CHOSEN BY THE FATHER
“I Have No daddy Issues!”
I Thessalonian 2:13
“But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord because God hath from the beginning CHOSEN YOU to Salvation through Sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.”
Whatever God does for the lost world springs from His eternal LOVE. We can never conceive His great plan of salvation as an impersonal machine. God’s salvation is rooted and grounded in His LOVE (John 3:16)
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
God proved his love at the cross, where Jesus Christ died for the world’s sins.
Romans 5:8
“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
Now, It is not love alone that saves us, for God loves the whole world, yet the entire world is not saved. Love reveals itself in GRACE and MERCY. God in His grace gives us through Christ what we do not deserve, and God in his mercy does not give what we do deserve, but He gave that to Christ.
We dare not explain God’s election of sinners (I Thess. 1:4; Eph. 1:4; I Pe. 1:2). The word “sanctify” means “to set apart.” There is progressive sanctification that makes us more like Jesus:
I Thess. 5:23
“And the very God of peace sanctify your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto thee coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
But the sanctification Paul mentioned here refers to the Spirit’s work in leading us to grow and develop in Christ.
I Pet. 1:2
“Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”
It is the work of the Holy Ghost to bring conviction to the sinner (John 16:7-11). Though I did not realize this was what happened to me.
God tells us in His Word. In His LOVE, He chose you in Christ and selected us for Himself as His own before the foundation of the world so that we would be holy and blameless in His sight (Eph. 1:4). Even though He already knew every mistake, we would ever make. He chose us for Himself. We read that we were chosen “from the beginning,” but we had difficulty receiving it. After all, how could God, who is perfect, choose us and be pleased with us in our imperfections? He can do this because He separates who we are from what we do. As Kingdom Believers in Jesus Christ, we are God’s children. We may not always act the way He wants us to, but we never stop being His children, and he never stops loving us. We have been born into a New Hope, a hope that can never die, a hope that can never feel lonely, a hope that will never stop providing for you, a hope that tells us in Hebrews 6:17-19
“Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
“That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:”
“Just as a father loves his children, So the LORD loves those who fear and worship Him.” (Ampl. Bible)
Many of you may have had daddy issues growing up, just like many have daddy issues growing up in Christ. But I want to encourage you to trust your heavenly Father. He can bring you through any problem with the guidance and love and compassion that a Father has for his children. The LORD is your shepherd, and He will provide all of your needs. Just Trust Him!
Love
Bishop T. W. Jackson I, Thm
