Predestination and election are not a result of the Fall, of Adam’s sin. As Romans 9 makes clear the Father’s designs for Jacob and Esau had nothing to do with who they became. They became who they were, one elect the other rebrobate, before anything was done by them. The more we mine the beauty and power of these truths the easier it becomes to be built up in love regardless of what failures men and women pile up in our faces. We look above and beyond the personal slights to see the glory of the one who has called us out of darkness and into the wonders of His marvelous light.
Frustration seems to be a large part of life. We often find ourselves in that emotional position because people who we expect things from, usually fairly minor things, can’t seem to meet even that low of a bar. Trust is not an easy thing to earn, but it is an easy thing to lose. Yet like most situations we as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not meant to allow the failing of expectations to keep us from the kind of peace we see in our Savior throughout His earthly ministry. Did Jesus get mad at the disciples sometimes for their lack of faith or understanding? Sure. But one of the things we learn from Him in those moments is that Christ understood something far more important about each of the men He had called to follow Him. They were made in God’s image and they belonged to Him. They were sinners in need of grace and mercy. However, even in this our Lord’s discouragement with His disciples motivated Him not to abandon them, but to love them more, and to build them up in faith through the witness of love. He strove with them even unto the end, and beyond.
In today’s prayer and worship help we are going to think some more about how to be Christlike in a world where there seems to be so much disappointment. Paul’s testimony to this effect can be found in his letter to the church at Colosse. While they weren’t as bad as the Galatians or the Corinthians who received a tongue lashing from the Lord’s apostle there were still matters that he felt like needed to be pointed out to these young Christians. In most of chapter two the subject is false teaching, both from the Judaizers and the Greek philosophers. As we come to the third chapter Paul moves the conversation along to remind the folks here that as newborn believers in Jesus Christ their whole visage has changed and they no longer are to see themselves as they once were. This being born again is a necessary part of the salvation we have received. If we act, think, do, etc… the same as before we claimed the named of Jesus then it becomes clear that we know not Him. There has to be fruit born of repentance or there is no new heart or no grafting into the life-giving vine of Christ. A Christian tree bears Christian fruit. An unbelieving heart produces unbelieving fruit and we can see this primarily in how we react to the negative effects of sin in the world around us.
Do we pray for those who persecute us? Do we seek the redemption of the lost? Do we hope in all hope for those who sin against us?