Have You Considered That God Loved You Before Time?

Remember, that God loved you from before the foundation of the world..It makes the tears run down one's cheeks to think that we should have an interest in that decree and council of the Almighty Three, when every one that should be blood-bought had its name inscribed in God's eternal book. .. He thought of you before you had a being. When as yet the sun and the moon were not,—when the sun, the moon, and the stars slept in the mind of God, like unborn forests in an acorn cup, when the old sea was not yet born, long ere this infant world lay in its swaddling bands of mist, then God had inscribed your name upon the heart and upon the hands of Christ indelibly, to remain forever. And does not this make thee love God?

Charles Spurgeon, Love, A Sermon (No. 229) Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 19th, 1858, at the Music Hall, Royal Surrey Gardens.

Glory in Our Midst

I'm enjoying preparing for our Advent Series: "Glory in Our Midst." We will be taking the next four Sundays to examine the truth that Jesus is God's glory in our midst. First we will look at verses 1-3 and learn that He is "Divine Glory in Our Midst." Then, we will look at verses 4-9 and see that He is "The Light of Glory in Our Midst." For December 11th we will look at verses 10-13 and see that we are called to "Receive the Glory in Our Midst." And, finally, on December 18th, we will ponder that we are, "Transformed by the Glory in Our Midst."
There are so many wonderful things in this short section. Perhaps we have read through this too often and missed its riches. One scholar believes it is a beautiful poetic structure called a "Chiasm." Whether or not the Apostle John intended this isn't clear but we can certainly see the beauty of the structure of this passage in this Chiasm. Check out this diagram of the chiastic structure:

 

Looking forward to learning together from this fantastic section of God's word!