Chosen Peoples

God reveals to John that he is going to call forth a people that has been purchased.He is going to call forth a people from every tribe, every tongue, every people and every nation.

Now when we hear that, we have only got a few options theologically and I am going to give them to you.

One, here is the question. Is this prophecy based on God’s foreknowledge of how people would respond to the gospel? Or is it based on his sovereign decree?

Two, did Christ pay a price only and hope that he might gain an uncertain number of people who might choose him? Or did he pay a price for a certain number of people that God had chosen before the foundation of the world?

Three, and this is the kicker. Now listen. I want you to think about this. Was Jesus able to reveal to John that men from every tribe, tongue, people and nation would be redeemed simply because he was able to look forward in time and see that fortunately that is the way things turned out? Or was it because God had ordained it from before the foundation of the world?

I will give you the answer. Psalms two, six and eight, chapter two verse six and eight: But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain. I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.

“I will give them to you, Son.”

And then in John 6:37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I most certainly will not cast out.”

Now I want to conclude with just saying this. The infinite value of the death of Christ secures for us the right to offer the gospel to every creature on this planet and to do so passionately. That is why one of the first administrative acts of Christ when he had all authority and all power, was to send forth his men to preach to every creature on the face of the earth.