Well, we often call this time of year the season of giving, right?
In fact, between your family gatherings, corporate parties, school gift exchanges,
charitable contributions, chances are you give more to other people this time of year
in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas than probably the rest of the year combined.
That's not because you don't care about people the rest of the year.
It's just this is the season of giving, right?
There's all kinds of things that we do, all kinds of gifts that we buy.
But we all know that the quantity of gifts we give doesn't necessarily reflect a genuinely giving heart, right?
Let's be honest for just a moment, okay?
Some of us have some gifts under the tree that if it weren't for a particular obligation, wouldn't be there, right?
There's a difference between going out and really thinking hard, as I know all of you men have done,
and putting all of this time and effort into purchasing something for your wife that would express the tremendous love that you have for her.
I know all of you have done that.
You haven't waited until now.
You've got it done.
It's under the tree, right?
There's a difference between doing that and going out and purchasing a gift for that distant relative,
maybe a third cousin that just happens to be showing up to the family gathering this year.
You know what I mean?
If it wasn't for the fact that they're showing up this year, they show up once a decade,
and if it wasn't for the fact that they're showing up, you wouldn't have bought them a gift.
But because they're there, you can't not get them something.
And so you've gone out, and your wife has sent you out, and you've picked up something for that distant relative.
There's a difference in the giving between those two things, right?
One is really a gift of obligation, and the other one is really a gift of love.
It's one thing to go to the store and really, as Julie and I have done for our girls,
to really think through gifts that would express our love for our daughters.
It's a different thing, right, Joseph, to be sent out, to have to get a gift for that boy
that she just insists on bringing to Christmas dinner this year, right?
There's a difference in giving in those two scenarios, isn't there?
And as we really think about the giving season, we think about gifts,
of course, we do those things ultimately because we do care in some way.
Otherwise, we wouldn't do it.
Generally, we wouldn't do it.
But there's a difference in the way that we give sometimes.
We all do quite a bit of giving at this Christmas season.
But the true spirit of giving is not founded on an obligation.
It's founded on love, right?
This little verse here in John chapter 3 concisely reveals to us God's perfect gift
given to humanity as a result of his supreme love.
Remember, God's under no obligation to us.
There is nothing about us that requires or pushes God to do anything for us.
There's no obligation that would drive him to give us a gift.
But because of his immeasurable love, he is actually giving us everything in his only son, Jesus Christ.
And without a doubt, John 3.16 is the most famous verse in all of the Bible.
But there is a danger that accompanies our familiarity with it.
Though we all know it, and most of us could quote it even from heart, as many of you probably did just a moment ago,
we may find that our hearts are somewhat dull to the magnitude of the truth conveyed in this little verse.
So what my goal is this morning, and what I think should be our goal in this season of giving,
is to think about what is the greatest gift that was actually ever given.
A gift not given out of an obligation to man, but out of God's divine and supreme love for man.
And so my purpose this morning is really not to do an exposition of John chapter 3 as much as I want to do that.
But we don't have time for that.
But it will be helpful for us to understand just a little bit of background as to why this verse exists,
why it is that Jesus has said this, or at least John has made the commentary on what was taking place with Jesus here in chapter 3.
John wrote at the end of chapter 2 that at this point in Jesus' life and ministry, he had been in Jerusalem.
And while he was there, we see first the righteous anger of the Lord as he turns over tables and he drives out the money changers out of the temple there.
But then immediately following that, at the very end of the chapter,
John says that Jesus had done a few signs and wonders and miracles, miraculous things in Jerusalem,
so that many people had begun to believe in his name, is what John says.
But the problem was, as John goes on to say, and what Jesus understood to be true,
is that though they were excited about Jesus, they were intrigued by him, they were interested in him,
none of them, or at least most of them, weren't actually committed to Jesus in faith.
And so Jesus, John says, doesn't commit himself fully to those people because he knew what was true of their hearts.
And what was in their hearts was really just some type of intrigue about the things that Jesus was doing.
It wasn't that at this point, most of them were not committed to Jesus in faith and who he was and what he was doing.
One such person was one of the leaders of the Jews, a prominent teacher of the Jews named Nicodemus.
And as we get into chapter three, we find that Nicodemus, in the secrecy of the night,
goes and finds Jesus in order to find out as much about him as he can.
He wants to try to figure out exactly who Jesus is and what really is the purpose in him coming.
In fact, at the end of the day, it's not very often that someone comes to town healing sick people with his touch,
opening blinded eyes with his words.
It's not very often that someone comes to town teaching with an unparalleled authority.
In fact, it's only happened once in history.
And Jesus was the one who did it.
And he comes to town and Nicodemus can't get this guy off his mind.
He's not exactly sure who he is.
He says, Jesus, we know that you must be at least from God
because only someone from God could do the things that you're doing and could teach in the way that you're teaching.
And he's inquisitive.
He's trying to figure out who is Jesus and why did he come?
And in the course of that conversation, Jesus reveals to Nicodemus
that all of his efforts in morality and religion were insufficient
to actually grant him entry into the kingdom of God.
He couldn't gain eternal life through all of the things he was doing.
He had committed his entire life at this point to religious works, good works,
all the things he could possibly amass in order to please God.
And in the course of this conversation, Jesus basically blows all of those efforts up.
And he says, none of that is actually good enough.
For a person to find entry into the kingdom of God, Jesus said,
he must experience a spiritual rebirth.
Verse seven, Jesus plainly says, you must be born again.
And of course, Nicodemus was hardened to this statement.
He was confused by the statement.
And so he asked for clarity.
A few verses later, he says, how can these things be?
And what results from that question eventually gets to verse 16,
which is this wonderfully simple explanation of the gospel.
And in summary, this was Jesus's response.
Eternal salvation, eternal life, the kingdom of God, forgiveness of sins
is only found through faith in Jesus.
And it's a gift issued from the immeasurable, indescribable love of God.
So then as we think about this verse in relation to Christmas,
we find out that John 3.16 actually tells us why anyone should care about the birth of Jesus.
Have you thought about that?
There's not many births that we celebrate in this life, is there?
We celebrate one another.
We rejoice and we each have a designated day.
How many people outside of your family, your friend, your circle of network,
do you ever celebrate their birth?
No one.
Why is it that we should care about Jesus's birth?
Well, John 3.16 tells us why.
It contains the true meaning and purpose of Christmas
and why Christians are so committed to celebrating it.
So in our study this morning, we're going to look at this verse just quickly.
And I wanted to show you three things.
I want to show you what is God's perfect gift,
what motivated him to give it,
and how you can receive it.
God's perfect gift,
what motivated him to give it,
and how you can receive it.
If you like to keep notes, maybe you write this down.
This is how I have my notes structured today.
The first thing I wrote down was the gift of God.
The gift of God.
And I want you to go back to verse 16,
except we're going to come back to the first phrase in just a minute.
I want you to look at that middle phrase.
John writes that he gave his only son.
He gave his only son.
So the perfect gift of God
didn't come in a fancy box with a decorative bow.
As we just read a moment ago,
it was wrapped in swaddling clothes
and lying in a manger in Bethlehem.
Because the greatest gift that's ever been given to the world
and in the world was not a thing,
it was a person.
God himself wrapped in human flesh.
This is why Isaiah said in Isaiah 7, 14
that Harper read a few moments ago
or quoted a few moments ago,
this is why the angel said he will be called Emmanuel,
which means God is with us.
God himself has become a man.
God is with us.
Therefore, he will have this title of Emmanuel.
Christmas isn't about the birth of a man
who came into existence 2,000 years ago in Palestine.
That's not what Christmas is about.
Christmas is about the incarnation of the one true God
who has always existed and who has always been.
The creator of the universe entered his creation
and subjected himself to the weakness and frailty
of fallen man.
This is what the whole Bible's about.
Philippians chapter 2 says it.
Paul describes it this way
and maybe one of the most comprehensive looks
at the deity and incarnation of Jesus.
This is what Paul wrote.
Though he was in the form of God,
form there meaning in his very essence,
that's who he was,
the unchangeable quality of who Jesus is.
Though he was in the form of God,
Jesus did not count equality with God
a thing to be grasped.
In other words,
the glory that comes with being God,
he was not willing to hold on to that
in order that man and all men
would be condemned to hell.
He did not think equality with God,
the glory of being God
as something to be grasped,
to hold on to.
But Paul says,
he emptied himself
by taking on the form of a servant
being born in the likeness of men.
Form, same word.
In the first half of the verse,
Paul says Jesus in his very essence
and who he is,
the unchangeable quality of his character
and of his personhood is God.
And then him being God
takes on the form of a man,
the very essence of who he is,
who that unchangeable quality now
of who Jesus is,
is both fully God
and fully man.
So what we celebrate
in the birth of Christ
is not the beginnings of a man,
but is the incarnation of a being
who created you
and who created everything that you see
and who has always existed.
The king of all
willingly became
the lowliest of all.
The one who is continually surrounded
by the praises of angels
leaves the glories of heaven
to suffer at the hands of men.
The creator
subjects himself
to his own creation
in order that he might
save it.
And what is this
according to John 3, 16?
A gift.
It's a gift.
A perfect gift.
Thou who was rich
beyond all splendor,
all for love's sake
became as poor.
Thrones for a manger
did surrender.
Sapphire paved courts
for stable floor.
Thou who was rich
beyond all splendor,
all for love's sake
became as poor.
You know,
often when we think about
the Christmas story,
the scope of our thoughts
is generally limited
to this small portion
of scripture
in Matthew 1 and 2
and Luke 1 and 2
that tells specifically
the nativity story.
But I want to remind you
again this morning
that God's gift
of eternal life
through Jesus Christ
is the main point
not of Matthew 1 and 2
and Luke 1 and 2
but of the entire Bible.
Everything in God's word
speaks to this moment,
to this person,
to this gift.
Think about it.
As you understand the Bible
and how it's put together,
it begins with creation
and the curse of suffering
and death
that resulted from man's sin.
And then the Bible ends
with God restoring all things
to His intended purpose.
And everything between
that first creation
and the final creation,
everything in between
in God's word
is all about this Savior,
this appointed deliverer from God
that would come
and save His people
from their sins.
The Savior
is the gift
referred to
in John 3, 16.
It would take me
the rest of my life
to explain all of that to you
as we go through the scriptures.
Let me just generally
give you two things
to think about
as we think about
the story of the whole Bible
and how it relates
to Jesus as a gift.
The opening pages
of the Bible
tell us that God created
man and woman
in His image
to glorify Him.
Our kids have learned this.
How and why
did God create us, kids?
God created us.
Smell?
They know it, right?
When we learned that
in our kids' class,
the thing that they did
to try to understand
what this means
is they went
and they stood
at the mirror
where Miss Faye is sitting.
And they looked
at themselves in the mirror
and I said,
what do you see?
And they said,
me.
You see a reflection
of themselves.
And the Bible says
that God created
Adam and Eve,
man and woman,
in His own image
to glorify Him.
It meant that He didn't
create them as little gods.
That's not what He meant.
It means that He created them
in perfect innocence
to be a perfect reflection
of Him,
to reflect who He is
and to reflect
His perfect character.
But Adam and Eve
fell from that.
God's adversary,
Satan,
deceived them.
They disobeyed God,
they sinned against God,
and they fell short
of the glory
for which they were created.
And since God
is perfectly holy
and just,
their sin
had to be punished.
If He just let it go,
He wouldn't be God.
And He certainly
wouldn't be just.
But He had to punish
their sin.
But in the midst
of this punishment,
in the midst
of the announcement
of this curse
of their sin,
He gave them a promise.
And the promise
is that He would
provide a Savior
to rescue man
from eternal death.
In the midst
of the consequences,
God's grace
was shining through
in this promise.
In Genesis 3.15,
God tells man and woman
after their sin,
I will put enmity
between you,
speaking to Satan,
the serpent,
I will put enmity
between you and the woman
and between your offspring
and her offspring.
He shall bruise your head
and you shall bruise His heel.
From the very beginning
of the Bible,
we see the problem.
This whole book,
what it's about,
is about God creating us
for His glory.
Us falling short
of that glory
and in desperate need
of God's mercy and grace.
And in the midst of that,
right at the beginning,
God says,
I'm gonna give you a promise.
I'm gonna send a deliverer,
a Savior
that will save you
from your sins.
And everything following
that in the entire Scripture
is about that.
It all points to that.
Then we get a little further
in the Old Testament.
And as you continue to read,
you'll find that there are
all of these illuminating pictures
and illustrations
that point to God's promise
of redemption.
All kinds of things.
We see a picture of Israel
being God redeeming His people.
We see the sacrificial system
in particular.
Year by year,
the Israelites,
the people of God,
were required to come
in order to reflect
their need for salvation.
They would bring
and supply for themselves
a lamb.
A lamb that was one year old.
It had to be perfect,
without blemish,
spotless.
And they would bring it
to the temple of God
or to the tabernacle of God
and they would sacrifice
that lamb
as a reflection
of their own sinfulness
and of their own need
for God's mercy.
But the problem was
that lamb was never enough.
Every year,
they had to do it again.
No matter how hard
they searched,
no matter how perfect
of a lamb they could find,
there was never one
that really atoned
for their sin.
It wasn't possible.
Of course,
God set this in place
in order to show them something.
That nothing in and of themselves
was capable
of forgiving their sin.
They continually repeated
the process year by year,
which served as a reminder
that their only real hope
was God's mercy.
And God's mercy
would have to come
through the fulfillment
of His promise,
not any work
that they would do
on their own.
The gift of God's Son
in John 3.16
is the fulfillment
of that promise.
Because the people
could not supply a lamb
that was worthy
to forgive their sins,
God provided one
for them.
He sent His only Son,
the only perfect sacrifice
capable of paying
the price for man's sin
once and for all.
Galatians chapter 4
tells us that
when the fullness
of time had come,
God sent forth His Son,
born of a woman,
born under the law
to redeem those
who were under the law
so that we might receive
adoption as sons.
If you study much
about in the Gospels
about John the Baptist,
you'll remember
in John chapter 1
as Jesus comes through
that portion of Galilee,
verse 29,
it says,
John saw Jesus
coming toward him
and what was it
that John said?
Behold what?
The Lamb of God
who takes away
the sin of the world.
You say,
well,
all that lamb talk
is just coincidence.
No.
The promise
of Genesis 3.15
was always the plan
of God to fulfill
in a perfect lamb
except that perfect lamb
wasn't an animal,
it was a person,
His only Son.
But even still,
how could Jesus
save us from our sins?
His death on the cross
was a substitution.
He took our place.
He bore the wrath of God
against our sin.
But His death
was only sufficient
because He had no sin
of His own
with which He had to pay.
Consider that.
This is why the Bible
makes so clear
that Jesus was not just
a man from God,
but Jesus is the man of God.
He is God in the flesh.
No other man
could have possibly
been sinless.
Even by our very nature,
when we're conceived
from conception,
we have this nature of sin,
this depravity
that is deep within us
that must be redeemed.
But Jesus didn't have that
because Jesus wasn't born of man,
He was born of God.
He's the perfect Son of God
without sin.
Therefore,
only His death
was sufficient enough
to atone for our sin.
no other sacrifice
would work.
And that was the plan of God.
2 Corinthians 5.21,
we quote this often.
For our sake,
He made Him to be sin
who knew no sin
so that in Him
we might become
the righteousness of God.
In the sacrifice
of the perfect Lamb,
a transaction takes place,
a switch.
we,
in our sin,
deserve nothing
but God's wrath.
Jesus,
the perfect one,
takes our place,
absorbs the wrath of God
against our sin,
takes it upon Himself
in order that we,
the sinful ones,
may have His righteousness
applied to us.
Why do we celebrate Christmas?
Because of that.
Why do we care
about the birth of Jesus?
Because of His death.
Why does John 3.16
say that God's Son
was a gift?
Because how else
could you describe Him?
Thou who art God
beyond all praising,
all for love's sake
became as man.
Stooping so low,
but sinners raising.
heavenward by thine
eternal plan.
Thou who art God
beyond all praising,
all for love's sake
became as man.
So first we see
the gift of God.
Secondly,
we see the call of God.
The call of God.
Look again at verse 16,
except this time
I want you to see
the last phrase.
Whoever believes in Him
should not perish,
but have eternal life.
Whoever believes in Him
should not perish,
but have eternal life.
So it's clear here.
The purpose of God's gift,
the Son of God,
Jesus Christ,
was that we might
have eternal life.
But the word order
in this verse
is important.
He doesn't lead
with eternal life.
Because the eternal life
that God offers
is an alternative.
It's an alternative
to the spiritual death
to which we are all
condemned.
Do you notice that?
Whoever believes in Him,
He doesn't just say
whoever believes in Him
will have eternal life.
He actually says
whoever believes in Him
first will be rescued
from eternal death,
from perishing,
meaning that we are all
automatically by nature
destined for death,
eternal hell,
eternal separation
from God.
But the gift of God
was such
that whoever believes
in Jesus Christ
will not have to perish,
but will have eternal life.
We're spiritually dead
in our sins.
Ephesians chapter 2
and verse 1
tells us that.
We desperately need
divine rescue.
And the birth of Jesus,
this nativity story
is part one
of God's divine rescue mission.
He gave His Son
to rescue us
from spiritual death
and eternal hell.
Look at verse 17,
just after it.
For God did not send
His Son into the world
to condemn the world,
not yet at least.
He will return.
And when He returns,
it will be to judge.
So be ready for that judgment.
But in this coming,
that wasn't the reason.
He did not send His Son
to condemn the world,
but that the world
through Him
might be saved.
This is why in Matthew chapter 1,
we read a moment ago,
the angel says to Joseph,
she will bear a son.
You shall call His name Jesus,
which is the New Testament
version of Joshua,
which means God will save,
for He will save His people
from their sins.
This brings a particular urgency
to the issue of God's gift.
Urgency.
Sometimes we get in our mind,
if we're not super familiar
with the Bible,
and maybe we've only been told
the good parts
and the flowery parts,
we get this idea in our mind
that all of us are destined
for eternal life,
unless you're somebody like Hitler.
We're all destined
for eternal life,
but if you follow Jesus,
you'll just have a better quality
of eternal life.
That's not at all
what the Bible teaches.
That's not at all
what John 3.16 teaches.
No, what we're destined
for is eternal hell.
All of us.
Unless we're rescued,
none of us are destined
for eternal life.
So what God calls us to
is faith.
And He says,
if you will believe in My Son,
if you will believe
and follow My Son,
He will take your death,
and you will receive His life.
We come to Jesus
because we'll spend eternity
separated from God
if we don't.
And this incredible gift of God
is not universally applied.
Those who will not believe
and follow Jesus
are eternally condemned.
Jesus said as much
in verse 18.
Look at it.
Verse 18.
Whoever believes in Him
is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe
is condemned already
because he has not believed
in the name of the only Son of God.
God's gift of eternal life
through His Son
can only be received
by faith.
Salvation is not something
that you can earn
by spending your money,
giving away your goods,
or committing yourself
to morality or good works.
God calls us to receive His gift
only one way,
by believing in His Son.
And this divine rescue
only comes,
only comes
to whosoever
will follow Jesus in faith.
Romans 10.
If you confess with your mouth
that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart
that God raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For with the heart, Paul says,
one believes and is justified,
and with the mouth
one confesses and is saved.
For the scriptures say,
everyone who believes in Him
will not be put to shame.
For there's no distinction
between Jew and Greek.
The same Lord is Lord of all,
bestowing His riches
on all who call on Him.
For everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord
will be saved.
Which tells us,
Jesus stands ready
and willing
to rescue you from your sin.
The question is,
will you answer God's call?
Because too many people
are trying to circumvent
the call of God.
They're trying to do it
their own way.
Does it work?
Won't work.
There's an urgency to this.
Believe or die.
City of Light
is a group
that I like to listen to
out of Australia.
They just released
a new song last week.
Here's how the third verse goes.
So I find my rest in Jesus.
He who came
to rescue me.
Jesus saved me
from the darkness.
I will rise
to life with Him.
Have you found
your rest in Jesus?
Has He saved you?
You personally?
Has He saved you
from the darkness?
Do you know?
When you die,
will you rise
to life with Him?
Or will you perish?
Thirdly, we see
the love of God.
The love of God.
Now we get back
to the first phrase.
Verse 16.
For God
so loved
the world.
For God
so loved the world.
This was the motivation
and the gift.
And I said
at the beginning
that true giving
is not founded
on an obligation.
It's founded on love.
God is under
no obligation to us.
No one's twisting
His arm
to force Him
to provide eternal life.
the great plan
of salvation
is God's plan.
He alone
devised it.
He alone
executed it.
He alone
offers it.
And the thing
that motivated Him
to give His Son
for our sins
is His divine love.
And you may be
saying,
well, why does He love me?
That's a great question.
That's one I can't answer.
Because He doesn't love us
because we're lovable.
He loves us
because He loves us.
Because in His very essence,
what He is
is love.
God
Now that doesn't diminish
the reality
of His holiness
and His justice.
God must judge sin.
His perfect love
doesn't overwhelm
the other attributes
that He has.
He is perfectly loving
and He's perfectly gracious.
He's also perfectly just
and He's perfectly
righteous against sin.
So how does this work?
Remember 2 Corinthians 5.21
He made Him
to be sin
who knew no sin
so that in Him
we might be made
the righteousness of God.
When we come to Christ,
it's not that God's love
turns a blind eye
to what we've done.
It's that no,
we're recognizing
that God is actually
taking the sin
that I have committed
and He has punished
His own son for it.
And in return,
He's taken
the perfect righteousness
of His only son
and He's actually
applied it to my life,
the one who doesn't
deserve it.
Why?
Love.
For God
so loved.
Romans 5.
While we were still weak,
at the right time,
Christ died
for the ungodly.
Listen,
Christ died
for the ungodly.
Christ didn't die
for the ones
that are doing pretty good
and trying pretty hard.
He died
for the ungodly.
Paul goes on to say,
one will scarcely die
for a righteous person,
though perhaps
for a good person
one would even
dare to die.
But God shows
His love
for us
in that while
we were still
sinners,
Christ died for us.
Do you see this?
Listen,
in our sin,
we don't want God.
We may want
the benefits of God,
we don't want God.
Our hearts are hard.
They're depraved.
Yet God,
even despite the fact
that we don't want Him
since His own Son
anyways,
that while we are sinners,
Christ dies for us,
not because we're lovable
or because we're doing
a good job
and He just couldn't take it,
He just wanted
to help us out
a little bit.
No,
that's not what happened.
It was out of
His divine love
that He bent down
and He came to earth
so that He could die
for filthy sinners
like you and me.
Why?
Because of His love.
John 3.16 plainly says
that the object
of this love
is the world.
It's the world.
Remember,
this comes at the end
of a conversation
with a prominent Jew
who would have only spoken
of God's love
as it related to Israel.
There was no fault
in their mind
for God loving
anyone else.
But Jesus expands this.
He says,
God's love
isn't just for the Jews.
God's love
is for the world.
That's what makes possible
God's call
for whosoever
at the end of the verse
because His love,
the object of His affection
is the whole world.
In other words,
you won't be excluded
from God's saving love
on the basis
of your nationality
or on the basis
of what you've done
up to this point
or how terrible
of a sin
you've committed.
God loves the world.
Jesus died
for the sins
of the world.
And since you're
a part of the world,
that qualifies you
for His grace.
But it's only
for whosoever.
There is a limit
to that.
He doesn't just
throw it out
willy-nilly.
It's for whoever
will hear His call
and follow Him
in faith.
1 John 4
in this is the love
of God
and it was made
manifest among us
that God sent
His only Son
into the world
so that we might
live through Him.
In this is love,
not that we have
loved God,
but that He loved us
and sent His Son
to be the propitiation
for our sins.
That word's important,
actually.
It means the appeasement
of God's wrath.
That when Jesus
took our place
on the cross,
it appeased
the Father's wrath
for all who will believe.
Not just for everyone,
for those who will believe
His own.
Jesus,
God's only Son,
in summary,
came to earth
to save sinners
from eternal death
and hell.
He who was rich
became poor.
He who is God
became a man.
And though He was
sinlessly perfect,
He laid down His life
for the guilty
like you and me.
He took our place,
He bore our shame,
He paid our debt.
And then He rose
from the dead
to prove
that His sacrifice
was sufficient
for all of our sins
to be forgiven.
And He did all of that
according to the riches
of His everlasting love.
He willingly,
He joyfully
went through hell
so that you and I
wouldn't have to.
but His gift
of eternal life
is not something
that can be earned
through what we do.
It can only be received
through faith
and who He is
and what He's done.
In John chapter 10,
Jesus said
that when the gospel
is preached,
His sheep
would hear His voice,
He would know them,
and they would follow Him.
So today,
if you hear His voice,
do not harden your heart.
This Christmas,
receive the gift
and follow Christ.
Thou who art love
beyond all telling,
Savior and King,
we worship Thee.
Emmanuel,
within us dwelling,
make us what Thou
wouldst have us be.
Thou who art love
beyond all telling,
Savior and King,
we worship Thee.
for betterNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNINGNING