Chosen

 

 

He chose us in Him

before the foundation of the world,

that we should be holy and without blame

before Him in love,

having predestined us

to adoption as sons

by Jesus Christ to Himself,

according to the good pleasure

of His will,

to the praise of the glory

of His grace,

by which He has made us

accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1:4-6, NKJV

 

 

 



If the universe is not a cosmic accident, if the world is not a fortunate happenstance, if life is not a random product of a chance meeting of two proteins floating in a primordial soup billions of years ago, but rather all was made according to the plan, purpose, pleasure, and will of God, how in the universe can I believe that me and my life are anything less?

 

I am fully aware that thoughts like the ones I am about to express go against the grain of human nature.  They contradict many of our human notions of choice and free will.  They are contradicted by centuries of church doctrine and dogma in certain circles of denominational establishment.  Nevertheless, when I read in His Word that He chose us before the foundation of the world, I have to go with that over any other interpretation.

 

Before time began.

 

Before creation came into existence.

 

Before there was air to breathe or life to breathe it.

 

Before the foundation of the world, God had a plan and I was part of it.

 

Not I alone, but all those who would ever believe do so according to the sovereign choice of Almighty God, a choice not based on arbitrary selection, but rather on His omniscient foreknowledge of all that is, all that has ever been, and all that will ever be.  God, in His absolute authority and in His eternal existence, knew all things before anything was, saw all things before anything was even there to happen.  And I say it that way because from our perspective that knowledge and sight is past, but from God's perspective everything is now.  All of time and space exist completely within the person of God, so our past, present, and future are all right now with God. 

 

He is ageless and timeless and measureless and limitless.  He has all power and authority, and works all things according the counsel of His own will.  He is both in possession and in control of everything without question.  He allows His creations to make choices, to exercise self-determination, to decide what they want for now and all eternity, but no move can be made that is outside the purview of the all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere-present all-the-time God.

 

Like the Psalmist I can say, Such thoughts are too wonderful for me.  They are higher than my human understanding can attain.  I don't fully comprehend the divine complexities of the conjoined inner workings of God's predestination and my human will.  But I accept in faith the truth of the Word of God that says even though I chose Him, I was already chosen in Him before the foundation of the world.  Before I reached my decision for Christ, and every decision for Him since, I was already predestined according to the foreknowledge of God to be conformed to the image of His Son, to be adopted as His son, and to bring praise and glory to Him in that acceptance.

 

Thank You, Jesus!