November 12

“And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” —ROMANS 8:30

To be “in Christ” is to be in union with Him, but the big question many people wrestle with is: Did we have a choice or were we predestined before the foundations of the earth?

Paul says in Ephesians 1:4, “He chose us in him before the creation of the world.” In verse 5, he says, “He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ...”, and in verse 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.” It is all “in Christ” that we are chosen by God and become the chosen people of God. Nowhere in Scripture does it say we are chosen to be “put into Christ”, but we are chosen by virtue of being “in Christ”.

It is only “in Christ” that we are baptized into one body of which Christ is the head. We cannot read Ephesians 1:4 as, “God chose us before the creation of the world.” What it says is that, “God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world.” That is, God determined before the creation of the world that Christ would be the means by which He would choose His people, and the emphasis of being chosen in Christ is that we are now the means by which Christ is going to do His work on earth. 

Revelation 13 tells us about Jesus as the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world. When we are brought into relationship with Christ, we are brought into a history that goes back to the beginning of the world. What is important about predestination is not how we became Christians, but what we are predestined to become as Christians. 

To be predestined, we do not stand still. We are in Christ to be on a mission with Him that has been predetermined from the beginning of the foundations of the earth. Romans 8:29 says, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brothers.” Our lives in Christ become purposeful with the expectancy that we are being conformed to His likeness and become partakers of His work in this world with every spiritual blessing made available to us. It is only through Christ, being chosen in Him, that we share in the immense gift and blessing of being in union with Him.

PRAYER: Dear Heavenly Father, the gift of being in union with Christ is the most precious relationship of my life. Thank You, God, for making that possible.

TO REFLECT UPON: How would I convey to others what being chosen in Christ means?