Predestination (Phase 1)

.... Before meeting Jesus, every person has a problem with sin. Therefore, when we are faced with the light of Jesus Christ for the first time, we will always find it difficult responding to Him. We will desire, instead, to withdraw from Him and avoid the whole issue. This reluctance is so universal in its scope and so crippling in its effect that none of us would ever approach the Lord on our own (Romans 3:10-12); yet God so passionately desires to save each person that He generously makes another, initial effort in reaching out to each one of us. This effort may be called ‘Predestination Phase 1'.

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.... Predestination occurs in three phases, and this initial phase is the oddest of the three. First, it applies to everyone, whereas the latter two phases apply only to those who have responded to the phase one, who are thereafter referred to as 'called' (Acts 17:27).

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.... Second, this phase of presdestination pertains, not to the people themselves, but to their outward circumstances as special occasions are predestined in their lives.

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.... And third, those circumstances offer a hope that each person might seek the Lord and find Him, but they do not guarantee this result (Romans 8:24). That part will depend on the individual's own, free-will response (Revelation 22:17).

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.... Let’s have a closer look at this phase in the Scriptures, going back to the original Greek to obtain a slightly more conceptualized rendering:

.... "He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has ordained their pre-appointed occasions, and the limits of their conditions, 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; for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring'. Therefore, since we are the offspring of God . . ."

(Acts 17:26-29)

.... Predestination Phase 1 nudges individuals toward seriously considering God for the first time because of the situations God brings to pass in their lives. In a fateful hour, an initial connection will be made that will cause them to stop to think about Him seriously. Perhaps there will be a narrow escape from death, a rescue unlooked for, or some other form of deliverance; or perhaps a blessing beyond all possible hope, in which they will see His hand (Psalm 68:20; Romans 2:4).

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.... For others of us, in a less dramatic way, the same result may spring from a persistent religious culture or background that gradually influences our thoughts. However it may come to pass, each person will finally perceive that God knows them and cares for them personally, and that He seems to be reaching out to them (Acts 17:26-27).

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.... Furthermore let's remember that God teaches us both inwardly and outwardly (as described in an earlier posting), so this, too, plays an influential role. Jesus said that we shaill ‘all be taught by God’; but in the same pasage He warns that only some of us will humble ourselves enough to hear Him and actually learn from Him (John 6:45). Through this effort our great moment of truth has arrived, and by it the Lord begins to draw all men to Himself (John 12:32; 6:44).

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.... In Predestination Phase 1, God takes a lot of initiative on our behalf, but then He awaits our response to see where we’ll go from there. We'll discuss that further in our next posting. But for now, please think back on your own life before you came to the Lord. What were some of the events that shook you awake, and made you stop to think about Him? If your friends participated in those same events, maybe God was reaching out to them at the same time? Or maybe they’ve told you of some other events of a similar magnitude? Those events may very well contain the clues you need, in giving you something to talk to them about.

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Daily Bible Reading: Mark 3