CALLED TO BE GLORIFIED!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

SUNDAY NOVEMBER 29, 2020.

SUBJECT : CALLED TO BE GLORIFIED! 

Memory verse: "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." (Romans 8 vs 28.)

READ: Romans 8 vs 28 - 30:

8:28: And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 

8:29: For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 

8:30: Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."

INTIMATION:

The believers are “called” through the preaching of the gospel out of the world to be children of God. They are justified by their obedience to the Word of God. The final “calling” of God of believers out of the world will occur at the end of time. The finality of all things, therefore, will end for good for the believers when they are called out of the world into eternal glory. It is the eternal purpose of God to bring obedient free-moral individuals into the realm of heavenly and eternal dwelling in His presence. Therefore, we are called into the plan of God’s purpose which is good. We do not call God into our purpose. He calls us into His.

God is a God of purpose. He created you for His purpose. God's working in our lives is to fulfill His preordained purpose, not necessarily to make us happy. God works in "all thing," not just isolated incidents, for our good. This does not mean that all that happens to us is good by our understanding. For instance, when you lose your job, or valuable, it is not good. But God may have allowed that for the ultimate benefit of His purpose in your life. We often cannot see the good that comes from immediate trials and sufferings. Therefore, we must assume that the good that God brings is within our lifetime. Note that this promise is not for everybody. It can be claimed only by those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Those who are "called" are those the Holy Spirit convinces and enables to receive Christ Jesus. 

God's ultimate goal is to glorify such people; to make us like Christ. The Bible in First John 3 vs 2 says, "Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." As we become more and more like Christ, we discover our true selves, the persons we were created to be. How can we become like Christ? By reading and heeding the Word, by studying His life on earth through the Gospels, by spending time in prayer, by being filled with His Spirit  and by doing His work in the world. When people conform to the image of the Son, then they make the Son the first born among those who have conformed to His image. 

We must not assume that the foreknowledge of God presupposes the individual predestination of individuals to either heaven or hell. In the context here, reference is to those who will be glorified. Before the creation of the world, God foreknew the body of believers He would glorify in eternal heaven. He foreknew the body because He predestined the existence of the church. Therefore, those who would free-morally choose to be a part of this group (the church—the body of Christ) by voluntary obedience to the gospel in order to conform to the image of His Son (Second Corinthians 3 vs 18), would also be destined to glorification in eternal heaven. It is the group of believers, the church, that God before the creation of the world predestined to be glorified. 

It is the responsibility of individuals to free-morally choose to become a part of this predestined group. Therefore, the group of believers that God predestined to be glorified, were first justified by the predetermined plan of the cross. Those who were justified He called through the gospel. At the end of time, He will call these out of the world for eternal glory. These who would be called out of the world are now predestined because they are a part of the predestined group of believers who will in the end be called out of the world for eternal glory. God foreknew this plan because He fore-planned redemption in Christ before the creation of the world. 

Prayer: Abba Father, thank You, most Gracious Lord, for Your gift of salvation and adoption as Your child. In Your mercy and love You have called me, to justify me through my obedience to Your Word, and will glorify me to eternal glory to live with You in heaven at the end of time, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!