choiceThe Prerogatives of Godhood – Part 2 – Choice

In the last article I wrote about God’s prerogative to create. Let’s talk about another prerogative that God has simply because He is God, and that is choice.

Mankind prides itself on the right to choose. We make choices every day and can easily, and subtly, begin to think that our own human choices are what guide our lives. Without a doubt, our daily choices have important consequences and must be prayerfully undertaken in obedience to His word. But our choices are not always right, nor wise. They are limited, and often liable to guilt and judgment because of human rebellion and rejection of God. But God’s choices are determinate and ultimate. And they are always right simply because God is God, as Psalm 115:3 reminds us: “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.”

So when you think about Godhood (what it means to be God), understand that God has the prerogative to choose; the right to do whatever He pleases simply because He is God. He had the choice to create and He did so. He makes choices at every level of human existence. He chooses His plans and purposes and is bound to no one. He is constrained by no law. He sets laws in operation but He can choose to override the operation of natural laws, as He does when He performs a miracle. He can elect to favor a person, promote someone, or hold back and hinder. He chooses to grant conception, to save, to have compassion, to harden, to hide or reveal. In all of His choices He is free. Man’s ability to make choices is an image-bearing reflection of God’s. One great aim of human life should be to choose God’s choices.

What do you think about more, your choices or God’s? The point I am emphasizing is simply that we should learn all that we can about God’s choices. Doesn’t it make sense that God’s choices should be our choices, and that real godliness is seen in choosing what He first chooses? Here is one very practical reason for growing in our understanding of Godhood.

God chooses men to do His work

One great emphasis in Scripture is that God chooses men to do His work. He chose Abraham (Gen. 18:19) to be the father of the nation whom He chose (Isa. 43:20). He chose the city where the worship of His people would be established (Deut. 12:5) and from which His great redemptive purpose would issue into the whole world through Jesus His chosen servant (1 Pet. 2:4, 6).

Sometimes we read in the Bible that God’s choice is closely woven into the fabric of man’s choice. Take Saul for example, Israel’s first (embarrassing) King whom they themselves chose (1 Sam. 12:1) in rejection of God (1 Sam. 10:19). Yet, ultimately, Saul was God’s choice: “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen?” (1 Sam. 10:24). Then God also chose David, and the Scripture says nothing about any involvement of His people in that choice. He was sovereignly, secretly, and surprisingly chosen according to the account in 1 Sam. 16:1-11. And the criterion of choice is beautifully stated in these words: “…..for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (16:7). So in all of this we learn that God’s choices are better than man’s for He knows just how to choose. The more we grow in His knowledge and grace, the more our choices will reflect His. So keep pressing on to know the Lord!

God chooses contrary to man’s expectations

God also chooses contrary to man’s expectations. Israel never expected that God would choose a heathen Persian king named Cyrus to deliver them from their exile, and yet Cyrus is called “His anointed” in Isa. 45:1. In this context God says to His people: “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker – An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth. Will the clay say to the Potter, What are you doing?” (Isa. 45:9). James points to this principle when He asks: “Did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom?” (James 2:5).

The Son of God chose the twelve apostles (Jn. 15:16) and Paul (Acts 9:15), contrary to what the Jews would have expected the Messiah to do, and contrary to what the early church would have expected the risen Christ to do. The Jews would have expected the apostles to be chosen from the greatest Rabbis of the day, and the early church had to overcome many fears because of the venomous rage which Saul of Tarsus vented on the early Christians. God’s choices are free, they are wise, they surprise, and they stand! “….that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand….” (Rom. 9:11).

These choices of God relate to the destinies of peoples and nations, and ultimately the direction of human history, all of which is in His plan and under His control. In Romans 9-11 Paul is dealing with the ultimate purpose of God in human history for Jew and Gentile. It is this which calls forth His accolades for Godhood in Romans 11:33 – “Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

So, when we think about Godhood and His right to choose, let’s remember that we ought never to argue with God. “On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, ‘Why did you make me like this,’ will it?” (Rom. 9:20).

God elects us in Christ

Also, we dare not boast of God’s choice once we recognize His election of us in Christ. The danger of pride in God’s choice was a seed which God identified way back in Israel’s history in Deut. 7:7. But His choice is a “gracious choice” (Rom. 11:5) meaning that it is undeserved and unmerited. Paul reminds us that “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God” (1 Cor. 1:27-28).

Rather, we live our lives in humble submission to God’s choices (Rom. 11:33-36): “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” We respond to God’s gracious choice as Mary did in her song of praise (“The Magnificat”) recorded in Luke 1:46-56. “My soul exalts the Lord…..He has had regard for the humble state of His bondslave…..His mercy is upon generation after generation….”

There is no greater comfort in life than to acknowledge that God is God and has the prerogative to choose. “He chooses our inheritance for us” (Ps. 47:4). There is no greater privilege than to be the object of God’s gracious choice. “How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You to dwell in Your courts” (Psalm 65:4). And throughout all of our life God chooses for us. He chooses our lot in life, the loves of our life in family and friends. He chooses what we will contribute to life in our vocation. He chooses the number of our days in this life. How do you know whether you are a person whom God has so chosen to bring near to Him? Obey the Gospel call of Christ. Come to Christ, turning from you sins in hatred and repudiation of sin (repentance) and flee to Christ with total abandon (faith). Then you will have the assurance that He has chosen you. And this is one of the things that makes God truly God – His prerogative to choose!