Following Judah's Lion

Chosen and Elect

Col.3:12-13 - Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

I Pet.1:1-3 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Eph.1:3-5 - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

II Thess.2:13-14 - But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:
14Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Pet.2:3-5 - If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Let us lay aside all the doctrinal debates concerning election and meditate upon the truth that God Himself has elected and chosen us in Him. That is a wonder that surpasses knowledge, and clothed in the glory of that knowledge, does not your heart rise to worship your Redeemer? We have been elected; we have been chosen. And although this is a great honor to us, ultimately it redounds to the glory of God. The only way God could get glory from a sinner is to redeem that sinner and place him within His own loins.

Before the foundations of the world were laid, God saw us in Him, chosen and elect. And the strength of that election was His love, and the core revelation of that love was the cross. It is summarily impossible to fully understand the eternal glories which shall be shared with us, but God has given to us glimpses so that our hearts may be weaned from the temporal fancies of this present world.

Oh, but how often do we clear our minds of Martha’s kitchen and sit at His feet and gaze upon Him through the eyes of faith? To think, God allows, and even desires, a sinner to worship Him. What is man that Thou art mindful of him? What hope! What glory! What majesty! What can compare with one clouded glimpse of the Risen Christ, and all the while knowing that one day, one glorious day, we will see Him as He is!

He has been so neglected, and we, His chosen, have lusted after this present world. But He knew all this and yet still granted us His eternal election. What kind of love is this? What kind of commitment never forsakes or leaves? Surely this is not found upon this earth; surely this can only come from the very heart of Almighty God, powerful beyond all measure and yet loving beyond all depth. He sees how we soil ourselves with the filthiness of this world, and yet He continues to cleanse us over and over and over.

I would never have chosen me. Never. But yet my Lord and Savior chose me and suffered to purchase me as well. How can this thing be? From this earthly side of eternity it seems like so much Grimm’s fairy tales, but when the Spirit opens up my heart and allows me to catch a reality glimpse of my future inheritance and my prepared place in His presence, well I am undone. And if we ever lose sight of these profound spiritual realities then we have lost Christ.

Chosen and elect. Here we stand, completely by faith through His matchless grace. Of course the angels are confounded as should we be as well. How often the church has behaved as if we deserve to be who we are, and that heaven will be a reward for the depth of our spiritual service. We run to and fro spewing moral outrage and castigating the lost and refusing to reflect the grace wherein we stand. Jesus said “If I be lifted up” and yet we lift up everything but Jesus.

Take a deep breath and take a step back. Think on Him, meditate upon Him, and reacquaint yourself with who you are and how you became who you are. You did not pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You did not figure it all out and make a responsible decision based upon your intellectual assessment. You did not pursue Christ with everything in you and then found Him among your spiritual journeys. Christ sought you; Christ found you; Christ desired you. And even when you oft refused Him, he continued His relentless pursuit of you.

Oh my dear friends, to say we are lucky is to blaspheme that Holy Name. We have been chosen and elected, which in the language of eternity have only diluted earthly definitions. Upon your first glimpse of the Risen Christ, will you not be filled with the knowledge of His grace? Will being chosen not elicit praise and worship from your very being that renders earthly worship as a fraud? And when you stand as a glorified son of God in the likeness of your King, will there be anything that distracts you from the vision and reality of Him?

And even on this very day we know that future has been reserved for us in heaven. Not because we have pursued it, and not because we desired it, and surely not because we deserved it. But it is all because we have been elected and chosen in Him before the first atom came into being. And when all the present atoms are gone forever, the grace of God that bestowed upon us these great blessings will be as strong as it ever was. Rejoice with brokenness and worship! You and I have been chosen to spend all eternity with Him. Selah…