of the Kingdom, where there is an imperishable inheritance kept in heaven for you, you are redeemed and fully forgiven, bought with the precious blood of Christ, and you are sealed with the Holy Spirit, secure in his eternal love.

God cannot stop loving you. Once he decided to set his redeeming, electing love on you, nothing can separate you from it. If you belong to Christ today, you belong to him forever.

In love, you are pursued:

Even though you are chosen, you belong, and you are secure in his love, God continues to pursue you, and delights to pursue you. God's pursuit of us is perhaps one of the most powerful confirmations of his love for us.

You were chosen to enter into relationship with God in order to glorify him, praise him, follow him, make him known . . . and also to be sanctified, made holy in the conformity of Christ. You were certainly not called because you’re holy, you were called in order to become holy, to be transformed from one degree of glory to another.

"The entire Bible is a story of God pursuing us. From the very beginning of the Bible to today, God has been pursuing relationship with us because of his love for us.” Tim Keller

The parables in Luke 15 are beautiful pictures of God’s pursuing, welcoming love for us.

Who am I that the highest King would welcome me? I am a child of God, a daughter of the one true King, chosen, treasured, pursued . . bought by the precious blood of Christ. I am his, and he is mine. Forever.

Two greatest killers of prayer: Comfort and Complacency. We can imagine how it feels when a friend doesn't have time for you. Now imagine how we hurt God when we don't have time for him. No wifi connection or signal needed.

“To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God.” Tim Keller

We are skilled at hiding ourselves from people, but we can’t hide from God… which is both unsettling and comforting at the same time. We approach Psalm 139 much like David probably did . . . with a bit of hesitation, feeling overwhelmed (maybe even a bit unnerved) about being so fully exposed and known by God . . . but also comforted . . . to be that fully known and truly loved . . . until we ultimately surrender in trust to God’s all-knowing love for us.

It's not that human love/interaction isn’t important . . . it is . . . but when we experience God’s all-knowing love for us, it fuels every other relationship we have.

How does God know you? One, he knit you together in your mother’s womb. His creating you wasn’t a robotic, unemotional act. He was lovingly, intentionally knitting your every molecule and every cell together in love. Two, he governs your entire life, from cradle to grave. God’s providence is interwoven in all your experiences, both the blessings and the blows. They mold you and shape you. Nothing has happened to you outside of God’s power or providence. His hand has been, is, and will ALWAYS be upon you. You are all intensely, intimately known by God. No one has had your exact creation or forming experiences.

Matthew 10: 29-31: What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”

If you want to know more about yourself, lean into and pray over God’s Holy Word! Hebrews 4: 12-13: For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.

The “Circle of Knowing” is so powerful. Take the woman at the well from John 4 as an example. She “happened” upon Jesus and immediately experienced being utterly known, accepted, and loved by him, so much so that she had to run and tell others so that they too were drawn to being known by him. The more you are open to God’s all-knowing love, the more you know God himself, the more you are moved to share about his love, the more others want to know him and be known by him . . . it’s the “Circle of Knowing!”

We apologize for this week's poor audio quality.

Takeaways from Week One:
Creation is the result of the overflow of the love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit within the Godhead. Their love can’t be contained; it had to be poured out, and we are the result!
We see God’s love and passion for us in the creation account. Even as early as Genesis 1: 2, God’s parental love for us is seen, where the Holy Spirit is hovering over the waters . . . the Hebrew verb for hovering is a picture of a mother bird flitting over her nest, protecting them. This love for us was present at the very beginning.
We also see his love in God's creation of man. We are the pinnacle of his creation, as his image-bearers; we are his crowning creation, reflections of him on Earth. Everything that came before man and woman was for our enjoyment, purpose and provision.
Adam and Eve saw a new aspect of God’s love for them after The Fall. They felt ashamed, unworthy, unlovable after they sinned, so much so that they hid from God. But God sought after them, called for them, so they would now know the depths he would go to redeem them, to correct the wrong. They experienced his unconditional, sacrificial, undeserved acceptance of them.
Like Adam and Eve, we often feel unlovable and unworthy of God’s love. We want to be close to him, but we feel we have to hide from him. But he seeks us and calls us out and redeems us. God loves us intensely all the time, even when we sin. God’s love is unconditional!
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus’ sacrificial death is called “the Passion story?” Romans 5: 8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in that the Christ died on our behalf while we were still sinners.” His love/passion for us was poured out on the cross!
We also see God’s heart for us in Song of Songs, which is love poetry that depicts the beauty of marital love. The oneness, intimacy, and love between a husband and wife is one way that God's passion for us is reflected. And yet, the love we experience here on Earth (whether it's parental, marital, friendly affection, or brotherly love), is, but a shadow of the all-consuming, indestructible, everlasting love God has for us.
God sees us and declares, “You are altogether beautiful, my love. There is no flaw in you . . . You have captivated my heart . . . ” This is his passion for you. It's very overwhelming, almost too hard to believe, but believe that he sees you this way! I pray that you truly believe that God loves you this much . . . that he is passionate about you and desires you! You are worthy of his All-Consuming Love!