Chapter Seven

CHRIST IN THE PROGRAM OF ELECTION

It appears to this writer that discussions about election fail very often to include Christ Himself as a divinely elect Person. He may turn out to be the neglected KEY to the subject.

Peter really startles his readers with his use of the Greek term ekiekton (the noun elect) in 1 Peter 2:4, 6, and 9. Verses 2 and 4 are about Christ, v 9 about the Church.

To Whom coming, as to a living stone--rejected (i. e. not elected) indeed by men, but by God an elect One, an honored One, v 4

For this reason it is contained in Scripture: Look, I lay in Zion an elect and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes on Him will never be put to shame, v 6.

We have had much to say about Christ as the second and last Adam which could well be repeated here. Logically, this is probably why He is included in the divine elective program. He is Omega in Himself in many other ways, but here He is the Omega for a new human race. This new race of mankind is the result of new birth, Jan 3:3-8; 1:12-13 -- or better, birth from above, Gr anoothen. He is the firstbegotten and firstfruits of it because He substituted Himself for helpless mankind and we were made the righteousness of God in Him, 2 Cor 5:21.

The Only Person Who Could Meet All of Man's Needs

In chapter two, we spoke of God's purpose (Gr prothesis) being the setting forth of His plan or program under divine decree. The only One Who could carry out the elective program was the elect One, Jesus Christ. It was into His image that believers are predestined to be conformed or shaped, chapter three. It was to Him in His excellence and glory, chapter four, that believers are called. It was by His finished work on the Cross that believers can be declared righteous on justified grounds, chapter five. It is because He has glory to share that believers have already been positionally glorified, chapter six.

These were and are the great and basic needs of the whole human race. No wonder that about 800 years before His birth in Bethlehem Isaiah 42:1 could paint this portrait of this Elect One:

Behold My Servant Whom I uphold; My Elect; One in Whom My soul delights. . . When He came and met all our needs, He was acting as God's unique and only Servant, to see to it that the divine elective program was carried out as God decreed.

The Only Person Who Could Fill the Qualifications

The qualifications for the carrying out of the divine elective program should be clearly seen from a recitation of some featured ones:

1. He acted under divine decree (Gr horlzoo): "The Son of Man is going as it has been decreed, but woe to that man through whom He is betrayed," Lu 22:22.

2. He acted in line with the divine purpose (Gr horizoo); "This One was turned over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge and you through lawless men put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross," Acts 2:23.

3. He lived His earthly life knowing God the Father's decisions (Gr proorizoo) that covered it: "to do whatever Your hand and counsel had decided beforehand should occur," Acts 4:28.

4. He still is on assignment (Gr horizoo): "He has established a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this by raising Him from among the dead," Acts 17:31.

5. His Elect Person has been confirmed (Gr horizoo): "Who has been declared the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of Holiness, by the resurrection from among the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord," Rom 1:4.

The list of five actions in the divine elective program shows how very much Christ was the Elect One before any believer got involved either in enjoyment or discussion--and that is extremely important to the true Bible view.

We also note that the basic Greek term with one compounded element is found in all five actions-transliterated, the word is horizon and ahead of time on the horizon. It calls for the remembrance of an old statement: "Foreordination targets things and events while Predestination targets only people, yet both use the same basic Greek word proorizoo."

Glory from Alpha to Omega

Apropos the last of our five terms of Romans 8:28-32, glorification, it is important that the Elect One, Christ, appeared in His glory to Abram. Stephen talks about it in beginning his departing address in Acts 7:2. He says, "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran." It was what theologians label a Christophany of the Old Testament days. It was the glory of Christ that got Abram started as father of the faith line. It is the glory of the Lord that the Good News message presents, 2 Cor 4:3-4. It was the glory of the Lord that Stephen saw as he looked into heaven while being stoned to death, Acts 7:55. Should we not also look at the glory that is in Christ.

That same glory was privately unveiled to three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration, Matt 17:2, 5; 2 Pet 1:17-18. It is a truth that Peter says will peak at the return of Christ in His kingdom. This means that the Omega aspect is ahead. It means that Christ was successful in completing His role in the divine elective program. At last, divine election will have only adherents and advocates. Then, there will be no opposition. Every knee will bow and every tongue will agree with God that Jesus Christ is Lord--Lord of Glory!

It was absolutely necessary for Christ to fill the role of God's Elect One. There was no other choice on a par with Him, Choice was not made in heaven between two or more persons anymore than it is among us today. The choice -- the election -- refers first to the plan or program that God joyfully set forth with predetermination as the only way to rescue or save mankind and recover God's original plan for man to be in God's image. God's current insight into the status of humanity is given in Romans 3:23:

For all sinned (i. e. in Adam #1) and continue to fall short of the glory of God.

Christ had to be the Elect One to rescue mankind from this status. He and His finished work must be trusted and He must be received into a human heart so that the work of Romans 8:28-32 may endow the life and experience. Then the view of election^[3] will be complete and completely wonderful to any believing/receiving man.

Footnotes:

^[3] This means that there is more than one category for election to be seen in. This chapter breaks the fixation that sometimes exists theologically on one track election. In the next chapter two corporate elections will be explained, but below we list 6 categories and selected texts for broadening your view even further:

1. Individual Election: Rom 8:28-32, 33; Rom 1:6; Acts 13:48; 1 Pet 2:9; 2 Pet 1:10; 1 Thess 1:4; Col 3:12; Titus 1:1.

2. Royal Election of Cyrus: Isa 45:1-4.

3. Election of Christ: Isa 42:1-4; Lu 23:35; 1 Pet 1:20; 2:4, 6.

4. Election of Angels: 1 Tim 5:21; Rev 14:10; 1:20; 7:1, 2, 11,; 8:2, 6; 15:1, 6, 7, 8; 16:1; 17:1; 21:9, 12 (most of these are to show them in action as holy angels).

5. Corporate Election of Israel as His earthly people; Isa 45:4; Gen 12:1-3; Matt 24:21, 31; Rom 9:11; 11:1-7, 28, et al.

6. Corporate Election of the Church as His heavenly people: Eph 1:4 (plural); 3:11; 3:21; 1 Pet 1:2; 2:9; 2 Tim 1:9; Col 3:12; Titus 1:1; 2 Jn 1, 13; 2 Tim 2:4, 10; 1 Thess 1:4; 2 Thess 2:13-14; Acts 15:7, 14-18.

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