We did not just stumble upon God, nor did we just find Him–NO! We were called, chosen, saved, transformed, and assigned a role. Many a man has pondered whether God is a personal God and whether He has a specific purpose for each of us. As we study His very words, we discover that He is not only personally interested in each of His creations, including us as men, but He also assigns us specific tasks. Here is one passage that confirms both God’s intentions and the responsibilities of those He has called.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
This tells us that He not only reconciled us to Himself through His Son, Christ Jesus, but also, in verse 20, we are chosen as Christ’s ambassadors. God actually uses us to appeal to others about who He is. All this is from God. This means that He called us. Before we knew Him, He knew us.
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. (Ephesians 1:4)
He picked us out of the crowd and said, “Step up and let Me clean you up, polish you up; you are My child, and I want to use you.” In other words, it is as if God is saying, “You are special, and I see something in you that you can’t see in yourself, and I want to walk with you and teach you My ways. Until now, you have navigated by man’s wisdom, but now, as My child, I want to show you My divine wisdom as the Creator of all things. Until now, you have operated based on earthly principles. Now, I want you to operate on eternal principles. I want you to have no fear of failure, no fear of death.”
This world we live in is passing away, and He wants us to look forward to our Heavenly destination. We should not only look forward to our eternal home, but He also wants us to know that rewards are waiting for us. Now that we are reconciled, He wants to use us as ambassadors to represent Christ. How did we get such a great gift–to be chosen and used for such a great purpose? The answer is: nothing; we did nothing! It’s only because of His goodness.
So, is God personal, and do we have an assignment? No matter our age, health, or title, the answer is yes and yes!
Have a blessed week.
Stephen L. Thomas
RTM