Looking at the biblical account of election, this article shows that from the Old Testament to the present day, God chooses his people so that they can be a blessing to others.

Source: Lux Mundi, 2006. 4 pages.

Chosen Church of God Why was Abraham chosen? And Joseph? And Moses? And Samuel? And Paul? And...

For a long time I believed it was Jacob who was the cause of the fighting in his family. Was it not terribly foolish of him to favour Joseph above the other children? Why did he give such a beautiful robe only to him? Joseph was the eldest son of Rachel who (by then) had already died and whom Jacob had loved so intensely. But did that justify the distinction?

Undoubtedly, Jacob’s favouritism can be rightly criticized. But we have to be careful, for there is more than meets the eye here. Ultimately it is God who makes a distinction between Joseph and the rest and it has to do with more than just a robe. God sends dreams only to Joseph. Dreams in which Joseph is exalted above his brothers, even above his father and mother. The sun, the moon and eleven stars bow down before him. But this went too far, even for Jacob. He took Joseph apart to reprimand him. Later these dreams became the reason for his being sold. One day, when his brothers saw Joseph coming from a distance, they drew up the plan to kill the ‘master dreamer’. “Now we’ll see what comes of his dreams”, they said (Gen.37:20). Later the murder plan was changed into a sale. But their motives were clear: their hatred was directed especially against what God gave to Joseph. This should make us careful in our criticism of Jacob. Jacob may have acted unwisely by favouring Joseph, but if God does something like that, there is a lesson for us to learn.

God Chooses🔗

Why do I take the example of Joseph? For no particular reason. There are plenty of other examples to illustrate this thread running throughout the Bible into our own time. The thread of God’s choices: divine election.

Many books have been written about this subject and still words fall short because of its depth of riches. That God chose this world in the first place, even though it had completely alienated itself from Him, is unfathomable. Especially because He exactly knew what the cost would be. He chose to save people who had set themselves up as gods. He chose a history full of sacrifice and care, day by day. He chose to come among people in order to achieve his supreme goal: the ultimate sacrifice of atonement in Jesus Christ and its universal application to all his elect, in spite all resistance. If one thing is clear, then it is this: our God is extremely loving and ingenious. He had enough love within Himself to choose us, although we had absolutely no love to offer yet. In doing this, He was completely sovereign and nothing obliged to anyone. He gives us infinitely much and always freely. He gives us tasks and gifts, but He never gives the same to everyone. Of course we find this difficult to accept, whenever we lack something that someone else has. This sense of deficiency can be deeply painful. But deeper than this is God’s choice by which we live and by which the world exists.

Due to his sovereignty God can give Joseph a special calling ‘out of the blue’ and choose him from among his whole family. For the same reason He can act similarly with David and many others. A lot more could be said about this, but I will leave it at this for now, because I want to look ahead, at the result.

Farreaching🔗

God had a clear goal when He chose Joseph to receive special dreams. It was a goal which nobody could have suspected. Joseph’s brothers came no further than their own irritation and jealousy, but that was going to change!

God had chosen Joseph in order to keep his brothers and his entire people alive. No less! Of course they discover this afterwards and then thank the brother whom they first sold. This final outcome sheds a totally different light on God’s choice. Different from what you would think at the outset. Initially there was anger: “Why Joseph and not us?” But that changed into: “When God chose Joseph, He had us in mind too!” Even surroundings nations would profit from this choice.

If God draws people to Himself, it is always with a view to their environment, so that others may share in his drawing love. Why did God choose David from among all those strong brothers? In order to exalt him as king of Israel. What an honour for David! But at the same time we should say (as this is inextricably connected): what a blessing for the people, including David’s brothers! God’s choice of David is beneficial to everyone who belongs to David. This is always the case with God’s choice. God’s choice is far reaching. It reaches always further than that one person who first comes in view. It was like that with Abraham, Moses, Paul and many others. When God called them, He saw all those who would be blessed alongside and through them. When Jesus prayed for his disciples, he also prayed for those who would believe in Him through their word.

Indeed, this is already what happened when God chose Israel in order to make his home among them. Before as well as after He did this, messengers from God proclaimed that all nations would benefit from this. Israel was meant as the candle stand from which God’s light was to shine into the whole world. What an incredible honour for Israel! But also: woe betides Israel if they were to neglect this calling! God’s wrath would be great. Imagine what would have happened if Joseph had not given food to his brothers, but had kept everything for himself. It would have been unthinkable and diametrically opposed to God’s election and his intention. But that is exactly what happened with Israel later on in history. They kept God’s light for themselves. Salvation became a private national thing. The surrounding nations were ignored and looked down upon. Time and again the prophets pointed the chosen people to the horizon of salvation, portraying the nations before their very eyes. The Psalms show the same perspective, see for example Psalms 87, 96, 100. Jesus himself said that the nations would come from the corners of the earth and take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. This word caused irritation mainly, an irritation which – well into the first century – provided the reason why the Jews resisted the gospel and why Paul was sent to the Gentiles. Through all this the Jews jeopardized their own election and robbed it of its meaning.

Chosen to be a Blessing🔗

The biblical thread of election is as relevant today as it was two thousand years ago. Peter writes that we are a chosen people, a people belonging to God, in order to declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Peter 2:9).

In other words, we are chosen – just like Joseph, David, Paul and so many others – to be a blessing in God’s hand to many people. We are a chosen people, a chosen church of God, called to be a blessing to those who (will) draw near. When God chose us, He saw the people around us. Woe betide the ‘Joseph’ who eats up all the bread himself! Woe betide the king who is only interested in wealth. Woe betide the people who make their election an internal affair! Because then it will come to nothing. If God’s intentions behind his choice are darkened, the power of his choice also disappears.

Sadly, this is what has happened so often: that election has become a internal affair, with the result that deep down believers are only interested in their own salvation, struggling all their lives with that one scary question whether or not they belong to God’s elect. Or, alternatively, when they have finally found assurance of faith, avoid contact with the ‘world’, just like Israel which kept distance from the Gentiles. But then the circle becomes too small.

Why do I write this? Because divine election is not only an amazing honour but also an obvious task. Too often I hear the paralysing question: “Why me and not her?” But this question disappears like snow before the sun if you think of who Joseph was, for example. Election is not about ‘Why me and not her’ but about Go and tell them!’

I write this because as churches we should be asking ourselves what has become of God’s purpose, when He chose us to proclaim his salvation. Israel was meant as the candle stand of God’s light for the world. On Patmos John sees the same image, but now it stands for the churches today: seven candles stand which God keeps burning (Revelation 1). Jesus’ message is clear: “Let your light shine before men. Be a city set upon a hill.” In short: be visible, accessible and appealing. The question is: Are we? It oppresses me to see so much energy in our church life spent on internal matters. Make an outline of how much time and money your local church spends on internal and external work. What does it tell you? I hear there is a great deal of concern within our churches. Concern about what? I would like to see an outline of that too, with the same division: internal versus external.

What I mean is: what is it that most occupies our thoughts? What do we invest in? What are we concerned about? I fear that many discussions are purely internally directed: discussions on how to make agreements and how many, discussions on worship, on which songs we sing etc. Mind you, I’m not saying these subjects are not worth discussing, but if they keep coming back we must be doing something wrong. So much energy is wasted, which could be spent on the salvation of others. Again, I am not saying that all internal discussions are unnecessary. But I am saying that we should strike the right balance. We have not been chosen to be busy with ourselves all our lives, nor individually nor as church.

Visible🔗

There is something else I have not mentioned yet. If God chooses us for his goal, should we not answer Him? Is it not proper that we make a choice for him? Yes, of course.

This time of year we may experience again that many young people profess their faith in God. They make a choice for the Lord. And that is great!

However, I confess that I increasingly miss this element in our normal Sunday services. I was made aware of this during our ‘low-threshold’ services where we adapt our language to guests. In these meetings I see many faces of people for whom it is special to be present. They look, they listen and they ask themselves what to do. That is why I invite them to give an answer to God. The sermon ends in a moment of silence, when everyone can turn to God personally. After that we stand for our closing song.

It seems to me this is essential, but why only for our guests? I was taught at an early age that a service is a covenantal encounter between God and his church, meant for covenant renewal. That means that it is not only the Word of God that is important (even though it is at the centre), but that God is always eager to hear how we choose. Will it be ‘yes’ or ‘no’? Do we respond to him only with our lips or also with our hearts? Do we dedicate our lives to him or do we stay in control? Etc, etc.

Should we not give this element of choice a much greater emphasis? Do we realise that during and after preaching the sermon something very important is happening on the part the hearer? I believe this realization should receive more attention, especially for our young people, in order to let them grow in this. Why am I saying this?

Because God’s choice should become visible in ours. His choice for us works out a choice for Him within us and for everything God is doing. This should not remain vague, lest we give the impression that a sermon is something you can merely listen to.

If our choice becomes vague, God’s choice also becomes vague, which means that everything becomes vague. As a result, people will focus on secondary things, such as human traditions and rules, which will swallow valuable time and attention because of the discussion that is stirred up.

Just imagine that God’s electing love is clearly preached. And that – equally clearly – the church members choose to commit themselves to it. Then, everybody vows to God to bring grace to other people. In doing so, we would be in dire need of each other and there would be another climate in which we would be carried along in the flow of God’s salvation. Church life would become less static. There is a higher aim than keeping peace within the church. Leaving things as they are will definitely not promote this peace.

Experiencing the Power🔗

The example of Joseph is as clear as it is simple. If Joseph had chosen not to distribute the food, he would have rejected God’s choice by which he rose to power. If Paul had chosen to stay at home, he would have robbed God’s choice of all its power, for which reason Jesus had revealed Himself especially to him. I could go on illustrating this, from Moses to today’s chosen church of God. If the church and her leadership choose to busy themselves primarily with her own welfare, sufficiently shielded off by words and rituals which an outsider cannot understand, she robs herself of the vitality which flows directly to her from the depths of God’s riches.

I hear people saying: “Yes, but let us first put our own house in order. We’ll have a look at ‘low-threshold’ services later.” I believe people who say this mean well, but it is a self-invented condition. Where is it to be found in the Bible? Right until the Last Day the church will have its problems, be under attack, also from within. It was predicted to us! But does that mean we can say we have to take care of our internal affairs first, before we reach out to others?

It means that we will never get down to evangelism in this life. It means we choose to remain forever busy with internal processes, which will disappoint us more and more, because they will not cease. To think that they will, is an illusion. There will always be opposing forces.

But it is the power of God’s choice by which He can minister His salvation to this world through limited people and imperfect churches. He who lets himself be carried along in this choice, will also experience its power.

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