Why did God choose me part 1
Evan and I have started reading a book together called Ordering Your Private World written by Gordan Macdonald. It’s a book that is really about getting your personal life, your inner world, organized in order that you may be able to live in greatest peace and enjoyment with God.
The book begins with a man who is hurting inside. He cries,
“I’m so disorganized! I can’t get my act together! My inner life is a mess. My private life is a failure.”
It is here Christians, that we might begin to wonder, Why did God Choose me?
It is my hope that today we can begin to find an answer to this age old question. Why did God choose us?
Lets read in 1 Peter 1:1-2
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
In this passage we can see right away that it is not Peter’s intention to teach us about theology or anything else for the matter. This is a letter and Peter is simply stated who he is, who he is writing to, and a little bit about why he is writing to them, but the truth is that there are so many wonderful things that we can learn from this brief greeting.
1. Chosen according to God’s foreknowledge
First, we see that God chose his people according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.
At this point if you have grown up in a Presbyterian church you might be saying, hold on Matt, what are you trying to say? Are you really saying that God chose us based upon what his foreknowledge of what we choose?
The answer is no, this is not what is meant here by foreknowledge. What we find here is something is so much more beautiful and special.
God chose you not because he knew what choice you would make, but because from the before the creation of the world God knows all his people, and even before you choose him in this world, you are already his. We just don’t know it or understand it, until we give our lives over to Him.
An old woman, hearing of some preachers who dwelt on the doctrine of predestination, said: “Ah, I have long settled that point, for if God had not chosen me before I was born. I am sure He would have seen nothing in me to have chosen me afterward.”
When I look at my own life I can certainly identify with this old woman, because I am a completely and utterly a sinner. If God had not chosen his people before the creation of the world, I do not believe that I would have chosen Him, nor do I see anything within myself that makes me deserving of being chosen.
But the truth is the old lady missed something very true and special. She missed the fact that even when God chose her before the creation of the world, He knew her more deeply and intimately than she could ever know herself. In fact God knew us all, all of his people, before the creation of the world. He knew us inside and out. He knew my messes and your messes.
The book of Romans says, that he chose us even while we were still sinners.
He knew my passions and your passions, and I believe that God chose us, not because we are good, or because we are more holy than another person, or because we deserve it at all, but because He wanted you and me to glorify Him.
RC Sproul points out that In the Bible knowledge is often used in a sense of personal intimacy, as when Adam “knew” Eve and she conceived a son (Genesis 4:1). He says that God’s foreknowledge is then linked to His foreloving. We see in Romans 8:30 that everyone who was “foreknown” was also “predestined, called, justified, and glorified.” He says then that “foreknowledge” must have the sense of intimacy and personal calling, and can refer only to God’s elect.
In other words God chose you, because he knew you intimately and loved you before the creation of the world.
2. Called through the Sanctifying work of the Spirit
Inevitably, He will be glorified by everyone. Ultimately all men give God glory, willingly or unwillingly, in life or in death. The glory God gets from the righteous is what especially pleases Him. They give Him glory willingly. In fact, giving Him glory is the special calling of God’s people. In Isaiah 43:21, God says, “The people whom I formed for Myself, will declare My praise.” First Peter 2:9 says of the church, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you.”
John MacArthur, The Ultimate Priority : John MacArthur, Jr. on Worship (electronic ed.; Chicago: Moody Press, 1998, c1983), 131.
3. Called through the Sanctifying work of the Spirit
4. Called for Obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood
Know Your Election
Many people want to know their election before they look to Christ. But they cannot learn it thus; it is only to be discovered by ‘looking unto Jesus.’ Look to Jesus, believe on Him, and you shall make proof of your election directly, for as surely as you believe, you are elect. If you will give yourself wholly up to Christ and trust Him, then you are one of God’s chosen ones. Go to Jesus just as you are. Go straight to Christ, hide in His wounds, and you shall know your election.
Christ was at the everlasting council. He can tell you whether you were chosen or not, but you cannot find out in any other way. Go and put your trust in Him. There will be no doubt about His having chosen you, when you have chosen Him. - Charles Spurgeon
Galaxie Software, 10,000 Sermon Illustrations ( (Biblical Studies Press, 2002; 2002)).