Jesus is worthy. This is why the rest of the chapter bursts into celebration. Jesus is worthy because “You were slain and by Your blood You ransomed people for God…”

The Gospel is not about our works or effort. It’s about our relationship with Jesus.

Who gets to be there? All whose names are in the Lamb’s book of life, all who have been washed clean.
The gates of the city are open wide to all who will trust in Jesus.

The heart of the Gospel is the joining of these two truths: that God is greater than our capacity to comprehend, and that God, in His greatness, condescends bringing mercy and grace to sinners like us, who fill all His churches. 

God works through all that He has made, which He has given, for which He deserves grateful praise.

We are, truly, hearts and souls and minds and strengths, all woven together to be a kind of basket designed to hold delight in God.

Loving others well will involve a new perspective on them and new practices in our relationship.

Jesus is our goal, He embodies what we would wish for ourselves, and all we hope for comes to us in Him.

How do we direct properly loving actions toward ourselves? What is “biblical self-care”?

How do we love ourselves in the way Jesus intended when He said, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself”?

It’s important to understand that when we talk about loving ourselves, it is always connected to, grows from, and grows toward, our love for God.

On the one hand, gratitude is everywhere praised in Scripture, and we know that we have more to be thankful for than anyone. On the other hand, we all still struggle with “the love of the world and the things in the world.”

God loves us. God loves you. God loves me. God loves them.

God’s love is proper and true. His love is not cheap self-care hacks, or unhealthy self-absorption. His love is healing, hope-giving, good and right.

There is something about how we “love God” that can help us understand how we are “to love ourselves” in a way that draws us toward loving others well.

Nowhere is the upside-down glory of God’s ways as prominent, surprising, and delightful, as in the birth, life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The will of God delivers justice, mercy, and does so with astonishing wisdom.

We love God’s works because they are wonderful. His awesome power, His wisdom, are on full display in all He has done to work our Great Salvation. Nowhere is this as clear as in the life of Jesus Christ.

As we continue to reflect on what we love when we love God, let us consider what God’s Word has accomplished. That is, last week we saw what God’s Word is, and now let’s look at what God’s Word does.