God Chose Us Carry the Load

God Chose us first! Let that sink in. We didn’t choose God. God came running after us. John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2023) What! God Chose me, and I didn’t choose him? Why is this blowing my mind? It shouldn’t blow my mind. God knows everything!

Revelation 13:8 says “And all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain. ⁹If anyone has an ear, let him hear (Bible Gateway ESV 2023)

Our names were written in the book of life of the Lamb before the foundation of the world.

That is mind boggling to me.

This begs the question what about the people that were not chosen by God. Why were they not chosen by God? The only way I can answer this question is that God chose us because He knew we would choose Him.

My wife is from Germany. We moved from Germany to my hometown in Arkansas. And I had strayed from God. A prodigal child if you will. My wife started working for someone at a homestead farm and thank God she did! She was constantly being invited to church and I kept saying I am not ready to go back to church fighting it, knowing that attending church is a commitment. And finally, she convinced me to go. You can feel the love of the church when you walk in. I am so glad and blessed to be back to worshipping and following Jesus Christ.

Most of my wife’s family doesn’t understand why we go to church so much and worship God and why it takes up so much of our time. We are supposed to put God first in everything we do. Her family says we are in a cult and we have some of her family visiting us, they hope the returning family members don’t come back in a cult like we are in. (we know we will be ridiculed and made fun of for our beliefs). So, my point is, God knows who will choose Him, and who will not. If we are not going to choose God, then we are already not chosen, and He already knows who will choose Him.

That doesn’t mean God doesn’t want everyone to come to the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ as 2 Peter 9 says “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,^[^a^] not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2023)

The only sin that can’t be forgiven is denying God. Luke 12:10 says “And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Bible Gateway ESV 2023)

Q“ How many sins can you list that God won’t ever forgive? I worry about this, because I know I’ve not been a very good person, and some of the things I’ve done are probably on that list.

A: Only one sin that can’t be forgiven is on God’s list—and that is the sin of rejecting Him and refusing His offer of forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ. This alone is the unforgivable sin, because it means we are saying that the Holy Spirit’s witness about Jesus is a lie (see Luke 12:10).

Why is it so serious to reject Christ? The reason, first of all, is because of who He was. He wasn’t just another religious teacher; He was God in human flesh—but when we deny this, we limit Him and assume He is unable to save us. But the Bible is clear: “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18).

The main reason why it’s so serious to reject Christ, however, is because He is God’s appointed means of salvation. Our greatest need is to have our sins forgiven; if we don’t, we have no reason to expect God to welcome us into Heaven. But by His death and resurrection Christ provided the way for us to be forgiven and cleansed of all our sins.