God’s Preparation for Evangelism

... As discussed in our previous posting, God pre- pared our redemption in Jesus before time began, and He enlightened us with the light of Christ when we came into this world (Revelation 13:8; John 1:9). Every man who is born has this hope hidden within him. But God also works outwardly, in the world itself, to reveal Himself in ways that will speak to us further.

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.... God has shown us His invisible attributes through the witness of creation, through the moods of the weather or in the bounty of nature, if only we will stop to reflect on them (Psalm 19:1-4; 107:23-31; Romans 8:22-23; Acts 14:17). All it takes is a little humility and thoughfulness on our part. In fact, these natural forms of witness are so instructive that He considers us without excuse if we fail to perceive their message (Romans 1:20).

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.... God’s testimony within us and around us is bountiful, majestic and enlightening. So why would anyone not receive Jesus when they heard of Him? It’s because man has a basic problem with sin:

.... "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who under- stands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one."

(Rom 3:10-12)

.... Left to ourselves, our sins will always make us reluctant to seek God: "For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." (John 3:20). Passages like these pertain to every last one of us, for not one single person on earth would stir themselves up to seek God (Isaiah 64:7). Therefore, He must always begin another major work simply to draw us closer over time, in order to overcome our human reluctance (John 6:44).

.... ". . . so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us."

(Acts 17:27)

.... In the passage above we see a complete turn-around from our original attitude, as a result of God's preparation in drawing us closer, which He performs in the course of each person's life. In Scripture this working is called predestination -- a subject that is widely misunderstood. But when examined properly, it can help us navigate through an evangelistic opportunity and speak to someone’s heart in leading them to the Lord effectively.

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.... Some may argue that exploring this process of preparation is not a ‘basic’ subject at all, but a rather complex one. Yet in a paradoxical way, new Christians can usually relate to it extremely well – possibly even better than they can relate to the gospel – because it will match their recent past, recap the steps that brought them to Jesus in the first place, and confirm their new faith in Him through their actual experience.

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.... Furthermore we may see the same preparation underway in our family and friends who are still unsaved, and find encouragement to reach out to them more effectively. For our friends who are not yet Christians, who have not yet tasted of the fullness itself, this is as real as it gets, and it's witness can be extremely powerful. With that in mind, we’ll touch upon this testimony further in our next postings.

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Daily Bible Reading: Matthew 28