“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,” (Ephesians 1:3–4).
When I think of my own life, not at all referring to others, I know I am a sinner, and I also know that God had a plan from before the foundation of the world was ever laid, before I was born to become a blessing to me, via Jesus Christ. We must not be confused by my statement as so many erringly are–I didn’t say that God chose me individually to be in Christ, to be saved, as if I have no part in this.
God chose beforehand to build a church that would be filled with saints, who have become saints through obedience to the faith, by the blood of Christ. Therefore, every soul that obeyed the gospel becomes one of the chosen. Great imagery of being chosen comes from the Old Testament. Israel was chosen by God. Listen to how Moses describes the selection of Israel in Deuteronomy 7. “6 “For you are a [a]holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth. 7 The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; 8 but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of [b]bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt” (Deut. 7:6–8).
Chosen because God wanted them. Not because they were great in number—not because they were particularly holy. Nothing Israel did warranted their deserving of being chosen—to be God’s special treasure. Imagine: A very short youth named Michael who has a strong passion for basketball: How broken hearted he would be—never chosen to play by his school’s team. . .because of his stature, and because of his perceived lack of ability. Now imagine Michael moves to new school and the team captain calls out his name. Chosen despite his stature—regardless of his ability—chosen just because they wanted him—they call out Michael, Michael come and join us.
A million times more would the feeling be to know that God wants you to be in His family, so much more than that is how especially honored you should feel—knowing that even when you were “rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious” (1 Pet. 2:4). Chosen despite your abilities—not because you are great, strong, superman, super intellectually. . .Not because you were exceptionally holy—without faults.
As the scripture says, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Let it be known, brothers and sisters—you are chosen because God loves you—and calls you out of the world—and get this—by name.
Please listen along and I pray receive greater understanding or just reinforcement of what you already know about the chosen. . .