Goodbye January and Hello February! I have loved starting this year off focusing on the attributes of Jesus. It’s pretty amazing to think of how God planned each intricate detail of who Christ is and what He did for us.
Today we come to CHOSEN. Jesus is the Chosen One, God’s Son. We find this several places in scripture:
Foretold in Isaiah 42, “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him, he will bring forth justice to the nations.“
I love this alignment to yesterday’s reading that Jon led us through, showing us Jesus as a carpenter and servant.
John the Baptist is the first to declare Jesus as the Chosen One, while he was on earth. In John 1:34 he is recorded saying, “I have both seen and testified that this man is the Chosen One of God.”
In stark comparison, we see this name of Jesus being used as a mockery, while he is displaying his love for us on the cross. “Let him save himself, if he be the Christ, the chosen of God.“ Luke 23:35
And finally, in 1 Peter 2:4 we see Jesus being referenced as “a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious.”
Does your mind ever wander to life two thousand years ago? Do you think the first followers understood Jesus, the Chosen One, as fully God himself and also fully man, as the Son of God? Did the doubters think he was a regular fully human man that God then gave some special power to? Or did they get that Jesus himself was God, chose to come down as man, and be the sacrifice for us? It’s mind boggling, isn’t it? We know that from the womb, Jesus was referred to as Immanuel, God with us.
When we talk about Jesus being the Chosen One, it can draw us to scriptures references of us being chosen.
Because of the Chosen One, we are also chosen. I like to think of this as, because Jesus is the Chosen One, we are able to be chosen – big C, little c.
And wow, all of the different studies and opinions on election are equally mind boggling! Tons of viewpoints on both sides of this (Calvinism vs. Arminianism). I personally love learning about it and wrapping my mind around it – not because I come up with a right answer, but because it draws me into trying to understand more of our God. But when we get to heaven, I highly doubt we’re going to have dialogue with God of “I chose you”, “no I chose YOU”. “No, I CHOSE YOU”. And then maybe Jesus comes from around the corner and says, “Yeah, but I’m the CHOSEN ONE”. 🙂 See all the crazy things that happen inside of my brain?
Back to the Big C – that’s all that matters. Thanks, God, for coming to earth as fully yourself and fully man, and being the one and only Chosen One, so we can be with you. Forever.
