The Symphony of Gods Kindness

The title of our topic today is, The Symphony of God's Kindness. The Symphony of God's Kindness. Let's open our Bibles together and turn to Ephesians chapter 2. We're going to be reading verses 1-13. Ephesians 2 verses 1-13. The word in which we come to today is Christothes. Christothes translated kindness. I'll spell it for you if you'd like.

C-H-R-E-S-T-O-T-E-S. C-H-R-E-S-T-O-T-E-S. Christothes kindness. We know this as the fifth aspect of the fruit of the Spirit in our study series today. In a moment, we're going to see this word, Christothes, here in verse 7 of Ephesians 2. But our objective here is simple today. It is to throw ourselves into the depths of God's kindness. And to be reminded how He has lavished His kindness upon us, the riches of His grace, and His kindness toward us. We're going to read those words in just a moment. In God's kindness, it's absolutely wonderful.

It is beyond measure, we will see today. It is like a mighty ocean in which He opens the floodgates of His loving kindness. I don't know about you, but I know some of us here may need this reminder.

Perhaps over time, we have developed an inaccurate or less-than view of God's character in this way. Whether it be because of difficulties and trials that we've experienced, or difficulties in trials of our loved ones, we might have a difficult time fully understanding this part of God's character, His kindness, especially when we look at the cruelties around us in this world. So we're going to look to correct, perhaps even introduce a fresh, this beautiful grace of God's character today. So let's begin. Let's set our foundation here. Ephesians 2, beginning in verse 1. Listen to these words. The Apostle Paul writes, And you he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even while we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Jesus Christ. By grace you have been saved, and raised up together and made us to sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And here it is, verse 7, that in the ages to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His Christotus, His kindness toward us in Jesus Christ. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Therefore, remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ being aliens to the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope or without God in the world.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Let's stop there. Again, the word is Christotes. It's here in verse 7 again.

It is the word that's found in Galatians 5 verse 22, where the fruit of the Spirit is given to us.

And it is a rich word. Sometimes it's translated loving kindness. Often it's translated mercy. Love. Even translated loyalty or devotion. And I love this word. It's just the beautiful grace which pervades God's character. It is to pervade our character, the child of God.

And as you look at the essence of this word, this part of the fruit of the Spirit, you will find that it absolutely necessitates the quality of love. That quality that Mr. Cubic spoke about. Because Christotes is freely given by the individual. In other words, it's not done by obligation. It's not obligatory.

It's uninitiated. It is the free giving of kindness to another. And this word appears a few times in Scripture. But I chose this particular section here in Ephesians because of what comes forth in this particular letter of Paul. As he writes to the Ephesians here, the reader quickly realizes that this is essentially a letter which celebrates this beautiful quality of kindness in our Heavenly Father. In a close examination, you will find that particularly the first three chapters of this letter that make up this this letter to the Ephesians, particularly the first three chapters, you will find that Paul is almost just running away with himself as he extols the amazing kindness and love of God.

Commenting on the first half of this letter, one commentary wrote, quote, This letter is a symphony of salvation made possible through God's kindness and love toward us, unquote. So a symphony of salvation made possible through God's kindness and love toward us. And I like that description. And as this symphony plays here, I believe the crescendo occurs there in Ephesians 2 verse 7, where we have God's Christotus, his kindness declared, his kindness toward us in Jesus Christ.

And Paul is endeavoring to bring the Ephesians, God's people in Ephesus, to this awareness of God's kindness. It is a kindness that is extended back before time, before the hills stood in order, before God spoke the earth into existence. The everlasting kindness of God was set upon those to whom would be placed as his firstfruits, that he had chosen them since the foundation of the world. He's chosen you to sense the foundation of the world. This is the symphony of his kindness. Look how Paul begins this symphony and these words. Turn back to chapter 1 and verse 3 through 6 for just a moment.

Ephesians 1, let's read verses 3 through 6. Listen to this beautiful music, the beautiful music of these words here. Ephesians 1 verse 3, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before him in love, having predestined us to the adoptions as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the beloved.

Let's stop there. So you just feel this music here, the impact of it. And this is the chorus line which runs through the first three chapters of this letter. Again, turn back to chapter 2. I just want to read this to you again. Chapter 2 verses 4 through 7. This is the chorus line of God's kindness. Chapter 2 beginning in verse 4, But God, who's rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you've been saved, raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his Christotes toward us in Jesus Christ.

Beautiful music! I told you Paul's just running away with himself. He just can't help himself in the first part of this letter here. And he's just expounding God's grace to us. And you see this reoccurring line in Christ Jesus, in Christ, in Jesus Christ. So this is the powerful Christotes from our Almighty God. And just as Paul demonstrates, one thing we must understand is that the whole of the gospel begins and ends with this one particular virtue of God's character, this one particular part of the fruit of the Spirit.

Everything starts and ends with this one aspect of God. This quality, this virtue provides the reason, the motivation as to why we're living out the gospel. It's our reason and motivation for proclaiming the gospel.

You know, people view us and they say, oh, they're legalists, they're obeying the law. No, we're responding to love. If anyone accuses you of being a legalist, following the law, no, I'll just say, I received great kindness and love through our Father, through His Son, Jesus Christ. So I'm looking into the Bible and I'm trying to find out how He would like me to love Him back. And the law and all that we do, the reason we're here on a Saturday, we're just responding to love. God set forth relationship guidelines. He says, I've loved you since the beginning of the world. And I'm going to give you instructions on how you can properly love me back. So everything begins and ends with God's kindness. The awareness of God's kindness is what fundamentally changes us to go live and do all that we must live and do. Paul understood this. It's why he structured this letter the way he did, because you'll notice before Paul ever begins to urge the Ephesians to do certain things. He first takes essentially three chapters to ensure that they know what God has done for them. All right? There's plenty of to-do's in the letter of Ephesians. You'll notice. But before he gets to any of those things, he spends the first three chapters expounding God's kindness in this letter. In fact, you'll find that the first three chapters of this letter, the verbs are almost entirely in the indicative. Okay? The verbs in the first three letters of this chapter are almost entirely in the indicative. The indicative mood. We're going to go back to class for a moment. I should have warned you. I'm sorry. Anyone know what the indicative mood is? The verb, the indicative mood verb, is one that makes a statement. It states a fact.

So in other words, the first three chapters are dedicated to statements of fact. Statements of fact concerning God's kindness toward us in Jesus Christ. Okay? And then, and only then, does he move to the imperatives.

The imperative mood. Class. The imperatives are the commands, the orders, the actions, or the reactions to what the facts should produce. So you have these beautiful indicatives in the first half of the letter, and then the imperatives naturally follow.

And they almost immediately follow the indicatives of the first three chapters. This is the structure of the symphony here. So Paul gives us the indicatives first, the statements of fact, and then, and then, and only then, does he move into the imperatives, the actions, the reactions required as you're responding to these beautiful facts. That's why chapter four, if you'll just notice for a moment, chapter four verse one, you'll notice chapter four verse one begins and says immediately, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you. Okay? And he goes on in the second half of the letter with all these imperatives, all right? The commands. That which the indicatives, the facts, now that they've been laid out, here's the imperatives, okay? So he says, therefore I beseech you. Beseech you on what? Well, I beseech you on the beautiful indicatives that I've just laid out to you in the first part of the half of the letter here. So in other words, Paul has taken three chapters to raise up, celebrate God's kindness, his Christotess, three chapters to get to the crescendo statement in chapter two verse seven. Chapter two verse seven, this is the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us in Jesus Christ. These are the facts of his kindness. And then and only then does he say chapter four verse one, therefore I beseech you. So very important regarding how the symphony of the gospel is structured. It's always indicatives first and then imperatives. Over the years, we try to do our best but the church hasn't always gotten this balance exactly right. We're human. I can remember growing up in the church and there was a lot of imperatives, a lot of to-dos, which is important, but it's important in how the structure of the symphony is. Why is it always indicatives first and then imperatives? Well, the main reason is if we don't allow ourselves or if we don't allow people to understand God's kindness and what it's actually done, then the imperatives, the to-dos, may not connect. They may not connect.

Again, our doing is simply responding, you see. That's why we that's so you have to start with what we're responding to first before getting to the to-dos. The to-dos are very important.

So here in this passage that we've come to in chapter 2, we see Paul is laying out some of the facts. He's done this in the first half of God's kindness. Now, in the time we have left, I just want to outline or bring forth what are some of the beautiful indicatives, the wonderful statements of fact in which Paul gives us regarding God's kindness. That will set us up for the next fruit of the spirit, which is the fruit of goodness. Often, that's been described as the fruit of doing or the fruit of righteousness in action. We want to start, though, and it's beautiful the way this has been structured. We want to start with first this beautiful fact of God's kindness toward us here. So, I want to give you three facts which come as a result of God's kindness toward us. Three beautiful indicatives here today as we think about this part of God's virtue, kindness. They're fairly straightforward, but they mean everything to us.

Number one fact of God's kindness toward us, number one indicative, is His kindness makes us alive with Christ. Okay? Again, number one fact of God's kindness, His kindness, number one, makes us alive with Christ. It's a beautiful and wonderful indicative to address here. And we see that Paul begins to lay out this beautiful indicative first by addressing the condition of men and women without it. You might ask, where were we without the kindness of God? Well, he tells us here, chapter 2 verses 1 through 3 here again. Where were we without it? Chapter 2 verses 1 through 3. And you, he made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, Satan the devil, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom we also conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. So let's stop there for a moment. So in addressing God's kindness, he first begins with the nature of our depravity without it. You see, our condition outside of his kindness is far worse than man or woman is prepared to admit.

We were dead. Dead in our trespasses and sin. And it's not that man is not capable of good. They are. But it means that no part of our human nature, our mind, our emotions, our conscience, our will, no part of it remained untainted by the consequences of rebellion. None of us, and none were alive, none were truly alive without God's kindness toward us in Jesus Christ. Very clear. Paul says, outside of Christ, we are dead men, dead women. You were dead.

Like Adam and Eve, we've all taken of that which was forbidden by God and we're trespassers. We failed to live up to his standards. We failed in our relationship guidelines. We were sinners.

So, prior to God's kindness extended to us personally, it's a personal invitation, all that time that we were physically alive, active in family and friendship and commerce, active in sports, academics. While we participated in those things physically, and we're physically alive, we were spiritually dead. So, this is one of the facts. Without God's kindness toward us in Jesus Christ, you and I were dead. Okay? That's indicative. We must acknowledge that. You've got to acknowledge that or else you lose sight of the power and the grandeur and the beauty of God's kindness. The power of God's kindness is that it is able to make something that is corrupt and dead into something that's glorious and alive. So, his kindness makes us alive with Christ. So, Paul begins chapter 2 in this way. He reaches back and he reminds them, you should remember, he says, you were dead. He starts there because he's about to now contrast that indicative with a wonderful indicative here, the immeasurable greatness of God's kindness. That follows now verse 4 through 6. Look at this, verses 4 through 6.

But God, who is rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us, even though we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So, we'll stop there. So, out of his kindness, we have been raised out of spiritual death. The resurrection power turns death into life. It is a power, the resurrection power is generated from this virtue of kindness. It raises us up from the dust of death. So, just as God the Father picked up the lifeless Son who gave his life for us at his crucifixion and breathed life into him once again, that same breath then has breathed his breathed life into us out of his pure kindness. And he raises us up. And he not only raises us up, he raises us up today in one aspect. He will one day raise us up after his son's return. And not only raise us up, but he's going to raise us up to sit together in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ.

So, just let those words just rest upon you for a moment. You see, part of our problem in understanding this particular virtue of God, kindness, I think is simply our familiarity with it. So, what Paul is doing is he's reminding the Ephesians of these statements of fact regarding God's kindness. He starts off with this dire divine diagnosis. It's grave. It's comprehensive. And it's even a work of God's kindness for us to acknowledge this condition that we were in. It's out of God's kindness that he has reached down and opened our eyes. We're not any better. We've just been chosen at this time to receive his calling. So, that's even an act of kindness to have our eyes open to this acknowledgement of who we were.

And our eyes open to this divine, dire diagnosis becomes a reality to us.

And we start with these facts, even in our proclaiming of God's kindness to the watching world. We do exactly as Paul does. We need to be prepared to tell seemingly well-heeled people that they're dead.

Your problem, ma'am, ultimately is that you're dead. Your problem, sir, is that you're a dead man walking. And it's only by God's kindness that I, that you, this quality of God's kindness, only by it, is the remedy available for life through Jesus Christ.

And so, as uncomfortable as it was for us to hear about our own personal condition, as uncomfortable it is for us to proclaim these things, this divine, dire diagnosis covers humanity.

There are no exceptions. There's only one possible way of escape, only made possible by God's kindness toward us in Jesus Christ.

So, a beautiful result of God's kindness, a beautiful result of this fact, is that we're made alive in Jesus Christ. So that's number one. Number two fact, which comes as a result of God's kindness toward us. Number two fact indicative to consider is God's kindness makes him known to us. Okay?

So that's the number two. His kindness makes himself known to us. Because if you think about it, this is a beautiful indicative. How could a man or woman know God? You know, if we say, how do you know God? Who He is? His nature, His being. Well, one of the primary effects that come as a result of God's kindness is that the fact that He has brought near to us through Jesus Christ. Paul explains this here in chapter two. Look at verses 11 through 13 again. Ephesians 2 verses 11 through 13. Therefore, remember Paul says that you once Gentiles in the flesh who were called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands. Here's the point. Verse 12. That at one time you were without Christ, being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers outside of that from the covenants of the promise, all the promises that God made, you were without hope, without God in the world. But now in Christ, you who are once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

So this is a beautiful indicative here. Out of God's kindness, He's made Himself known to us.

Because God in His essence, His existence, in His being, is beyond our natural experience, we could say. It's beyond our natural speculative logic.

Not all society believes this. We know it's only out of God's kindness that He makes Himself known to us. But society, if you do a quick Google search, you'll realize not all society believes this because there's actually a big portion that believe that God can be known by looking inside yourself. Perhaps you've heard that term. Here's the contemporary view. God is included in nature and is part of nature. And we, being part of nature also, we can then therefore look inside of ourselves and somehow or another meet Him. Well, not so, the Bible says.

It's not simply an investigative matter. We don't come to God on our own terms.

For example, it's not enough just to be intelligent enough. It's not enough just to be logical enough. And then at some point you'll meet God. No. There is no mere intellectual road to God.

Okay? Don't misunderstand me. We don't check our brain at the door. This is our study here. It's very intellectual. It's very classroom-like. Scriptures replete with instructions on consider. Think about. Put your emotions to the side. We need to get here and think about what you know about God. So when I say there's no intellectual road to the knowledge of God, it's not check your brain at the door. It just simply means that whether you're an intellectual or like me, a non-intellectual, we're going to meet God in the exact same way.

Because it's not mere investigation or speculation. We will know God only by revelation. Okay? Revelation. We will only know God by His kindness in revealing Himself to you and I. Okay? Only by His kindness will He disclose Himself to you. That's why we can, at a certain point in our lives, we're reading the same scriptures and there is nothing. There's no transformation happening. But then one day, all of a sudden, God's Word begins to speak to us in a different way. I know I've experienced that. And that's the process of Him revealing Himself to you.

And He's made Himself known through His Word written, the Bible. He's made Himself known through His Word living, His Son, Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, anyone who's going to come to the knowledge of God, it will come, the knowledge of a saving knowledge of God, will come only in His kindness as He calls out to you, opens your mind to discover Him through His Son and through His Word by the power of the Holy Spirit. There is an invisible boundary between us and God. We cannot access Him on our own terms. Only in His kindness does He cross that boundary to us. There is no knowledge of Him only except through God's kindness extended to us, through the riches of His grace in His Son, Jesus Christ.

That's a beautiful fact that comes just from His mere kindness. That's number two. Number two moves us to number three. Number three, in our final fact to consider today, a beautiful number third indicative today of God's kindness. Number three fact that comes as a result of God's kindness toward us. Number three, His kindness grounds us in His love. That's number three. His kindness grounds us in His love. And it is a love for the ages.

And of course, this beautiful indicative, this beautiful fact, it comes to us all throughout the first half of this letter. You'll see it here in chapter 2 verse 4. Chapter 2 verse 4, but God, who's rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us.

You'll find this beautiful third indicative in chapter 1 in verse 4. Look at this. Chapter 1 verse 4. Again, this is the indicative that Paul is just running away with himself. Chapter 1 verse 4, just as he chose us in Him, in Christ, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before Him in love. That's God's will for you. That you would, this life would culminate where you would be holy and without blame before Him in love. This particular aspect, it just knocks Paul off of his feet and onto his knees. Look at chapter 3 verse 14 through 19 for just a moment. This beautiful indicative just really overwhelmed Paul in many ways. It's really probably the reason why he wrote this beautiful symphony, this first half of this letter. Chapter 3 verses 14 through 19.

Look at this. Paul writes. Listen to these words. Chapter 3 beginning in verse 14. For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with the fullness of God. Let's stop there. Ah, you know, I wonder if you know this, that this is God's hope, this is His will for you, and His desires that you would be filled with the fullness of God. Verse 19 again, to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Have you ever known that kind of love where it passes knowledge? I don't even know if I can put it into words. Perhaps it's your love, your wonderful spouse, your lovely spouse, perhaps it's a child, where the only way you can describe it is you just love them, and you love them, and it's a love that passes knowledge. You just love them with your whole essence, everything else. You just love them. That's what Paul is speaking about. This is how much God loves you, and He wants you to be filled with the fullness of it, He says.

And the love of the Father for us, it's the same love that He had for His Son, His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. The love of the Father for the Son that He had from all of eternity, a love that's beyond our comprehension, it's the same love that He wants filled in you.

We won't turn there, but that's the staggering statement that Jesus Christ makes while He's praying in John 17. Again, we won't take the time to turn there, but He's praying to the Father, and He's for those of those to whom the Father had given Him. He's praying for those that God had given Him. Eventually, for all those one day, a beautiful plan of God, all one day will have their opportunity. He prays that, quote, that they may be one, even as He and the Father are one. He goes on to say that the world may know that you have sent Me and have loved them as you have loved Me. Christ says. That's John 1723.

So this is God's Christotus. The motivation of God is that you would know the same love that He has for His Son, that you would know that love and be filled with it. The fullness of it. So you can almost see why Paul just runs away with himself here. Paul has a way of writing, you'll notice in the original, where it's just this run-on sentence. He can't bring himself to finish the sentence. He just has to say more about it and more about it before he puts the period on. I don't know if they had periods back then, but you know what I mean. He just can't stop himself. This is the extent of it, the vastness of it, the incomprehensible nature of it, the imperative of all imperatives. I think some of us this afternoon, perhaps if you're not feeling loved, life breaks down that way sometimes. Well, I want you to know that you in Christ are loved with an everlasting love. As Ephesians 2 and 7 says, it's a love of the ages. It's a love for the ages there. So these are the indicatives of God's kindness. The facts.

When we look upon a crucifixion, as hard as that is, we see that that was out of the kindness of the Father and of the Son. That's the Christotus, the essence of their character, the uninitiated, while you were still sinners, it says. The free giving of kindness, freely given to you, costly to the Father and the Son, you see.

That they would take up all that we should bear, the penalty of our rebellion, and place it on the Son. That penalty, so that we can have the opportunity of life. And that's what fundamentally changes us. That fact.

So from God's kindness, we are made alive from death. From God's kindness, we are brought near and can know the Father and have a relationship with Him through the Son. And from God's kindness, we are firmly grounded in His love. And so the reader of this letter, after reading the first half of this letter, again, this is what would fundamentally change the individual, and it changed them to the core.

And then, and only then, does Paul say, I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, beseech you.

These are the indicatives. This is what brings us with bent knee to say, Father, change me.

I want to honor this kindness in you. I want to do better. I want to show this kindness. I want to reflect it in me to you. It fundamentally changes us.

You see, when the indicatives, the facts of God's kindness, gets a hold of a man or woman, we realize how generous it is and how costly as well. And that is what will make the biggest impact in our lives to be reminded of that. And it's what will make the biggest impact in the lives of those that we proclaim this to. And it's no wonder that Paul conducts this symphony in the way he does and why he bows his knee to this virtue of God. If you remember, he was an arch enemy of Christ. He was committed to the destruction of all followers of Jesus Christ. And then, listen to him here. Now, he says, where he speaks of God's kindness to us, through whom?

Through Jesus Christ, the one he used to persecute. How does that happen?

How does someone fundamentally change like that?

Well, it's what happens when this grace of the Spirit gets a hold of an individual. And Paul was ready. After this script, he said, we are to be ready like Paul then to take this and to be purveyors of it, to carry it, to proclaim God's kindness to the end of the age.

And so, when you read Ephesians 2.7, going back to Ephesians 2.7, you realize that when you read this, that it is through those to whom God has bestowed his kindness onto first, those individuals to whom he has shown the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness. It is through those men and women that he is now showing his kindness to the ages to come. Ephesians 2.7, he raised us up so that in the ages to come, he might show the riches of his grace and kindness through us. So, through us, his kindness is shown, is to be shown in the ages to come. So, hearkening back to Mr. Kubik's letter, you know, we're as we move with each other and as we have these conflicts and things, this is at the root of why, at the end of the day, we love each other. We love each other because we're extending and showing and displaying God's kindness.

So, you see, perhaps more than any other grace of God, perhaps it's God's kindness which will make the biggest impact on our world today. It brings us to a sacrifice, it brings us to a son, it brings us to the exceeding riches of his grace, and it just means everything to us.

And perhaps the reason some of us today are not fully in Christ is on the account of the fact that we've never come to this part of God's character, his kindness and love toward us. So, if you're having trouble being struck over by Paul and I, Ebb and Flow, and I have this trouble sometimes too, a good exercise is just to go back and I encourage you to go back in this letter and just go back to Paul's words and see that God's kindness is extravagant, it's vast, it's like a mighty ocean where the floodgates are opened up and it poured upon us.

Well, let's conclude today. We didn't get to any of the imperatives, did we? Any of the to-do's, a portion of that will come in the next fruit of the Spirit. But for your homework, you can continue reading if you'd like. But always begin with the indicatives and that will open our hearts to the imperatives. And if you're encouraged today, if you're overwhelmed, if you're depressed, feeling low, maybe cast yourself into the deep end of these first three chapters. Just throw yourself in. When you do, we couldn't even get to all of it, when you throw yourself into the beautiful indicatives of Paul here in this first half of his letter, you will see that God is a God who elects, adopts, redeems, cherishes, provides. He never quits. Never quits. So bow your knees to God tonight and be filled with the symphony of His kindness.