Crystallization-Study Outlines of Genesis (3) Message Two Chosen, Dealt With, and Broken ‹‹ WEEK 26 — DAY 1 ›› Morning Nourishment Eph. 1:4 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love. Rom. 9:11 Though the children had not yet been born nor had done anything good or bad (that the purpose of God according to selection might remain, not of works but of Him who calls). Do you believe that you have been chosen? How do you know this? Although we may stand on the Word of God and say, “I know that I have been chosen because the Bible tells me so,” I would still ask this question: how do we know from our experience that we have been chosen by God? We know it by the fact that we cannot get away from Him. During the past fifty years of my Christian life,I have tried many times to get away from the Lord. I have even said to Him, “Lord,I am tired of the Christian life. I am running away.” Although I tried to run away, I could not do it. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 862) Today’s Reading Jacob is the last of the three [patriarchs], yet he is used by God to signify the Father in His loving and choosing man. Malachi 1:2 says that God loved Jacob, and Romans 9:10-13 says that God selected Jacob,choosing him even before he was born. (The History of God in His Union with Man, p. 133) Jacob was chosen before his birth, even before the foundation of the world (Gen. 25:22-23; Rom. 9:11; Eph. 1:4). We, like Jacob, were also chosen before we were born. In eternity past, before God began to create anything, He chose us. Although we may think that we are quite small, we are big enough for God to pay attention to us. Even before the foundation of the world, God paid attention to us by selecting us in eternity past....His selection does not depend on us; it is absolutely up to Him. It is not of our struggle or works, “but of Him who calls.” We are not the Creator—He is. God’s selection is also of God’s mercy (Rom. 9:14-16). God said to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have ompassion on whomever I will have compassion” (Rom. 9:15). We all are the objects of God’s mercy. How we thank Him that He has had mercy on us! “It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy” (Rom.9:16). God’s selection is also of His grace (Rom. 11:5)....We are not only the objects of God’s mercy; we are also the objects of His grace. We are under God’s mercy, and His grace is within us....Now we are not only under God’s mercy; we also have His grace, the living person of Christ as the Spirit, within us. This is God’s selection. In the record of Jacob’s life, we see something which can be designated as mercy and something which can be designated as grace. (Life-study of Genesis,pp. 862, 864-865) God’s choosing is the first blessing that He bestowed on us. His choosing is His selection. From among numberless people He selected us, and this He did in Christ. Christ was the sphere in which we were selected by God. Outside of Christ we are not God’s choice. (Eph. 1:4, footnote 1) Our being chosen by God was according to His foreknowledge (1 Pet. 1:2; Rom.8:29). I like the word foreknowledge. Before we were born, God foreknew us. In eternity past, God chose us and predestinated us according to His foreknowledge. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 863) The expression sovereign mercy means that God’s mercy is absolutely according to His sovereignty. Being a vessel of mercy is not the result of our choice; it originates with God’s sovereignty. It is of God’s sovereignty that He created us vessels of mercy to contain Himself. His sovereignty is the basis of His selection. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 184-1185) If we know God’s selection, we can put ourselves in God’s bosom; we can cast ourselves upon Him and trust that He will bring us to the point where we will be pleasing to Him. (CWWN, vol. 35, “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” pp. 116-117) Further Reading: Life-study of Genesis, msg. 66; Life-study of Romans, msgs.22-24
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 08:51:12 +0000
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