1 Identity Issues Rejectin and Electin Ephesians 1:4 Fr many f us, experiences f rejectin are what mstly shape ur sense f identity. Thse mments we ve all had f being skipped ver, left ut, unwanted and nt chsen. These negative episdes nt nly infrm the way we feel abut urselves, but the way we think abut Gd and hw we act with and tward thers (Read Ephesians 1:4) As a kid I was a really bad athlete I still am I m kay with surfing, dirtbiking, skiing, snwbarding, etc., but I am hrrible at all ball sprts One f my earliest memries striking ut at t-ball (in the champinship game!) One f my greatest fears as a kid was when it was time t pick teams I was always last r very near last I was never the ne wh peple wanted n their team I was never chsen peple usually gt me by default One f the effects this had n me was t make me feel defeated befre I even stepped n the field/curt I was already cnvinced that I culd and wuld nly disappint myself and thers The same is true fr me tday Because I was never chsen I always feel defeated when facing a field r curt Nbdy culd ever rescue me frm this I am trapped and dmed (in having never been chsen) Nw let s think abut ur relatinship with Gd We ften feel defeated in it Even befre we step n t the field (get ut f bed) We already have a sense that all we culd pssibly d is disappint urselves and Gd The reasn is that we have been taught that the gd nes always get chsen The gd nes are the nes that Gd wants and uses and blesses And we realize that we are nt gd (if yu think yu are yu are wrst f all) (Scripture/Law) S we live in fear f rejectin Few f us think that Gd wuld ultimately reject us (nce we are saved) But many f us think that He at least rejects me tday and must be disappinted with me (after all, I am disappinted with me) And s nce again, ur identity (self-perceptin), gets largely shaped by a sense f rejectin This infrms the way we think, feel and act (tward Gd, self and thers) Destructive behavir, perfectinism, ungdly cmpetitin, sabtage, belittling f thers, self-lathing, fear But what if we can be rescued? The beautiful truth f the Dctrine f Electin That (v. 4): Even befre He made the wrld, Gd lved us and chse us in Christ t be hly and withut fault in His eyes Let s talk a bit abut this cncept f being chsen (electin) Since it is a tpic that makes a lt f peple uncmfrtable 2.1.11
2 First f all Electin is nt a human speculatin, but a divine revelatin. Jhn Sttt 1 Scripture just simply says (withut much explanatin r defense) that we are chsen/elect In Scripture electin is a statement, nt an argument. Martin Llyd-Jnes Jhn 15:16 Yu didn t chse me. I chse yu. 1 Thessalnians 1:4 We knw, dear brthers and sisters, that Gd lves yu and has chsen yu t be his wn peple. 2 Thessalnians 2:13 As fr us, we can t help but thank Gd fr yu, dear brthers and sisters lved by the Lrd. We are always thankful that Gd chse yu t be amng the first t experience salvatin a salvatin that came thrugh the Spirit wh makes yu hly and thrugh yur belief in the truth. 1 Peter 1:2 Gd the Father knew yu and chse yu lng ag, and his Spirit has made yu hly. As a result, yu have beyed him and have been cleansed by the bld f Jesus Christ. And it isn t as thugh electin is just a New Testament thing Gd chse Israel in the OT Everyne finds the dctrine f electin difficult Because we als find the truth f freewill t be present Gd has created us with freewill and prves such by the fact that He hlds us t be mrally respnsible In Scripture we simply see bth that: (1) Gd is svereign and (2) man is respnsible (2 clear ples established in Scripture) There are 2 crllaries: 2 Gd's svereignty never functins t mitigate man's respnsibility (Man is always respnsible) Man's respnsibility never functins t diminish Gd's svereignty (Gd is always svereign) In the Bible, divine svereignty and human respnsibility are nt enemies. 3 They exist side by side and wrk tgether in sme mysterius way. The dctrine f electin presents us with a Gd wh defies finite analysis. It is a dctrine that let s Gd be Gd 4 (And leaves us realizing that we are nt) Jhn Sttt uses this explanatin t highlight the 2 truths in tensin Didn t I chse Gd? smebdy asks indignantly; t which we must answer Yes, indeed yu did, and freely, but nly because in eternity Gd had first chsen yu. Didn t I decide fr Christ? asks smebdy else; t which we must reply Yes, indeed yu did, and freely, but nly because in eternity Gd had first decided fr yu. 5 1 Jhn Sttt, The Message f Ephesians (Nttingham, England: IVP, 1979), 37. 2 D. A. Carsn calls this recgnitin f the tensin between these tw ples cmpatibilism 3 J. I. Packer, Evangelism and the Svereignty f Gd (Dwners Grve, Ill.: IVP, 2008), 43. 4 R. Kent Hughes, Ephesians: The Mystery f the Bdy f Christ (Wheatn, Ill.: Crssway Bks, 1990), 24. 5 Sttt, 37. 2.1.11
3 We must never allw ur subjective experience f chsing Christ water dwn the fact that we wuld nt have chsen him if he had nt first chsen us. -R. Kent Hughes 6 S, what d we d with this? Well, admittedly, there are many questins We can spend the next several hundred years talking abut the tensin, arguing abut which truth wins ut t the detriment f the ther We can wnder abut wh is nt chsen Or we can begin t think differently: Instead f fretting ver the questins that the dctrine f electin creates Let s begin t rejice in and live ut the answers that the dctrine f electin prvides The big questin f identity (f life) is am I accepted? When life tells us that we are nt (thrugh parents, peers, teachers, neighbrs, bsses, magazines) We spend the rest f ur lives trying t prve that we are and find smene wh agrees that we are When we dn t, we wnder, Wh am I? Am I ever ging t be gd enugh? (Needs ultimate reslve) In the search fr self and acceptance we resrt t all srts f strange and destructive behavirs But Christ has already tld us f the futility f this endeavr Yu have t lse yur life t find it The truth being, we cannt actually find urselves and s prve ur wrth We have, rather, been fund by Gd! Search fr ne s identity is dmed t failure because it is rests n the false premise that it is incumbent upn us t be successful in the search fr self. Instead, the gspel declares that we have been fund that identity is a gift ne can never btain r reach n the basis f human effrt. Eugene L. Lwry 7 Identity is a gift grace (verse 4 again) The need fr acceptance is dealt with by the Father s lve and His chsing f us The mistake that we make is that we try t live s that He will lve us, rather than living because He has already lved [and chsen] us. 8 As lng as we let ur parents, teachers, friends, fes, etc determine whether r nt we are chsen, we are living accrding t untruths. The wrld and its way f determining whether r nt yu are chsen are false We can live accrding t a greater truth! That frm befre the beginning f the wrld yu were lved and chsen by Gd Lng befre yu were rejected by peers, neglected by parents, r passed ver fr prmtins Yu were already chsen by Gd 6 Hughes, 24. 7 Eugene L. Lwry, The Hmiletical Plt: The Sermn as Narrative Art Frm (Luisville, KT.: Westminster Jhn Knx Press, 2001), 74. 8 Llyd Ogilvie, quted in Brennan Manning, Ragamuffin Gspel (Clrad Springs, CO.: Multnmah, 2005), 183. 2.1.11
4 Why were yu chsen? Gd always chses accrding t His purpses nt ur persnalities It has always been that way: Deuternmy 7:7-8 (Mses speaking t Israel abut Gd s chsing f them) The Lrd did nt set his heart n yu and chse yu because yu were mre numerus than ther natins, fr yu were the smallest f all natins! Rather, it was simply that the Lrd lves yu That is why the Lrd rescued yu We ften think that there is smething we either have dne r must d t win Gd s favr, but this cannt be s since He chse us even befre He made the wrld (verse 4) What culd we have pssibly dne? We usually think: Oh I am chsen, therefre I am awesme! Or, I am nt chsen, therefre I am wrthless. With Gd, yu are chsen nt because yu are awesme, but because He is awesme in lve. And He lves yu Nt because yu are valuable, but His lve has made yu valuable. Yu are nt chsen because yu were wrthy, but yu are f great wrth because yu have been chsen! Frm 1 Crinthians 1:26-31 Remember, dear brthers and sisters Gd chse things the wrld cnsiders flish And he chse things that are pwerless Gd chse things despised by the wrld, things cunted as nthing at all As a result, n ne can ever bast in the presence f Gd. Gd has united yu with Christ Jesus Christ made us right with Gd; he made us pure and hly, and he freed us frm sin. Therefre, as the Scriptures say, If yu want t bast, bast nly abut the Lrd. This desn t always resnate with us because we have this deep sense f needing t be desirable, needing t have earned smething, be deserving f smething, and be wrthy f smething Here is where we err! That is a descriptin f Gd! Only Gd is truly desirable in wh He is Only Gd has truly earned praise in what He has dne Only Gd is deserving, nly Gd is wrthy Yur discntent is the same as Eve s! Yu want t be like Gd! (Desirable, deserving, wrthy) Therefre yu stand cndemned with Eve! Yu need a Savir, and Gd has chsen yu t be saved yu are flish and pwerless and despised and nthing; but Gd has united yu t Christ Jesus, and He has made yu right with Gd; He has made yu pure and hly in Gd s eyes by paying fr yur sins and exchanging yur wrthlessness fr His wrth! Why then did Gd chse yu? We can nly say because f Gd s lve and His great pleasure (v. 5)! Yu must hear this as immensely warm and lving And freeing! It is His lve and great pleasure, nt ur lve and gdness Mst f my feelings (and s actins) are shaped by the sense that I am nt gd enugh r I did nt d gd enugh r I dn t lve Gd enugh Thse are nt the issues! Yes, they are true And apart frm Christ yu are defeated befre yu step n the field (but yu have been rescued) 2.1.11
5 But yu have been rescued!! The issue is n lnger that yu are nt gd enugh Gd is gd enugh The issue is n lnger that yu have nt dne gd enugh Christ has dne gd enugh n ur behalf The issue is n lnger that yu d nt lve Gd enugh Gd lves yu enugh The mst difficult part f mature faith is allwing urselves t be the bject f Gd s delight. 9 Think rightly abut this Thugh we used human chsing in the beginning as an illustratin, we must realize that ne f the results f ur fallenness is that human chsing creates pride In juxtapsitin t this, Gd s chsing f us can nly create in us a prfund sense f humility and thanksgiving The reasn Gd chse us was in Himself (His lve) nt in us (ur merit) I ve been walking with the Lrd fr almst 20 years I ve been teaching the bible fr abut 15 years I have never felt mre sinful, wicked and undeserving in my life I have never felt mre lved and chsen in my life Gd expects mre failure frm me than I expect frm myself! He knew and He still chse me! The gspel says I am bth! (wicked and chsen; unwrthy and lved) But my identity is n lnger frmed by rejectin, but by electin!!! Nt by the fact that I am bad, but that Christ is gd and has dne gd fr me!!! He has chsen me t be withut fault in His eyes (Hly and Blameless) in Christ! (Cf. 5:27; Cl 1:22; Jude 24-25) S, what this causes us t d is praise Gd! Cf. verses 3 and 14 And it causes us t want t live fr Gd (t be hly because we are hly) Because: (1) We have a new nature that actually lngs fr hliness (thugh we d struggle) (2) Scripture tells us t live differently (Cf. Ephesians 4:1 lead a life wrthy f yur calling) (3) Incngruus living is exhausting One f the ways that we live cngruusly with the truth f electin is t accept urselves Self-lathing and never-ending self castigatin is incngruent with electin It simply isn t right t frever hld against urselves what was nailed against the Crss It is simply wrng t refuse t frgive urselves where Gd (in Christ) has frgiven us It will nt d t refuse t accept urselves when Gd (in Christ) has accepted us The miraculus mvement frm self-rejectin t self-acceptance is nt based n therapy r the pwer f psitive thinking; it is anchred in [the] persnal experience f the acceptance f Jesus Christ. It is nt the result f pppsychlgy, it is an act f faith in the grace f Gd. -Brennan Manning 10 9 Alan Jnes as quted in Ragamuffin Gspel, 224 10 Manning, 218 and 49. 2.1.11
6 This act f faith changes the way we live with thers in the wrld When we live ut f a sense f rejectin: We cnstantly need t prve ur selves wrthy f acceptance We ften d this thrugh perfectinism, ungdly cmpetitin, sabtage and belittling thers When we accept urselves (because Gd in Christ has accepted us): We are less prne t belittle thers, lng fr pwer, and vie fr psitin and ppularity We are n lnger wrecked by criticism and failure and being secnd r last S we d nt need t criticize thers t feel better abut us We d nt need t beat them dwn t pull urselves up We can actually be humble and lving and accepting When we live ut f a sense f electin: We are free frm having t prve urselves acceptable and we are able t prmte, praise, help and serve thers. the gspel is the freedm f lving thers as we lve urselves. And we can nw lve urselves because we are in fact lved by Gd. N lnger having t prve ur wn wrth, we may nw be set free frm making thers prve themselves t us. Eugene L. Lwry 11 Because what appears t be arrgance, lking dwn n thers, is ften, actually a refusal t accept self We think t lwly f urselves s we must make thers lwer that we might feel better That makes the game f life a bummer In sprts, if I had always wn and played every game perfectly, and s was always chsen t be n the team, I wuld step nt the field differently Because we are in Christ, we stand befre Gd differently Nt as dirty, but as hly Nt as judged and shamed and at dds with Gd, but as recipients f grace wh have peace with Gd Nt as cursed, but as blessed Nt as rejected, but as elected (because f Gd s lve and fr Gd s great pleasure) Gd, in Christ, may be the nly ne wh ever validates yu And that is kay mre than enugh In fact, t seek mre is flly sin keep us frm such flly Lrd! 11 Lwry, 86. 2.1.11