“Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.” Acts 9:15
When God created the world, man was not there to instruct Him. In fact, the Lord asked Job that very question: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (38:4) Christ was before the “beginning” of time and space. He was the Beginning and Ending of Creation. He will be one day be seen, not only as the “Author and Finisher of Faith” for all of the redeemed of all the ages, but again, as the Creator of a new heaven and new earth. And though man will exist then, he still will have no “say” in how God will accomplish it. Between what we might call the two creations, there is another, an individual, personal one, called “a new creation” in Christ. As in the beginning when God created heaven and earth, and when He will create a new heavens and new earth, this new creation of God of every believer in Christ, born of the Spirit, would be the unique, and complete work of God. No man could have conceived such a work, this miracle and transformation based on the complete work and power of Christ. And yet, the same God of creation has brought about a work so fundamentally new, perfect, and good, that He declares it to be accepted before Him. The believer is saved by God alone, transformed and called to experience a new, eternal life, a new beginning, and new means of living with an eternal purpose. This new creation in Christ is the unique work of God. For only God would seek the lost, wandering, and thirsting soul, find him, awaken him to his need, and provide the answer to that eternal need. Only God would truly see the lost sinner, dead in his trespasses and sins, a prisoner of the law of sin in his heart and held captive by the god of this world through the lusts, or desires, of his flesh, and mind, being by his very nature in opposition, even rebellion to God. Scripture tells us that man is born in sin, spiritually dead to God, and totally incapable of saving himself, for there is no way that he could deal with his sin, nor his sinful nature. Only God could do this for him, and this is what He would do in Christ on that terrible cross where the slain Lamb of God would take unto Himself, not only the sins of the entire world, but the judgement for them. He alone is our sin-bearer. With that perfect sacrifice came an eternal promise. For the one who would look up, and see Him there, and understand by the grace of God that He did such a thing out of love for the sinner, there is hope, an eternal hope. Not only would Jesus deal with the sins of men, but also with their sinful nature, putting His nature in the heart and soul as the great Deliverer from the downward pull of godlessness and idolatry. Herein is born, upon receiving the Spirit of God by faith, a new creation in Christ, and this, for the glory of God, and the blessing of men.
What then of being “chosen by God?” It is a fact that if God had not worked to create, there would be no creation. Can we explain His working? No, but we can accept and rejoice in it. When John the Baptist came as the one who would prepare the way for the coming of Christ, it was the fulfillment of a prophecy declared by Malachi about five hundred years before Christ’s coming. God chose John the Baptist, anointing him to proclaim Christ’s coming. Many would see and hear Jesus, but relatively few would be saved. God chose to reveal Himself in Christ, intervening to save everyone who would call upon Him by faith. Chosen from the foundation of the world, and yet each brought to the point of choosing Christ.
Dear Father, All glory is Thine. In Jesus’ name, Amen.