The Incredible Impact of Being Chosen by God
1 Peter 1: 1-2
Sept. 19, 1999
Text: 1 Pet. 1: 1-2
ILL: Bob Benson, in his book, “See You at the House” describes his childhood
experience on the softball field. He was always a frail kid, so when the captains picked
teams based on size, ability, or friendship, Bob was usually one of the last to be picked.
“The game can’t start until someone takes Bob’, the teacher would insist.” And
one of the captains would kick the dirt and say in disgust, “We’ll take him.”
Bob says, “And I was usually sent to play BEHIND the right fielder. I don’t think
I came up to bat until I was in the eighth grade. And even then I wasn’t too surprised to
strike out then.”
Bob finished his story by stating, “So, I like to be chosen.”
I would guess this morning that everyone of us would say, Yes, I like to be
chosen. Doesn’t it feel so much better to be chosen, than to believe that nobody wants
you?
The apostle Peter is writing to Christians who had been scattered across Asia
Minor either by persecution or some circumstance. They were alone and afraid.
Discouragement and questions flood their minds to the point where they considered giving
up. To them, Peter’s word of encouragement was shouting in Big Letters, “YOU HAVE
BEEN CHOSEN.”
Of coarse we know that Loneliness, fear, and discouragement are not limited to
the lives of the Early Church Christians. Today’s Christians live as strangers in a world of
shifting values, questioning life issues, and some are short on Hope. Peter has a word for
us today: “YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN.”
Do you believe me this morning, YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN! REPEAT
AFTER ME, “I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN!”
Not only does this passage tell us how God has Picked us, but one of my favorite
verses in the whole Bible talks about this very idea, maybe that’s why it’s my favorite, so
before we go on with this verse, let me share with you some more of God’s Word that
tells how God Chose Us Even Before We Turned to Him. Look at Ephesians 2: 1-10, I
just shared this verse at our Men’s fellowship yesterday, so guys forgive me for repeating
myself,
The first three verses describe our life before we came to Christ, everyone of us
lived a life of sin, we were born with this sin nature that is described, and until we repent
and ask God to cleanse us, we are infected with this sin disease. Of course, starting in
verse four we will hear the good news. Let’s read.
Friends, You have been Chosen by God, He has a plan for your life, and this was
all done from the very beginning. God’s Grace is awesome.
Let’s say it one more time, repeat after me, “I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN.”
The First thing I want you to understand, IT’S A PRIVILEGE TO BE CHOSEN.
A. Being chosen means we are loved.
1. Peter prayed that they might experience the “grace of God in abundance”
2. Hannah Smith described grace this way in her book, “The Christian’s Secret
of a Happy Life” “To say that it is free unmerited favor only expresses a little of it’s
meaning. It is the unhindered, wondrous, boundless love of God, poured out upon us in
an infinite variety of ways, without stint or measure, not according to our deserving, but
according to His measureless heart of love, which goes beyond our knowledge, so
unthinkable are it’s heights and depths.” I think she had a glimpse of Grace, don’t you?
3. God has Chosen you. You are special to Him. Being chosen reminds us that
we belong to His family.
In his book, Healing Grace, David Seamands captures the essence of what it means
to belong to God as His Children.
ILL: “The servant is accepted and appreciated on the basis of what he does, the child on
the basis of who he is............The Servant is accepted because of his productivity and
performance. The child belongs because of his position as a person...........When a servant
fails, his whole position is at stake; he might lose his job. When a child fails, he will be
grieved because he has hurt his parents, and he will be corrected and disciplined. But he is
not afraid of being thrown out. His basic confidence is in belonging and being loved,
and his performance does not change the stability of his position.”
Friends, do you Know This morning that you Belong to the Father? Christians,
Your confidence comes in Knowing your position, and knowing that you belong, and
knowing that you are loved, regardless of your performance! Our Heavenly Father loves
us just because of Who We Are, If we will ever grasp that it will change our life, we won’t
suffer from insecurities, We Will Know That We Have Been Chosen, and We Will Know
that We Belong!
In our Passage, our Writer, He knows all about failure. Peter who denied Christ
Three times has dealt with this in his own life, but if you remember, Jesus Reinstated Peter
and demonstrated the Father’s Love, a love that is not based on performance. So now, As
Peter has been through many trials and troubles, He undoubtedly Knows about what He is
writing, and this morning God would have us catch this message for our own lives. As
Peter writes to these Christians who have been scattered, He is encouraging them, He is
reminding them that they belong to God, and that God will protect them, He will be with
them. The same is just as true today for us. Know it.
E. Stanley Jones tells a wonderful story of God’s Love in his book, “Christian
Maturity”: “A wildlife conservation officer drove past a grouse(its a bird), in the center of
the road, and he was surprised that she did not move when he swerved around her. He
came back and saw in the meantime that six other cars had swerved around her, and still
she did not move. When he came near, six little chicks ran out from under her wings.
One of her wings was broken and her head was bloody. But she was saving others; herself
she could not save.” The Lord put his life on the line for us like that. He was broken and
died that we might be saved.
3. Whatever you may be going through, remember, you belong to God.
C. Being Chosen reminds us that the Father is in charge.
“In the Bible, to foreknow means that God has set his Love upon a person in a
personal way.” God knew you from the very beginning, and he loved you, he desires to
have a personal relationship with you, a loving relationship, He wants you to come home,
He want’s to be ABBA Father, or Daddy.
When we realize that we have been chosen by God, it should remind us that it’s God who
is in Charge. He’s the captain.
Growing up in the home that I did, with a Christian Father, I was privileged to
know that my dad was in charge. I knew I could take questions, problems, and even
heartbreak, and Dad would help.
I remember the first time I was dumped by a girlfriend, (in fact the only time) she
pulled up in her car, handed me a hand written note and took off. I was mad, sad, and
angry. I jumped in my old beat up car, went to the high school track and ran what would
have been a world record mile if anyone would have been timing it. When I was done,
wore out, I walked up the stairs and there was my dad, he had found me, told me to get in,
so we went for a ride. I knew my Dad was glad that it was over because she wasn’t a
Christian, he never said that, he just talked about life, and all the things I had to look
forward too. You know as I look back at those times when Dad happened to know when
I needed Him, it was never some great words of wisdom that helped me, it was simply that
he was there. I am blessed to have a Dad like that, He called me last night to tell me he
misses me and that he loves me. I understand how rare that is in our world today.
But can I share something with you? You have a Heavenly Father Who is always
with you, always right when you need Him. He has chosen You, Have you Turned to
Him?
NOT ONLY IS IT A PRIVILEDGE TO BE CHOSEN, BUT GOD HAS A PURPOSE
IN CHOOSING US!
Being Chosen sets us apart for God.
1. The term “sanctifying” comes from the root word meaning “to set apart” or “to
make Holy”. Look at our Passage, Peter says in v. 2” who have been chosen according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit....”
God wants to “set us apart” for his purposes in the world. He wants to Make you Holy by
His Blood so you can represent Him to our World.
2. Oswald Chambers wrote that “Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God
to do for me---sanctification is God’s idea of what he wants to do for me.” Did You
notice the shift? Sanctification gives us the perspective to not focus on what “I” want, but
to allow by my obedience God to do what “He” wants with me. There’s a big difference.
Being Chosen sets us apart by the Holy Spirit.
1. The Holy Spirit is God’s active agent for setting us apart for God’s use. The Holy
Spirit reminds us that we are loved, that we belong to God, and that He is in charge.
Who’s in charge of your life?
Now be honest. I think there’s a lot of people professing to be set apart, who just give
God credit for the decisions that they make, even if God had nothing to do with the
decision. Now let’s be honest, were in church. I would suggest, myself included that we
have all made a choice based on what we Wanted, and then said, God told me to do this.
Who’s in charge of your life?
2. The Holy Spirit makes us Holy. His presence and power in our lives generates the
desire and empowers us to live lives that reflect the character and holiness of God.
I want to live a life that reflects the character and holiness of God, Don’t You?
We hear a lot about Character today, so let me tell what Character is, or how to measure
it in your life.
Character is not what you do in public. Character is truly revealed in what is done
in private. Character is not seen in the church on Sunday morning, it’s demonstrated
around the dinner table on Sunday afternoons. Character is revealed in your life by how
you deal with your family when no one else is there to critique.
I want character that reflects the character and Holiness of God. How about You?
Being Chosen sets us apart for Obedience to Jesus Christ. Repeat after me if your still
with me, “I HAVE BEEN CHOSEN”
Church Swindoll says it this way, “The very best proof of your love for your Lord
is obedience....nothing more.........nothing less.........nothing else.”
Peter in V. 2 is telling us that we have been set apart for Obedience to Our Lord Jesus
Christ. This obedience that Peter is writing about is not just a single act of obedience, but
an obedient way of life. It is learning to say yes to God daily as we experience life with all
of it’s hardships and difficulties.
Remember, Peter is writing to these scattered Christians, many who are enduring
persecution because of their Faith in Christ, Yet, Paul urges then onward in their
Obedience to Jesus no matter the cost.
What has your Obedience to Jesus Christ Cost you lately? I don’t know about
you, but living a distinctive Christian Life in today’s world will cost you something, it has
to because of the culture we live in.
Chuck Colson, writing out of his experience in prison, says, “The very nature of
the obedience He demands is that it be given without regard to circumstances or results.”
In John 14:15 Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
D. BEING CHOSEN SETS US APART FOR THE SPRINKLING BY HIS BLOOD.
William Barclay tells us that the phrase “sprinkling by his blood” came from the
OT covenant relationship between Israel and God. By His own initiative God approached
Israel that they might be His people, and that He might be their God. Conditions were
established. Obedience was essential. The sprinkling of the people with the blood of the
sacrifice would remind them of their solemn vows and God’s great promises. The
covenant was sealed with blood. “Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Christian is
cleansed, set apart, pledged to obedience for all his days.”
As a Christian, you have pledged your life to the Savior Jesus Christ, a life of
obedience, a life set apart for Him. In return, He has blotted out your sins with his very
own blood that was shed on Calvary so that your sins could be forgiven. Be reminded
that you have been bought with a price, your life is not your own, God has made you alive
again by His great love, and the Holy Spirit now lives in you.
Someone asked another person if he would help him out on a project. He
responded yes. “I think it is only fair that I tell you that you were my second choice.”
replied the first, maybe with more honesty than was called for.’
“Well, that’s all right,” the willing worker said, “but just out of curiosity, who was
your first choice?”
“Anybody.” was the reply.
This morning you may feel like you are only chosen after “anybody” and everybody else is
already picked. But that is not the case with God.
I WASN’T CHOSEN AS A REPLACEMENT FOR SOMEONE WHO DIDN’T WANT
TO SERVE. I WASN’T ASKED TO PLAY IN THE FIELD SOMEONE ELSE WAS
ALREADY COVERING. HE SAW ME, HE CALLED ME, HE SELECTED ME, HE
PICKED ME, HE SINGLED ME OUT, HE DECIDED ON ME, HE OPTED FOR ME,
HE FIXED UPON ME, HE DETERMINED IN FAVOR OF ME, HE PREFERRED ME,
HE ESPOUSED ME, HE CHOSE ME.
IT WAS NOT MANDATORY, REQUIRED, CALLED FOR, DESERVED,
NECESSARY, IMPERATIVE, COMPULSORY, OR FORCED. HE JUST CHOSE
ME.
HE CHOSE US OUT OF HIS BOUNDLESS LOVE TO BELONG TO HIM, AND HE
WANTS TO BE LORD OF OUR LIVES. HE CHOSE US THAT WE MIGHT BE
SANCTIFIED, SET APART FOR HIS EXCLUSIVE USE AND FOR A COVENANT
RELATIONSHIP WITH HIMSELF.
One more time this morning, repeat after me, I AM CHOSEN.
My question for you this morning, Have you chosen him? If you realize that your not
where you would like to be in your relationship with Jesus, We are going to have an
invitation to come and pray, and you can tell God that you are coming Home, Your ready
to Follow Jesus and to be Obedient to His Word. What a day of Celebration.
Christian, How’s your walk with the Lord? Are you walking in Obedience in every area
this morning? God doesn’t ask for 1/2 or 2/3 of your life, He has to have all of it. He’s
either Lord of everything, or not Lord at all.
