The desire to be fully known and fully loved is so deeply integral to every single human being,

your friendships, your spouse, your children, your parents. To be fully known yet loved completely

will transform a person, giving them a safe place to grow and thrive.

And God offers that to each of us today. May today's divo leave you knowing the abundance

of God's love and grace for you. Welcome to the First of Team podcast.

Our scripture for today comes from Ephesians 2 verses 4 through 5, which says,

But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us,

even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.

All of humanity is in a constant search for intimacy. We devote ourselves to earning the affections of others, whether it be a close friend or a stranger.

We long to be loved for who we truly are, but we've also been burned by others in attempt to find acceptance.

We give our hearts to the world and hope others will satisfy our craving for acceptance, for love.

And we've been rejected by the very people and systems in which we sought satisfaction.

But still we press on, we mold and reshape ourselves. We change our image or personality.

We project who we think we should be instead of who we are.

We project who we feel others want us to be.

Believing the lie that who we really are isn't enough.

And all the while we long to be fully known and accepted.

We desire to be fully seen and free of guilt or shame.

This depiction holds true for all of us,

because all of us have been affected by Adam and Eve's original sin.

It was in perfection that they chose sin over unfettered, boundless relationship with a father.

And scripture says in Genesis 3-8 that Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God,

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