And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. Mark 13:26-27 (ESV)
One of the great things about a democratic republic is that the citizens have the privilege of electing their government officials. Citizens are encouraged to listen to the candidates and decide which one best embraces their political views. Incumbents are most often judged on the merits of their previous voting records. Challengers are often evaluated on the merits of their ideas to make government more efficient and effective. Election winners are most often the candidate that receives the majority of the popular vote.
God’s election process is much different from ours. When he designed his election process he did not rely on popular vote, in fact, he was the only one to cast a vote. He didn’t look at the candidates and elect them on the basis of their merits. His candidates had no merits to offer. God’s elect are people who did nothing to deserve his favor. In fact, their election happened before they had done anything good or bad (Romans 9:11).
All of God’s candidates were born spiritually dead and had neither the capacity nor the will to choose to do good (Ephesians 2:1; Romans 3:10-12). So God in his mercy and love chose them by grace, changed their wills and gave them faith to believe. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3) The new birth is a free gift given by God, made sure through the death and resurrection of his son (Ephesians 2:8; Titus 3:5; Hebrews 9:12).
The apostle Paul wrote, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:3-6). So God’s election is based on the purpose of his own will and the merits of the Beloved; Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the Romans, For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-9)
We read in 1 Peter 1:1-2 that God elected his people according to his foreknowledge. Paul plainly told the Roman church that there are none who understand and seek God (Romans 3:11), so we know that God could not have based his choice on a choice the elect would one day make. Had God not first chosen them they would never have chosen him. So, God’s foreknowledge is simply defined as; before the foundation of the world God chose to have a relationship with a certain group of people in the same way he had a relationship with his son (1 Peter 1:20). He gave life to their dead spirits (new birth) and because of his choice, they chose to follow him.
Have you been born again? Are you grateful that God chose to have a relationship with you even though you were underserving? Will you be gathered with the elect at the coming of the Son of Man?
Scriptures for meditation:
1 Corinthians 1:27
Colossians 2:13