To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27.

It’s good to remember that Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, knew all that would be when they created us and everything we see. No surprises. And in that knowing we are held safe. This beautiful chapter, Jeremiah 31, shows us a glimpse of what will be…The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. ” v. 3. How different is that from what we receive in this broken world? This is what the Lord says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” This is what the Lord says: “Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for your work will be rewarded,” declares the Lord. “They will return from the land of the enemy. So there is hope for your descendants,” declares the Lord. “Your children will return to their own land. I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf, and I have been disciplined. Restore me, and I will return, because You are the Lord my God. After I strayed, I repented; after I came to understand, I beat my breast. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’ Is not Ephraim My dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart years for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the Lord…”The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke My covenant though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put My law into their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” v. 15-20, 27-34. Can you imagine? “For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.” God knew and He knows still. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. That’s why He created, why He came as one of us – even to be born of a virgin of lowly estate in the eyes of the world, why He taught about the Kingdom of God while He lived among us, why He was willing to undergo crucifixion to overcome the way of this broken world that does not know the way of love, how He became Christ…the Anointed One. Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son may glorify You. For You granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those You have given Him. Now this is eternal life: that they know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent. I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your Presence with the glory I had with You before the world began.” John 17:1-5.