"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight" (Ephesians 1:4). To think that God chose us before the foundation of the world! We are no accident of a whimsical evolution; we are the accomplishment--the masterpiece--of the divine purpose. Doesn't this make us want to be and to do the very best for Him who held us as a thought and not an afterthought? We are the selected and the elected for God Himself. And we were chosen before the fall. Redemption was planned for us before our parents even met! Yes, it's a profound mystery, but God's ways are not our ways. "How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!" (Romans 11:33). We have been elected by grace. It has nothing to do with our merit. Lest we boast that it is ours by right, "But by the grace of God, I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10); "It is by grace [we] have been saved" (Ephesians 2:5). We have been elected not on seen or foreseen holiness, but that we may become holy wholly through the grace of a personal and personable God who loves beyond our comprehension. What is so delightful about this is the assurance for us that there is no room for chance in our lives. God is not the author of haphazard hazards. His plans are complete and definite, and we can rest in this. How else could we stand and withstand the chaos initiated and kept going by the "ruler of the kingdom of the air" (Ephesians 2:2)? We are not chosen because we are sanctified already, but God Himself causes our holiness. But there is a part we play, too, and it is faith and a desire to be holy, for "It is God's will that [we] should be holy" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). He would not will something that is impossible for us to achieve and for which He has not made provisions and providence. He is farsighted, while we are nearsightedness. How we praise Him for our being elected! |
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