Christ Told You That He Chose You

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

August 17, 2014

Romans 8:29

Christ Told You That He Chose You

In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Tommy. Julie. Mikey. Scotty. Meredith. Brad. Douglas. Betty. And now for the last two: Chuck or Ben? As the father divides up his children for kickball, someone's always last and someone's always second-to-last. By picking Chuck, Ben by default is on the other team.

Picking teams is how many people picture God picking who gets into everlasting life, and by default sending the rest to hell by not picking them for heaven. To many this picking and choosing makes good sense because they can imagine it. But they are wrong. The truth isn't ever determined by what people feel makes sense; truth is revealed by Christ, the Word of God.

The truth is that Christ our Lord chose you to be His own. He knows who and what you are and He knowingly worked all things together so that at just the right time He died for you. You live because He chose you.

²⁸We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹For those He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰And those He predestined, He also called; and those He called, He also justified; and those He justified, He also glorified.

Romans 8:28-30

God desires that every last people be saved and His Son paid for the sin of every last person. Christ promised this by saying:

Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

And also Peter said:

The Lord is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3:9

And He before He created time and space mercifully chose each individual person who would be taken into everlasting life.

For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.

Ephesians 1:4-6

Christ has chosen you. You know He chose you because He told you that He chose you. Now it's true that nowhere in revealed Scripture is there a word about you by name. The Bible doesn't say that Riley or Sue is forgiven. But each of you were named in Baptism. Christ ruled over all the events of history that each one of you would be baptized, hear the Gospel preaching of Christ crucified, and receive the very body and blood of Christ. Through these continuing acts of God in each of your personal histories, the Holy Spirit strengthens and keeps you in the one true faith unto life everlasting.

This everlasting choice is a tremendous comfort in this life. There is so much sin in our personal histories that we often reasonably assume that Christ must be forced to send us away into damnation. But this would make God's promise to us in Baptism a lie. And He never lies.

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

John 10:27-29

In the name of the Father

and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.