Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder if you ever had the experience of being ‘chosen’ when as a child there were games on the playground and teams were selected, one person at a time, from all the group of kids? Or perhaps you remember the feeling when you applied for a job, or for college, or something else you very much wanted, and you eventually found yourself ‘chosen’, selected for that which you deeply desired? Depending on the magnitude of what you are chosen for, or by whom you have been chosen, it can be an almost overwhelming, breathtaking experience, right?
Yesterday I left you with Moses and about 1 million Israelites as they contemplated their uniqueness, as a Covenant people of God, and the land before them, on the other side of the Jordan river, as the Covenant land God had given to Abraham, then his son Isaac and then his son Jacob and his descendants. Moses continued this particular ‘farewell message’ found in Deuteronomy 10 with these staggering words: “To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set His affection on your forefathers and loved them, and He chose you, their descendants, above all the nations, as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome…” (Deut. 10:14-16)
Over and over Moses proclaimed to these people that it was nothing of their own doing which had caused God to love them or rescue their parents from Egyptian slavery, or keep them alive in the desert during 40 years of wandering. Oh no! It was God’s desire and His decision to take the initiative to reach to one man, Abraham, and establish a Covenant of love relationship with Abraham and his wife Sarah. And then God continued that Covenant love relationship with their miracle son Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and their son Jacob and his descendants. Generation after generation it was a choice God was making to love these people as His chosen, treasured possession.
Now perhaps you are thinking, ‘oh, that’s nice, but come on, that was 3400 years ago, what does that have to do with me, especially if I am not able to trace my biological heritage back to any of them!?’ That’s a fair question my friends and the answer is this: the words Moses spoke were both for them, the Hebrew descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but they were also pointing forward to the day God would send another rescuer, deliverer… His own Son, Jesus, God incarnate. And what Jesus accomplished in His life, death and resurrection, makes it possible for God to reach to ANY person, ANY place on earth, ANY time in history, ANY generation… and draw them to Himself to be rescued from their sin and enter into living in a love relationship with God as their heavenly Father, for all time! Jesus once said: “No one comes to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44) What do you hear in that statement my friends? I hear at least these things…
1. God takes the initiative to reach from His throne room in heaven to a person on earth, and awaken in that person’s heart an interest in Jesus, a desire to experience the help and hope of Jesus. Now don’t rush past that… God takes the INITIATIVE!!
2. God draws that person from the darkness of their confused mind and hard heart, to have an interest in Jesus and a desire for what only Jesus can give them… God’s love, rescue from their bondage.
3. When that person places their trust in Jesus for salvation from their sin condemnation and bondage, then Jesus PROMISES He will take personal responsibility for their eternal destiny! Jesus will make sure they arrive in heaven to be with God, at their last day, the time of their earthly death!
Do you hear CHOSEN in that my friends? God CHOOSES to initiate His loving reach to us. God CHOOSES to draw a person to a desire for Jesus. God CHOOSES to give that person salvation, rescue from their sin and a new and never ending relationship with God, through Jesus!
That concept so overwhelmed a man named Paul, formerly known as Saul the persecutor of Christians, that when Paul experienced this in his own life he set out to tell the world, both through his travels and speeches, and through his writings. One of the letters Paul wrote, to a group of Christians in the city of Ephesus, has this statement: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He (God) chose us in Him (Jesus) before the creation of the world, to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love God predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace…” (Ephesians 1:3-5)
Oh my friends, there is so much powerful truth there, but may I draw your attention to the same fundamental concepts… God’s deep desire to have a relationship with us, His human creations. God’s desire that we BE holy and blameless as we live our lives in relationship with Him our Holy Creator. God’s deep desire that the relationship we have with Him be a very close Father – son or Father – daughter loving relationship, the family of God! Do you see that phrase which speaks of God’s pleasure? Oh when a person experiences the draw of God to consider and trust Jesus, and then experience their rescue from sin and transformation into a new creation in Christ, and adoption into God’s family… oh my, there is great joy in heaven, especially God Himself is extremely delighted!
My friends, the Hebrew people that day with Moses faced two important choices…
First... would they choose to live as God’s Covenant people, obeying all the commands of the Covenant which God had given them; worshiping Him alone as their only God; and honoring God with every aspect of their lives as a people of God?
Second… would they choose to cross the Jordan, occupy Canaan, the Covenant land, and dispossess the people who had taken over Canaan while their Hebrew ancestors had abandoned the covenant land clinging instead to Egypt?
In our day all humanity faces two similar decisions, no matter who we are or where we live:
First...will we allow God to draw us to an interest in Jesus, a desire to experience forgiveness and rescue from our sin? Will we allow God to open our minds and hearts to understand God’s great love for us proven in the extreme of Jesus’ sacrificial death for us so we can be saved? Or will we insist on living our lives without God?
Second… will we trust God to save us from our sin bondage, as we put our full faith in Jesus? Will we join with God in the experience of our life transformation as we are forgiven of our sin, cleansed from the sin damage in our lives, adopted into God’s family, reconciled into relationship with Holy God? Will we welcome the Holy Spirit of God to live within us, teaching us God’s truths, guiding us walking in all God’s ways, living our lives for God’s honor and glory?
Here’s how the Apostle Peter explained what the end result of this is like for those who choose Jesus: “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of HIM who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)
As the Israelites that day heard Moses’ appeal that they recognize the remarkable reality of God’s great love for them and His selection of them to be HIS people, living for His honor, I’m sure they were overwhelmed. May I ask a simple question as we close today… are you and I overwhelmed with God’s love for us? Are you standing in awe when you consider the majesty and magnitude of God and that He not only sees you and cares about you but God wants a loving Father-son or Father-daughter relationship with you that will span all of eternity future? Are you and I inviting God’s work in our lives or are we resisting God? Have you given much thought to times in your life when you resisted God’s reach to you, God’s draw of you to Jesus, God’s efforts to lead you into His plans and purposes for your life?
Now my friends, there’s a lot to think about here today isn’t there? So I invite us to spend some time pondering this, praying about it, asking God to help us understand it all from HIS perspective, and I’ll come back and rejoin you right here, tomorrow. Here’s a powerful song to help us consider this matter of being CHOSEN by God, the Creator of the Universe!!
Today’s Scripture is Deuteronomy 10:14-16.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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