I have had numerous conversations with friends in which we've wondered aloud how anyone could think that they themselves chose God. The doctrine of election is made clear in Scripture; salvation is a gift of God. What faith I possess was given to me by God Himself.
But I am not writing this to convince anyone of that truth, I am writing this little blog entry because I have recently been overwhelmed with the weight of the simple fact that He chose me.
The other night I read Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." Although this was the second time I've read the famous sermon, it was the first time I really appreciated what Edwards was trying to communicate. My prior reading of this sermon was during my first semester of college, for American Lit. 1. Unfortunately, I was so overwhelmed by all the changes happening in my life at the time that I didn't really get much out of that reading.
Four years later, I find am in a better state of mind to handle the content, with a deeper grasp of theology and certainly a more capable maturity level. Thus, reading the sermon the other day proved a thought provoking and emotion stirring exercise.
I was reading the sermon aloud to a friend, who happened to be reading it for the same American Lit. 1 class, and at several points throughout found myself getting choked up, considering the greatness of the mercy of God and my own state of utter undeservedness. Even now, reading the title of the sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," evokes such gratitude and awe, and I get a little misty eyed.
Ironically, what struck me most during this recent reading was the main thrust of Edwards' sermon. The natural man is condemned already, and the only thing that now keeps him from the eternal punishment that is due him is the sovereign hand of the God whose holiness condemns their sin; the God who, because of His very nature, hates them. What unspeakable mercy this is, to be both despised and preserved by the same Almighty God! God, who owes nothing to the natural man but the torment and isolation of hell that each one deserves, chooses instead to preserve our lives for a time on this earth.
What is more, the same God chooses from among these poor, helpless wretches, incapable of escaping their miserable condition, some for salvation. Oh the lavishness of the grace of God toward those whom He has chosen! That which we deserve lies on one end of the spectrum, that which we have been given the opposite end altogether! Instead of eternal death, eternal life; instead of the righteous anger of God, the same love that He has for His own Son!
It is a great mystery to me, why I have been chosen to receive such mercy and grace. I do not pretend to understand it, or to imagine any particular reason for such favor; rather, I know that out of His divine will, for His own pleasure and because of His undeniable sovereignty, He has chosen me. He didn't have to choose me, and just as easily as He did He could have chosen another in my place. It is a mystery indeed, yet I stand today, secure and complete in Him, because my God made a choice and He chose me.
Labels: Bible/theology, reflections