Today's Worship: Some are God's people and some are not.

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him in Hosea 1:9,

 

"Then the Lord said, 'Call him Lo-Ammi, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.'"

 

Every once in a while you hear it said, "We are all God's people." From a certain sense, it can be said, but not in the sense in which it is usually stated. We are all descendants of mankind which God created, but that is not what is often intended when the comment is made.

 

The Lord told Hosea there are people who are not his and those who are. Here he told Hosea that because of Israel's idolatry and sin, they are not his people.

 

Likewise, he tells Hosea that a time will come when "In the place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' they will be called 'sons of the living God.'", verse 10. Paul quotes this prophecy when he speaks of a people consisting of both Jews and Gentiles who embrace God in faith, Romans 9:26. In that chapter Paul points to God's prerogative to choose who he wants as his, Romans 9:20-21 and his choice is that it will be those who embrace him in faith, Romans 9:30-32.

 

From this standpoint, the comment, "We are all God's people" couldn't be further from the truth. The truth is that all who have not embraced Jesus Christ in faith are not children of God but children of the devil. The apostle John wants us to be able to distinguish between the two, "This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother." 1 John 3:10.

 

We live in a day where tolerance is held as the trump of all virtues. As I read my Bible, however, I find our Lord not as tolerant as some assume him to be. I read, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6. I also read, "The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." John 3:35-36.

 

Perhaps a more lofty virtue is love where we take concern for those who have not embraced Jesus Christ in faith and are therefore not God's people. The imperative to do all we can to reach out to them, to bring them into God's camp is the greatest and most honorable activity that anyone can engage in.

 

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com