The Chosen's Choice
Titus 2:11-14
As Christians we were chosen by God to be recipients of God's amazing grace. The blessings of having been chosen are unfathomable. Being chosen there are also responsibilities to be fulfilled and choices to be made.
I. Our great privilege - we have been chosen by God.
A. John 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you."
B. 1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light."
C. Ephesians 1:3-6 "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, 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, 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 made us accepted in the Beloved."
D. Isaiah 43:21 " This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise."
E. We were not chosen because we deserved to be chosen.
F. Deuteronomy 7:6 "For you are 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;"
G. God didn't choose you because of something you've done. It's all because of who He is. You weren't good enough, smart enough, or spiritual enough for him to save you. He saved you because He loves you. - Rick Warren
II. Our great blessings and duty of having been chosen
A. The privilege of sonship
1. We are the children of God because of His amazing grace. It is grace alone that gives us the right or the privilege to call God Father.
2. John 1:12 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the power (the authority, the right, the privilege) to become the sons of God, that is to those who believe in His name."
3. Too many have believed the lie of the universal Fatherhood of God. The Scriptures clearly teach "the universal Creatorship of God" not the universal Fatherhood of God. Those who are unsaved are not the children of God.
4. Ephesians 1:4-5 "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"
5. 1 John 3:2 "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is."
6. The small sons of both Presidents John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln were able to walk into the oval office at anytime! Others would have to wait for their precisely scheduled moment or two. But little John or little Tad could walk in anytime they pleased. Why? Because the man who was “president” to everyone else was “daddy” to them.
7. Galatians 4:6 "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”
8. Matthew West has written a song which expresses the transformation of becoming a child of God entitled "Hello My Name Is". The lyrics are:
"Hello, my name is regret
I’m pretty sure we have met
Every single day of your life
I’m the whisper inside
That won’t let you forget
Hello, my name is defeat
I know you recognize me
Just when you think you can win
I’ll drag you right back down again
‘Til you’ve lost all belief
Oh, these are the voices. Oh, these are the lies
And I have believed them for the very last time
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I’ve been saved, I’ve been changed, I have been set free
"Amazing Grace" is the song I sing
Hello, my name is child of the one true King
I am no longer defined
By all the wreckage behind
The one who makes all things new
Has proven it's true
Just take a look at my life
What love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be
called His children
I am a child of the one true King
What love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called His children" - Matthew West, © 2012 Songs of Southside Independent Music Publishing
8. Permit me to relate the story behind those words as told by Matthew West on his website MatthewWest. com:
Out of the Darkness of addiction and into the light of recovery….
“Hello, my name is Jordan and I am a drug addict.” That was the first sentence of this young man’s story that he sent to me. He went on to tell me how for years that was how he identified himself. A two sport all star athlete in high school, Jordan received a college scholarship to run track and play football at a university in Kentucky. But during his sophomore season, Jordan broke his ankle. That is when he received his first prescription to Oxycotin. He wrote about how addiction quickly took a hold of his life and sent him spinning out of control. After two failed drug tests, the university kicked him out and removed his sports scholarships. Jordan had lost everything he had worked for. He landed at a place called Teen Challenge in North Carolina. Teen Challenge is a Christian rehabilitation center in the business of restoring lives with the hope of Jesus Christ.
Jordan said it was during his time in Teen Challenge that he began to realize that God wasn’t done with him yet, and that all of those defeating titles like “addict,” didn’t have to be attached to his name the rest of his life. His story is far from over. He told me that in the years since his recovery, he went back and got his master’s degree from the very college that kicked him out. Now, he is a teacher and a coach and a newlywed. And he has recently felt God calling him into full time ministry.
He closed his story by saying, “These days I introduce myself a little differently than I used to. Hello, my name is Jordan and I am a child of the one true king!”
What a powerful example of God at work in someone’s story. I read Jordan’s story and couldn’t help but wonder how many people in the world are walking around defined by the defeat and the regret of past mistakes, believing the lie that they will never be able to kick an old habit or move on from yesterday’s mistakes. Jordan’s story is powerful proof that we are not defined by our past. God can restore, redeem, and renew our hearts and lives. He can set our feet on a new path that will lead our lives to a destination far greater than where we used to call home.
“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone and the new has come!” Jordan is standing in the light of a new beginning, forgetting what is behind and taking hold of his new name. - http://matthewwest.com/the-stories/the-story-hello-my-name-is/#sthash.yYRX8ge7.dpuf
B. The privilege of joint-heirship with Christ.
1. Romans 8:16 -17 "The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together."
2. As joint heirs with Christ we inherit the privilege of full sonship and become:
a. Heirs of salvation - Hebrews 1:14
b. Heir of the grace of life eternal - 1 Peter 3:7
c. Heirs of God's kingdom - James 2:5
3. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in ev'ry mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell -
He is my Father so they're mine as well;
God owns the cattle on a thousand hills -
I know that He will care for me. -Peterson©Singspiration/ASCAP
C. The privilege of being Ambassadors for Christ
1. 2 Corinthians 5:20 "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."
2. 1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light"
3. Proclaim - exaggello - means to tell forth, to tell something not otherwise known, to make widely know, to report widely, to proclaim throughout and to tell everywhere. It can also even translated "to advertise". Each child of God ought to be a living “advertisement” for the excellencies or virtues of God and the promises and blessings He bestows on believers now and throughout eternity.
4. We have been given the privilege of serving God with good works, which He performs through us as we allow Him to do so.
5. Ephesians 2:8-10 " For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
III. Our great choice as a Chosen Child of God.
A. AW Tozer in Knowledge of the Holy likens the Christian life to traveling on an ocean liner. Its destination has been determined by proper authorities. Nothing can change it. On board there are scores of passengers. These are not in chains, neither are their activities determined for them by decree. They are completely free to move about as they will. They eat, sleep, play, lounge about on the deck, read, talk, altogether as they please; but all the while the great liner is carrying them steadily onward toward a predetermined port. The degree of enjoyment during the voyage will be determined by the choices they make. Understand that choice determines character. The choices you make as a chosen child of God will determine the direction, happiness, and success of your spiritual life.
B. John 7:16-17 " Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wants to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority."
C. Joshua 24:14-15 " "Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
D. Choose to live as a child of God; to walk as an heir of God, and to serve as an ambassador of God.
E. Christ saved you with the intent that your desire would be to honor and glorify Him in all you do.
F. Titus 2:14 "who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works."
G. Zealous - Totally committed. Sold out. Abandoned. Dedicated. "Possessed". "On fire". Burning. Ablaze, Afire. Impassioned. Fanatical. Ardent. Fervent. Fervently devoted. Passionate. Passionate ardor in pursuit of something. Single heart. Single minded allegiance. Enthusiastically devoted. Eager desire to accomplish some goal or end. - copied
H. Sadly more professed Christians rust out rather than burn out.
I. Count Nicolas von Zinzendorf said "I have one passion only: It is he! It is he!"
J. Philippians1:21(HCSB) "For me, living is Christ and dying is gain."
K. My life, my love, I give to Thee,
Thou Lamb of God who died for me;
Oh, may I ever faithful be,
My Savior and my God!
I’ll live for Him who died for me,
How happy then my life shall be!
I’ll live for Him who died for me,
My Savior and my God!
I now believe Thou dost receive,
For Thou hast died that I might live;
And now henceforth I’ll trust to Thee,
My Savior and my God!
Oh, Thou who died on Calvary,
To save my soul and make me free;
I’ll consecrate my life to Thee,
My Savior and my God! - R. E. Hudson
