Are you special? I know your momma says you are. She tells you out of all the babies at the hospital she chose you because you were the most beautiful of all the babies in the nursery. When you were little that made you feel special, but then you overheard Gary VanGorder’s mom say the same thing about him and you realize that you are not as special as you thought. You joined the soccer team and you ran as fast as you could kicked as hard as your little heart could handle and as a result, at the end of the season, the coach handed you a trophy. As you held the trophy in your hand and saw your name inscribed on the nameplate you felt special. But then you looked around and saw that the coach had given a trophy to every player on the team. Even the kid that spent the entire season eating grass got a trophy; and you realized you were not as special as you thought. You were accepted into the college of your choice, not all of your friends were. You start attending classes and discover that you are surrounded by talented and gifted students. There are no stoners or burnouts here. This is a special group of people and you are part of them, but then the professor starts talking about natural selection. She tells you that you are a cosmic coincidence, a product of chance, an unintended result of a big bang. It’s hard to feel special when you are the descendant of primordial goo. You work hard and advance quickly. You are given one promotion after another, soon you are at the top of your field. People look to you for answers. Like E.F. Hutton, when you speak, people listen. But then you retire. They throw you a wonderful party, give you a nice watch, wish you well and then, promptly stop listening to you. Within a week they start looking to the new guy who wears t-shirts under his sports coat for answers and you realize you were not as special as you thought.
Are you special? “Well I thought I was till you started preaching. Thanks a lot, pastor!” Fair enough. It is hard to feel special, isn’t it? With the exception of a few narcissists that I know, I have noticed that even the most confident people don’t always feel like they are anything special. We listen to motivational speakers, we read books about purpose driven lives, we sit in front of our daily affirmation mirror and tell ourselves, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.” but still we struggle to feel special.
Well, today that is going to change. Today, Saint Paul is going to make you feel extra special. Today, Saint Paul points out you are the chosen ones; chosen as a result of an intentional decision, a willing sacrifice, and an ongoing effort.
Let’s first consider the intentional decision that was made on behalf of the chosen ones. In verses 3-5 Paul writes, “3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will”. The heavenly Father made an intentional decision for you. First, He decided to create you. Before there was an is, the heavenly Father designed you to be the crown of His creation. He had choices. He could have breathed the breath of life into the duck billed platypus, the screaming hairy armadillo, or the red lipped batfish but He didn’t. He chose you. You were chosen to be flawless; physically, intellectually, emotionally, completely and totally flawless. The heavenly Father said, “Let us make man in our image.”[1] He chose you out of all creation to be a reflection of the divine; to be “holy and blameless”.
And even after we screwed up (and by “screwed up” I mean when Adam and Eve rebelled against Him in the garden thereby condemning mankind to a life of sin and the fearful expectation of an eternity of torment in hell) even though you are no longer holy and blameless, the heavenly Father chose you. He made an intentional decision to bring you back into His family. He chose to adopt you. Now think about what that mean. When the heavenly Father chose to adopt you back into the family it was not an act of a god gone soft on sin, but an act of the heavenly Father intent on putting enmity between you and Satan. Your adoption was not the act of a bored, disinterested god casually deciding your fate, but an act of the heavenly Father intent on your salvation. The adoption process was a long and painful process. It was incredibly costly to the heavenly Father and in a moment, we will talk about the cost, but for now the knowledge that the heavenly Father was willing to pay the price; that He made an intentional choice to pay that price for you, that should make you feel special.
The heavenly Father made an intentional decision to first create you and even though you and I are far from the holy and blameless people He created us to be He still made the intentional decision to adopt you. You may not always feel like it, but your heavenly Father thinks you are special.
Now let’s consider the willing sacrifice that has been made for the chosen ones. In verses 7-10 Paul writes, “7 In him [that is in Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” Your Savior Jesus was willing to sacrifice Himself for you. He sacrificed Himself first as payment for your sins. The choice to make you a child of God was not some abstract process which began and ended in the white halls of heaven on some celestial morning. Your redemption had a price. Blood needed to shed. It should have been your blood, as the prophet says, “the soul who sins is the one who will die.”[2] You were the one enslaved by sin. It should have been you who paid the price, but, “in accordance with the riches of God’s grace”, it wasn’t. Your Savior Jesus willingly sacrificed Himself in your place. He allowed His blood to be shed as the payment for your sins.
Because of your Savior’s willing sacrifice, you have forgiveness of sins, but that is not all that you have because of His willing sacrifice. You also have what Paul called the “mystery of His will”; a will that Paul elsewhere tells us “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”[3] Your Savior Jesus was willing to sacrifice Himself not just so that you can live a life free from guilt. Your Savior Jesus was willing to sacrifice Himself so that when the times have “reached their fulfilment”, as Paul says, or when the end of the world comes, as we might say, you will find yourself enjoying eternal salvation with all the saints.
Your Savior Jesus offered Himself as a willing sacrifice first as payment for your sins but also finally as a way to ensure your salvation. You may not always be convinced, but your Savior Jesus thinks you are special.
Finally, let’s consider the ongoing effort being made for the chosen ones. In verses 11-14 Paul writes, “11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession.” The Holy Spirit is engaged in an ongoing effort on your behalf. The Holy Spirit is the “Him” who “works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”. He is the one who takes up the task of converting you from a damned sinner to a saved saint. The Holy Spirit does this work in time and through means. He uses the rise and fall of kingdoms, He ensures that the right people are in the right place at the right time in order for you to hear “the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation”. The faith that burns inside your soul is not a coincidence, it is not a twist of fate, it is not a lucky break. Your faith is a result of an effort that has been made by the Holy Spirit; the One Who works out everything for the salvation of those whom God has chosen.
Your Faith is a result of the Holy Spirit’s effort; an effort that is ongoing. I, in no way want to diminish the intentional decision made by the Father. I do not mean to imply that the willing sacrifice made by your Savior Jesus is at all lacking. But when you think about the ongoing effort that is being made by the Holy Spirit to keep you in the faith, it boggles the mind. If you are half the sinner that I am, if you find yourself to be at all spiritually stubborn and religiously obstinate, when you think about how faithless and fickle you can be, you have to be impressed with the effort that is being made to keep you in the faith. I mean, the work the Holy Spirit has to do to ensure that you make it through the pearly gates to receive the inheritance that God has promised you is remarkable. When I get to heaven I half expect to find the Holy Spirit in desperate need of a vacation. When you get to heaven I know you are going to want to sing praises to the Father who chose you. You will probably want to run up to Jesus and thank Him for His sacrifice. But when you get to the Holy Spirit you might just want to give the guy a hug.
The Holy Spirit has made an effort to bring you to faith and then after that faith has been created the Holy Spirit’s ongoing efforts keep you in the faith. You may not always be so sure, but the Holy Spirit thinks you are special.
You are special. Not just because your momma says you are but because you are the chosen ones; chosen as a result of an intentional decision of your heavenly Father, a willing sacrifice offered by your Savior Jesus, and an ongoing effort being made by the Holy Spirit. How can there be any doubt when the entire God-head thinks you are special. “14 To the praise of his glory.” Amen.
[1] Genesis 1:26
[2] Ezekiel 18:20
[3] 1 Timothy 2:4