God's Full Salvation - Lesson Two

Lesson Two: God Selected and Predestinated Many People to Be His Sons

I. God's Selection

in the last lesson, we see that in order to fulfill His eternal purpose, God created a corporate man. but even before His creation, He chose or select some to be His Sons. why can we say this? because the Bible tells us. 

Ephesians 1:4 Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love,

some may have the question, "why God chose me, but not him or her?" we do not know why, and we even do not have the right to ask or challenge God why He chose me. God chose certain ones according to His good pleasure, and not according to how good we are. i am quite glad in this way, and worship God for His sovereignty. if God chose people according to good or bad, right or wrong, I do not think that I would be chosen at all. 

Romans 9:11 Though the children had not yet been born nor had done anything good or bad (that the purpose of God according to selection might remain, not of works but of Him who calls),

Romans 9:12 It was said to her, "The greater shall serve the less'';

Romans 9:13 As it is written, "Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.''

we all know the story of Esau and Jacob. to us, Jacob may seem to be such a bad guy, whom we would never choose. but God chose Jacob and even loved Jacob, before both of them were born. according to God's foreknowledge, He already knew when, where and whom we would be born. and He chose us according to His foreknowledge. 

II. God's Predestination

Romans 8:29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers;

Romans 8:30 And those whom He predestinated, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified.

what is the difference between selection and predestination? "to predestinat" is to "mark out beforehand or ahead of time, unto a certain purpose". God predestinated us to be His sons. when God selected us, He also put a mark on us. we cannot see the mark. but God, His angles and even Satan knows the mark, and knows who are God's chosen ones. when I read Romans 8:29-30 again, I realise that they are such comforting verses to me. becaus we have been chosen to be His sons, and God will definitely work out and fulfil His purpose in us, even we may not care at all to become His sons, God is God, and He will have His way to work out His will concerning us, which means that, eventually, we will all become His sons, to be the many brothers of His Firstborn. 

III. Sonship - the Goal of God's Selection

like what we see above, God selected us because of His purpose. He will not do anything meaningless. then, what is the purpose of God's selecting us? we need to read Romans 8:29-30 again. then we will see the ouroise of God's selection and predestination is "sonship". 

what is "sonship"? it includes two main things

1. maturity in God's life

2. the position to inherit all that God is

for example, you are the son of your father. this means that, first you have the life of your father, and second, you have the right to inherit all that your father has. likewise, God chose us to be His sons, so He gives us His life, and He wants us to become a full-grown man, not just remain as babies, because only when we grow unto maturity, then can we be able to inherit all that He is. 

John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks it out of his own possessions; for he is a liar and the father of it.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name,

because of the fall of Adam, our great father, we all became the children of the devil. but praise the Lord. now we have believed into the Lord, the Son. therefore, we are now children of God, and we are in the process to become the sons, the heirs of God!