YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME, BUT I CHOSE YOU

DAY 15: FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK IN LENT

YOU DID NOT CHOOSE ME, BUT I CHOSE YOU

John 15:14-17

John 15:14-17 NIV

14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit —fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.

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Jesus is telling an important truth about election. The truth is that it is not us who chose God, but it is God who chose us; being chosen is not our merit but through God’s grace. Our action is all response; all initiative is with the Lord.[1]

The Lord came to us and called and chose us. “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us” (1 John 4:10). The relationship between God and us was initiated because not that we loved God, but that he loved us first.

Jesus found us first and called us “friends.” Jesus called us to be his friends and the friends of God. This is a tremendous offer.[2]

Jesus called us to be his partners. The slave could never be a partner. The slave was defined in Greek law as a living tool.[3]The slave had to do what he was told without reason and without explanation and at the end he does not know his master’s business. But Jesus called us friends, opened his heart, came to us, and told us the deep truth of the Father. He told us his business and called us his partners.

The Lord loved us first before we loved him. He chose us first before we knew him. He called us his friends and invited us to cowork with him in doing his work. Our Lord is not the Lord who does not mind our business and dominates without relating to us. He is my friend, my Lord who unlocks his heart and wants us to cowork.

Furthermore Jesus chose us to be ambassadors.[4] Just as a president commands his ambassadors to be dispatched representing a nation today, the ambassadors of the Lord  are the representatives, chosen and called by the Lord, sent in place for the Lord to relay the will and commission of the Lord. He did not choose us to live a life retired from the world; he chose us to represent him in the world.[5]

The Lord chose us not because of our conditions but only by grace. He called us friends and sent us to the world. This grace can bear fruit only if we reciprocate this love.

[1] Temple, Readings in St. John’s Gospel, 269.

[2] Barclay, The Gospel of John, 208.

[3] Barclay, The Gospel of John, 208.

[4] Barclay, The Gospel of John, 209.

[5] Barclay, The Gospel of John, 209.

Question

1. Retell today’s message in your own words. 2. Explain the meaning of this statement based on today’s message: “Our being Christians is no doing of ours, any more than our being civilized; it is something done to us and for us, not by us, though we have to make appropriate response in the form of obedience promoted by love.” 3. How can I apply the lessons from today’s message into my life?

Prayer

Lord, you knew us before we knew you. You loved us first, called, chose us and made us your friends. It is truly amazing grace and a beautiful world. We wish to know you and love you just as you knew us and loved us. May we not spill out the precious grace with which you called us and chose us. May we act out your word in love and be your true friends. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

40 Day Lenten Bible Study

Christians often hear about God’s love for us, but have they truly felt and believed in His love? Prior to Christ’s death on the cross, no one saw God’s love in its full measure. But God revealed His love to the whole world through the cross and resurrection. This Lenten Bible Study provides an in-depth look into the transformative power of God’s love. Readers will examine the most central part in the whole arrangement of the Gospel of John from the Last Supper (John 13) to Christ’s crucifixion (John 19:30). – Taken from The Cross of Christ: 40 Day Lenten Bible Study through the Gospel of John with illustrations by Christy Tran. Buy the book on Amazon, Stevens Books

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DAY 15: FRIDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK IN LENT