“For He Chose Us in Him Before the Creation of the World.”
The second in a series: “I Will be Your God and You Will Be My People.”
Texts: Deuteronomy 7:6-16; Ephesians 1:3-14
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The only reason that any person reading this is a Christian is because God chose you in Christ before the creation of the world. And it is to this difficult but wonderful truth we now turn as we continue to consider God’s covenant oath, “I will be your God and you will be my people.”
As God’s people, we must come to terms with the clear teaching of Scripture that we are Christians only because God swore on oath that he would have a people, and that Jesus Christ was himself chosen by God to be the only mediator between God and humanity. This is why we now turn to the foundation of the history of redemption, the eternal inter-Trinitarian covenant known as the covenant of redemption.
As I mentioned in the first sermon in the series “I will be your God and you will be my people,” throughout this series we will deal with the unfolding drama of the history of redemption. Before we can turn to the details of redemptive history, we must look first to those eternal things which underlie it.
The story of redemption doesn’t begin willy-nilly. It begins with a divine plan. Redemptive history does not meander about according to the whims of God’s creatures, with God following after them, doing everything he can to keep up and trying to anticipate where things might go next.
The story of redemption has a divine author who not only determines in advance the plot for this drama of redemption, but who also ensures that the events of redemptive history come to their final and ultimate goal. The story of redemption which we see unfolding from Genesis to Revelation is the historical out-working of that which God has decreed to do in eternity past.
The story of redemption must begin with God himself, who was before all things “in the beginning.” This God is utterly transcendent and unknowable in himself. Indeed, unless God chooses to reveal himself to us he would forever remain hidden, forever unknown. But reveal himself he does, first in creation–that which the Belgic Confession calls the book of nature–and then supremely in redemptive history in the revelation of the person of his Son, Jesus Christ. It is Jesus himself who told us, “he who has seen me has seen the father.” If we wish to know what God is like, we are directed to his Son, second person of the Trinity.
Too often, Americans attempt to understand the story of redemption as set forth in the Scriptures through a set of cultural lens rather than biblical ones. How many times have we heard God described as some kind of wise old sage, who is impotent before the human will? Such a "god" must wait for us to move so that he might react accordingly. His wisdom gives him the amazing ability to anticipate our every move, to always remain three steps ahead of his creatures. If we do “x,” God is ready well in advance. If we do “y,” God is fully prepared for this contingency should it arise as well.
But this is not the God of the Bible. This God is not the author of the story of redemption. This god is like a reporter, only describing what happens since he is ultimately unable to determine the outcome in advance.
How many times have we been told that for God to act like a sovereign monarch and exercise absolute authority over us because he is the creator of all things, would not be fair? We are told, that God gives his creatures absolute freedom, and then, gentleman that he is, he simply steps back and then waits to see who will or who will not come to Jesus Christ in faith. This god must not violate the principles of democracy to which he himself is apparently bound. This god must work in tandem with his creatures. He will only do his part once we have done ours. The old name for this is Pelagianism, but most Americans, sadly, think it is the gospel.
How many times have we heard people teach this erroneous concept of God? God–who is alone with himself from all eternity–must create the world of human creatures to satisfy his own desperate need for fellowship with us as creatures in his own image. This poor "god" sits on the edge of heaven as long as he can stand it, bored and alone with nothing to do, apparently, but listen to angelic choirs forever and ever. Now tired with this, and lonely, God creates us to be his companions. And what grief we’ve given him since! He gives us this nice world to live in and what do we do with it? We rebel. The result of this rebellion is the worst of all calamities–a fractured relationship. What a shame, because we then miss out on all of the goodies that God would like to give us. Of course, God does his best to guide the course of things, but after all, God is a respecter of persons, and he will not violate anyone’s free will.
What we have just described is the grid through which most Americans explain and understand those difficult and uncomfortable verses in the bible in which God actually appears to be God! Sad to say, no matter how well intentioned, what we have just described has no basis in the biblical text, and it amounts to idolatry. For this is the American “god,” created in the image of the fallen American mind. This is the `god’ of what Yale professor Harold Bloom described as the American Religion. The American “god” operates on democratic principles unlike those of a sovereign monarch and king. The American god loves the sincere of heart and those who do their best. The American god is there when mayors cut ribbons when new public buildings open. He fights on our side whenever we go to war. He has much in common with everyone’s favorite grandma and his canon of scripture includes the book of verse from "Hallmarkardia," that mythical and sentimental realm of niceness once lampooned by P. J. O’Roarke. This god honors all religions, since, we are told, there are many ways to Jesus. This is the democratic way.
Sadly, most people buy into this because they haven’t thought about it, or because they follow the course of least resistance and simply accept the categories given them by the increasingly pagan and anti-Christian culture. But as Christians, this is the very thing we cannot do so. For this is to create a “god” in our own image which is expressly forbidden by the commandments revealed in the Scriptures. We must face the fact that such a “god” is the modern American equivalent of the pagan super-hero deities of ancient Greece or Rome and such a god has much in common with Baal of biblical times. Though we clearly see it when paganism is described in the bible, we are often blind to it when we face it on so-called Christian radio, Christian television, when we read it in Christian books, or when it comes out of the mouths of professing Christians.
Beloved, this is not the God with whom we have to do. This is not the God whose story unfolds in the drama of redemptive history. Indeed, if we claim to be God’s people, then we must reject all that does not give him the honor he alone deserves or that which robs him of the praise to which he alone is entitled. For the `god’ we have just described is not the author of the story of redemption. This so-called god is the villain–the one who is raised up by the people to oppose the true and living God! This god is the idol of vain human imagination and is the one who will loose out in the end. But to fully grasp this we must begin where God’s story begins, and that is in the beginning with the God who was, who is, and who will always be. It is only when viewed against the backdrop of the God who is there that we can see the idols of our own age.
As we saw last time, before creation itself, there was only the God who was in the beginning. Not only must this God reveal himself if we are to have any knowledge of him, but we must understand who this God is and what he has determined to do, so as not to suffer the same fate as so many of our contemporaries and worship a God of our own imagining.
There are three things which we must consider before we move on to the subject of creation. The first is that this God who was in the beginning, is the Triune God. The second is that the Triune God decreed the course of redemptive history. God decreed to create the mass of humanity and the world, and he decreed that Jesus Christ would be the savior of those whom he also decreed to save. Thus the drama of redemption which we see unfold in the Scriptures is the story of Jesus Christ himself fulfilling his role as mediator of the covenant. Third, we must consider the fact that all those who come to faith in Christ are those given by God to Christ in this covenant of redemption, and that the only reason we believe in Christ is because of something good in God and not because of anything good in us.
As far as our first point goes, this amounts to an affirmation of the classic Christian doctrine that God is triune. Summarizing the Scriptures, the Belgic Confession puts it this way: “We believe one God who is a single essence, in whom there are three persons, really, truly, and eternally distinct according to their incommunicable properties–namely Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” Since on many occasions we have set forth and defended the doctrine of the Trinity, I will not take the time do so now. Instead, I will merely set forth the fact of the matter and make this simple point. The doctrine of the Trinity should force us to remove from our minds forever this sentimental nonsense that God was lonely, and needed us for companionship. Within the Holy Trinity itself, God knew the joy of eternal bliss and fellowship, each member of the Trinity with the others. The joy and bliss of this inter-Trinitarian communion was far greater than any relationship that God can ever have with a mere creature.
If true, this means that God did not need us for anything! And though our confession goes on to say “although this doctrine [of the Trinity] surpasses human understanding, we nevertheless believe it now, through the Word, waiting to enjoy it fully in heaven,” the point is simply this. God is in nowise dependent upon his creatures for anything, including fellowship! God is not lonely or bored. We do not fill some void or need in God. Though the idea that God created us because he needed us fulfills some need within his creatures to attempt to give meaning to human existence, the fact of the matter is that God could have gotten along just fine without us. Clearly we need to be careful here about speculating about such things. For the degree to which we assign “need” in God is the degree to which we rob him of his glory and reduce him to creaturehood.
Yet as we will see in the coming installments, God created us in his own image, hardly an insignificant matter. And created in his image, not only are we designed for fellowship with God, but we are also created to enjoy the world that God has made for us. Another point worth discussion in some detail in the coming lessons.
The second point we need to address is our point of departure this time. God’s glorious covenant promise “I will be your God and you will be my people,” is itself rooted in the Triune God’s decree to create the heavens and the earth, as well as to create men and women in his image. It is God not man who determined the plot line for the unfolding drama of redemption before time itself began.
But for reasons which God does not choose to tell us, as part of this drama, God decreed that humanity would fall into sin. When we ask “why is there sin and evil in the world?” on one level the answer is because God decreed that there would be. But when we ask the related question, “is God the author of this evil?” The Scriptures are equally adamant in their answer– “No!” For according to God’s decree, the evil will arise in the heart of the creature, making us responsible, even though God decreed that this evil would come to pass in human history.
But to focus too narrowly on the mysterious origins of evil is to miss the fact that the presence of sin and evil forms the background against which we must understand God’s grace and the history of redemption. This is why this is a story of redemption, for throughout, it is God who seeks to rescue us from the guilt and consequences of our sin.
God not only determined to allow evil in the world, God also decreed not to obliterate his disobedient creation and then start over. No, according to God’s decree, God will instead manifest the riches of his grace, the awesomeness of his power, as well as the glories of his mercy, by redeeming fallen humanity, as well as redeeming creation itself. In fact, at the end of the story of redemption, we are told “no longer will there be any curse” (Revelation 22:3). But that is getting ahead of ourselves this morning. Though the story may end with the removal of the curse, it begins with a decree to create the world and allow the curse and the fall of humanity into sin, the wages of which is death. And it is this which drives so many of our contemporaries to anger. For this means that man owes God everything, and that everything we have, including life and breath is a gift from God. He owes us nothing!
This is, of course, the last thing a democratic-minded American wants to hear. God is an absolute king and monarch. He is not a president. He was not elected, he cannot be impeached, and his term of office is not limited. The entire creation is his and he can do with it whatever he wishes. In fact, he can even choose those whom he wishes to save, and he can determine who he will not choose, leaving them to account for their own sin and guilt. The God with whom we have to do will always be mysterious and frightening. It is why he graciously draws near in Jesus, his glory veiled in human flesh. But a tame god, who’s ways are fully known by sinful creatures and who’s actions are limited to reactions to our decisions is nothing but an idol.
As we have said repeatedly, the Bible is a book about Jesus Christ as he is revealed throughout the history of redemption. In fact, the story of redemption begins with an inter-Trinitarian covenant, in which Jesus Christ himself is chosen by God to be the only mediator between God and humanity, hence the central figure of all of redemptive history. The Scriptures clearly teach that before time began and before the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep, God chose to save a multitude of sinners in Jesus Christ, a multitude so vast that no one could even count them. The language of God choosing sinners “in Christ” is found repeatedly throughout the New Testament, but especially in Paul’s writings. As we saw in our New Testament lesson, Paul is very clear about the fact that “[God] chose us in [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Thus the drama of redemption begins with an inter-Trinitarian covenant in which the father chooses to save sinners and then transform them into people who are holy and blameless. And these sinners are chosen, “in Christ.”
The reason why God chose some in Christ and not others is also given here by Paul–“In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.” In 2 Timothy 1:9, Paul is equally adamant, speaking of the power of God, “who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.” Now, this may not be the answer we wish to hear, but it is the answer we are given in Scripture. God chose us in Christ before time began because of his good pleasure and will, not because of anything in us. How un-American of him! And this is why this notion of election and an eternal inter-Trinitarian covenant which underlies redemptive history is so offensive to so many. It is this teaching which makes God God and which forces us to give all glory to him and not reserve even a little bit for ourselves. This teaching humbles us. It reminds us that we are mere creatures. It puts us in our place. And this is why so many reject what the Scriptures so clearly teach.
Now, some will say that this teaching is found in Paul, but Jesus would never teach such a thing. Well, quite the contrary. Jesus says more than Paul does about this eternal inter-Trinitarian covenant in which God determines who will be saved, and then gives them to Christ for his very own possession.
In John’s gospel, we are explicitly told in several texts, that Jesus came to save a particular group given to him by the Father. In John 6:38-40 Jesus says, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Notice that Jesus–the mediator of this covenant which God makes with his people–very clearly states that not only has he come to do his father’s will, but that will is to save all that the father gave him under the terms of this inter-Trinitarian covenant.
As redemptive history begins, Jesus will indeed save all those given him by the father, whose will is that everyone who looks to the Son will have eternal life. And who are these who look to the Son? These are those given to Jesus by the father.
But the clearest teaching of Jesus on the subject is found in the famous high priestly prayer of John 17, where Jesus speaks quite explicitly of a definite group given to him by God. Beginning in verse 4, we read “I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.” Notice that once again Jesus plainly speaks of an eternal plan of redemption which he has come to execute. “And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. `I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.” As Jesus said earlier in chapter 5, we obey the word of God by believing that Jesus is the one who God has sent. And this is why, says Jesus, “they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”
Jesus goes on to make plain that only those given him by the Father in this eternal inter-Trinitarian covenant receive the benefits of his priestly intercession. Says Jesus in verses 9-11 of John 17. “I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one.” These, then, for whom Christ prays in Gethsemane are the same individuals Paul describes as being chosen in Christ from before the creation of the world. Here, says Jesus, they have been given him by the father and his priestly work is performed not for the world, but only on their behalf.
And this brings us to our third and final point. As redemptive history begins to unfold, it is clear that not only has God chosen Jesus Christ to be the mediator of this covenant, but the other central characters in redemptive history are men and women chosen by God for the purpose of manifesting his glory through them. Take but a couple of examples. What was Abraham doing when God called him to faith? Was he seeking God? No! According to the Scriptures, he was in Haran, apparently, running the family business when God said to him, “Abraham, leave your country and go to Canaan” (Genesis 11:31-12:1 cf. Nehemiah 9:7). In Genesis 18:19, God says about Abraham– “I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just.” From this it is clear that God chose Abraham, not because he was obedient, but that so he would be obedient and that through his descendant, Jesus, the whole world will be blessed.
And this same pattern holds throughout the entire Old Testament. Moses is called God’s chosen one (Psalm 106:23). Jacob is chosen by God and Esau is rejected before either of them had done anything, good or bad. Indeed, we can even take a New Testament example from Paul, who, as we are told in Acts 9, was on his way to Damascus to hunt down and arrest Christian when Jesus appeared to him out of a blinding light and told him in no uncertain terms that the wolf would become a shepherd. God himself will turn him from the arch-persecutor of Christ’s church into the apostle to the Gentiles.
Was Paul seeking God?
Was Abraham?
What about Moses? Moses’ whole life history was ordered by God in preparation for his role as the covenant mediator between God and his people Israel.
Speaking of Israel . . . The supreme example of how God’s eternal inter-Trinitarian covenant is worked out in redemptive history is to be found in the case of Israel, as seen in our Old Testament lesson. In Deuteronomy 7, God himself speaks to this very matter. We pick up the account in verse 6: “For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. But those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be slow to repay to their face those who hate him. Therefore, take care to follow the commands, decrees and laws I give you today. If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the LORD your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers.”
From this declaration it is perfectly clear that God saw nothing in this people to love. The call of Israel came about because God is loving and faithful, not because Israel is lovable and obedient! But since God, not Israel, is faithful, God has chosen this particular people and it is this sovereign choice made by God which subsequently places Israel in that covenant relationship with God which we will see worked out in the coming sermons in which there is blessing for obedience, and curse for disobedience. We could not misrepresent God’s intentions anymore seriously than by arguing that God chooses Israel because he looks down the corridors of time and sees something meritorious in this nation which lies at the root of his choice.
But lest we get the wrong impression, and think too little of Israel, let us now turn the focus upon ourselves. Why did God choose any of us to look to the Son and thereby have life in him?
The Scriptures cannot be clearer about this. Lest we dare think there is something wonderful in us, let us not forget that God himself chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. Are we to even dare entertain the thought for more than a passing moment, that God chose us because of something in us? Hardly. Our churches are a veritable den of iniquity, filled with repentant sinners of every stripe. There are many who know great success in the eyes of the world, but who also know that such success does not make them right before God. There are many with advanced education. But even those who have not yet entered school, have found the mysteries of Jesus Christ which God withholds from the wise. There are many who one or more times have failed in life, but who nevertheless produce dynasties of faith because they are members of God’s royal family because God chose them in Jesus Christ.
No, God has chosen us to be a new society, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has taken us from virtually every nation, culture and status in life. He is molding us together into the one body of Jesus Christ. He is doing this because before time began–for reasons which remain part of his mysterious will and purpose–God chose Jesus Christ to be the mediator between the Holy God and his sinful creatures. God not only chose Jesus to be the only savior and mediator, God also chose us “in Christ” to be his people, those to whom he will declare throughout the history of redemption “I will be your God and you will be my people.”
Amen!
To read the next sermon in this series, click here: Riddleblog - God Created the Heavens and The Earth