We Are the Chosen
Ephesians 1:1-14
“When I was a boy, my father, a baker, introduced me to the wonders of song,” tenor Luciano Pavarotti relates. “He urged me to work very hard to develop my voice. Arrigo Pola, a professional tenor in my hometown of Modena, Italy, took me as a pupil. I also enrolled in a teachers college. On graduating, I asked my father, “Shall I be a teacher or singer?”
“’Luciano,’ my father replied,’ if you try to sit on two chairs, you will fall between them. For life, you must choose one chair.’
“I chose one. It took seven years of study and frustration before I made my first professional appearance. It took another seven years to reach the Metropolitan Opera. And now I think whether it’s laying bricks, writing a book --whatever we choose-- we should give ourselves to it. Commitment, that’s the key. Choose one chair.”
Every day we are faced with choices. We have do decide what to wear. We choose between Coke and Pepsi. Choices are everywhere.
When I was in Elementary school, we always played kick ball at every recess. Before we began playing, two captains were chosen. From the group that gathered, each captain chose what person would fit best on their team. The first ones picked were the “best” players. The worst ones, or the ones with the least amount of friends, were chosen last.
The key factors in choosing for kick ball had been determined by previous games. Some people kicked further than others did. Some could catch better. Others were faster runners. People were chosen by their strengths and weaknesses. We played to win.
The same can be said about God. He has chosen each and every one of us here this morning. We are told in John 3:16 that because of His love for a lost world, each one of u shave been chosen to inherit eternal life. But just because He picks us doesn’t mean we’re automatically in. We still have a choice to make.
Eric Lindros, currently playing for the Dallas Stars in the NHL, was selected first overall by the, then, Quebec Nordiques in the 1991 NHL entry draft. Lindros did not want to play for the Nordiques, later known as the Colorado Avalanche, and was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. He was chosen by the Nordiques, but played for the Flyers.
What does it mean to be chosen by God? What were we chosen for? What is He looking for from us?
There are four separate things that He has chosen us for!
1. Chosen to be Holy (Ephesians 1:4)
“…to be holy and blameless in his sight…”
What does it mean to be “holy and blameless?”
As Christians, we are called to be separate from this world. We should not live a life like the world lives. We live according to God’s Word. We live a life that is blameless in others sights, and most importantly in His sight.
In a sense, we are the clay in the Master Potter’s hand. In order to be the men and women He wants us to be, we, like the clay, surrender ourselves to the craftsmanship of the Master’s hands. We are nothing but the material He uses. It is He who makes us into who He wants us to be.
This is not accomplished by our wills and efforts, but only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 3:24 tells us that we are justified by our faith in Christ Jesus. It is through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit that helps us to be blameless in the sight of God: “ In the same way the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with words that cannot be expressed.” (Romans 8:26)
2. Chosen to be His Children (Ephesians 1:5)
“…to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ…”
I do not want you to get hung up on the word “predestined” in this passage. Some denominations have translated this word to mean that God has already chosen the ones who are going to heaven, so there’s nothing to be done. You are either going to heaven or you are not.
Predestined, to me, means that God knew His plans long before you and I ever cast a shadow on this planet. After the fall of Adam and Eve, God put the plan in place to redeem His lost world by sending His only Son, born of a woman, to be the means of salvation for any person, regardless of age, race or gender. Galatians 4:4-5 say it better than I can: “But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we may receive the full rights of sons.”
As children of God, we have been born again of God into a spiritual life, no longer slaves to sin and death. We are sons and daughters of the Father, who is in Heaven, and anything we ask of Him will be given to us.
3. Chosen According to His Will (Ephesians 1:11)
“…according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will…”
Do you think it is God’s will that all men and women come to know Him? See 2 Peter 3:9. Peter writes that God desires no one to perish, “but everyone to come to repentance.”
Therefore, as God’s vessels, we should love and share Jesus with everyone we know.
The only way to get to God the Father is through genuine and earnest repentance. That’s what I was getting at when I said not to get hung up on the word “predestined.” There are some that believe that they can live whatever life they want to because God has already chosen the people He wants in heaven.
It is His will that no one person here today would die in his or her sins but would be saved! Hell is a very real place for a lot of very real people. God has not, and does not, choose who makes it to heaven, and those who inherit hell. It is a very real choice that each and every one of us makes. We choose His ways or our ways... Only after a person has been redeemed will God’s ways become our ways. It is not the other way around.
If you have already received Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour not only have you been chosen to be a child of God, but also you will receive God’s inheritance because you are His son or daughter, like Jesus.
4. Chosen to Glorify God (Ephesians 1:11,12)
“…for the praise of his glory…”
God is glorified when we leave our lives of sin that lead to death and turn to Him for life. We are changed, others take notice, and God is glorified. The angels, who were created to praise God, rejoice when one lost sheep is found. “ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7) Our new lives bring glory to God because His will is being accomplished in our lives.
Isaac Newton’s First Law of Motion states, “Everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it.” Try to remember the joy you felt as your children, or yourself, first learn to ride a bicycle without any help. Take that joy and multiply it infinitely. I truly believe that doesn’t even scratch the surface as God watches you and I change and become more like Him.
There’s an old saying that goes something like this: “Some people will change when they see the light. Other can change only when they feel the heat.”
When we put our hope in Jesus, and not in ourselves, we will have victory over sin and death in our lives. Then we give all the praise and glory to God for changing us and rescuing us through Jesus.
Conclusion:
“When the author walks onto the stage, the play is over. God is going to invade, all right; but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else comes crashing in? This time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible fear into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. That will not be the time for choosing; it will be the time when we decide which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.”
- C.S. Lewis
Romans 5:8 reads: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Before you drew your very first breath, God Almighty chose you. When we played kick ball, we always knew whom we wanted on our team, the same can be said about God.
While you were still in your mother’s womb, God laid His finger on you and said, “I choose you!” It was His love for you that brought Him in a baby’s form. It was His love for you that led Him to the cross. It was because He chose you that He died on the cross. He chose you to be with Him for eternity.
Just like Eric Lindros, we still have choices to make. Just because He chose you does not mean that you have chosen Him. He is here this morning. He is calling your name. He has laid His hands on your heart. You have been chosen!!! Will you choose to follow Him?
