SUNDAY April 25, 2021
The Chosen of God
...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world....
Ephesians 1:4
In the Greek text, verses 3-14 are not broken up into small paragraphs; literally, it is one whole sentence. Paul tells us, God has chosen us and elected us. God chose you and me according to His foreknowledge, before the foundation of the world. Imagine, we were in the thoughts of God in eternity. He thought about each of us before we were even created––before we were ever born––amazing!
If you ask the question, “Why did God not choose me?” Understand, everyone is chosen––elected by God. Yet God has created every human being with a free will. We are not robots. Every person is given the opportunity to choose. We have a will to obey or disobey; to choose Him or to reject Him. A person can willingly and prayerfully ask Christ to come into their lives, “Lord, I want to receive You as my Lord and Savior.”
If you make a decision to not be saved, God honors your decision––you have chosen. You make a choice when you choose to reject Christ. Understand, your decision to reject Christ is a choice––a choice not to go to heaven! All people have to do to be saved is to choose Christ. God desires that all people would not perish in hell. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). Understand, hell was not made for man; it was created for the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). So simple––repent and chose Christ.
I have found, most decisions to choose Christ are made by teenagers, not adults. They accept Him as Savior because their hearts are still soft and kind. I find that the older a person becomes, the more hard-hearted, bitter, prideful and rebellious they can become. In a church service, when an older person comes weeping and crying to the front to be saved, it is a real miracle. God gives everyone the opportunity to be saved, right up until the very day they die. That is why it is so important to make the right choice.
That Christ and a forgiven sinner should be made one, and share heaven between them, is the wonder of salvation; what more could love do?
~Samuel Rutherford~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!
