THE first link in this chain you will find in the end of Romans 8:2828And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28). It is called Purpose—a word that carries our thoughts back to the far-off past. It tells us that God had counsels and plans of His own, and that from the wreck of sinful humanity He would gather out a people in due time that should be conformed to the image of His Son, to share His home and His glory—joint heirs with Christ.
They were “pre-destined,” to this great end. “Pre” simply means before, and “destined” refers to the end in view. This word, which has needlessly troubled so many Christians, ought to be a great comfort to them. It very preciously assures us that God’s purpose is to conform us to the image of His Son. We are to have a body of glory like His, and then our every thought, feeling, and desire will be in perfect harmony with the mind of God. This is God’s gracious thought for us. We are not only to see Jesus, and to be with Him, but we shall be like Him. He is the Firstborn, we are the many brethren just as in an earthly family we perceive a family likeness, so, in the heavenly family, all will be in the image of Christ.
The first link is connected with Eternity, and the second with Time. It is named Calling.
Those who are “called” are destined to share in this purpose when it receives its full and blessed accomplishment. God has many ways of calling us. Some are called suddenly, like Saul of Tarsus, and arrested in their mad career by a mighty hand. Others, like Timothy, nurtured in Christian homes, cannot remember any moment when they were thus powerfully affected. But they trust in Jesus, rest in His finished work and are occupied with Him in glory. This is sufficient to assure them that they are among the “called.” It is through no works or merit of their own that they have heard this call. They attribute it (and rightly so) to the gracious action of God’s Spirit, and know it to be the fruit of God’s great love and rich mercy.
The proof that we are among the “called ones” lies in our having heard and believed. We have heard the voice of Jesus. “My sheep hear My voice.” We have believed that God sent His Son, the Saviour of—the world. We rejoice that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). We thus know that we have everlasting life through believing in Him and we enjoy and enter into it by the Holy Spirit.
Then, if we love Him that begat, we love those also who are begotten of Him. Our souls are purified in obeying the truth, and we love the brethren— “the brethren” meaning all God’s children.
Love is the second mark of one who belongs to God’s family.
Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and love to all saints are the two qualities which mark those who are called.
The third link is Justification. “Whom He called, them He also justified” (verse 30). This and the calling go together, and are the two links in this matchless chain formed on earth. A justified man is not merely cleared of all charges, but one who has been righteously cleared. How can this be true of a guilty sinner? First, because there is grace in God; we are justified freely by His grace. But God is holy, and He cannot be gracious at the expense of righteousness. So it is through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus. We are justified by blood—the precious blood of Christ shed at Calvary, when with pierced hands and feet and thorn-clad brow He gave up His life in death. We appropriate this by faith, and believe in the grand facts of the death and resurrection of Christ. He was delivered for our offenses, raised again for our justification; therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. Moreover, it is God Himself who provided this Saviour, according to His determinate counsel, and when complete atonement for our sins had been made, He raised Him from the dead without them!
God is our Justifier. He challenges the whole universe to ring a charge against one whom He has cleared. He is the Supreme Judge, the final court of appeal is His, and there is no setting aside the verdict He gives. He justifies all who believe in Jesus. Do you believe in Jesus? If so you are justified. If Satan harasses you or doubts beset you, turn to verse 34 and read, “It is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.” The “us” are the called ones. He died. He lives. He intercedes. These are the three great facts our souls are to rest in.
He died—our sins, then, have been visited with the judgment they deserved. He lives. Not one of those sins remains to be atoned for. He left them all behind, so to speak, in His grave. He intercedes. He is our Advocate and Great nigh Priest, who is saving to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. We are not left to travel through earth and get to heaven the best way we can; we have a loving Saviour! Turn your eye to Him, rely on His love to bring., you safely through. Look only, and ever, to Jesus; rest solely and wholly in His power to carry you over the most stormy sea. He will never let you go, you shall never perish, for “whom He justified, them He also glorified.
Our last link is in the glory. God, who purposed our blessing, called us by His grace, justified us in full accord with His righteousness, will never give us up. He will bring us safely to glory. This should be a great joy to us. We are to rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We are to anticipate, with happy, believing hearts, the glory which we shall share with Christ in the near future.
There is glory upon glory as there has been grace upon grace. Who can conceive what it will be, when, no longer viewed darkly, as through a glass, we behold, face to face, every precious trait of divine excellence in Jesus. The glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ: In Him we shall see all perfection. And we shall behold His glory according to that gracious word: “Father I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which. Thou hast given Me; for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:2424Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)). This will be our supreme joy.
Then, too, all the Father’s glory will be displayed. He “who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see,” will be seen in the Person of our Saviour. He is the image of the invisible God, the exact expression of His substance, the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him.
Then, during the thousand years of Christ’s reign over the earth, when He comes in His own glory, His Father’s, and that of the holy angels, He will be displayed as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hosannas shall yet rend the air to Israel’s glorious King. The Son of Man shall have universal dominion, the glory of the Lord shall fill the earth. He shall indeed be declared to be the Son of God by resurrection when those unnumbered “called ones” shall have shaken off corruption at His mighty voice, and come forth from their graves witnesses of His glorious power.
What a prospect is before us! What a glorious hope! It is God’s settled purpose to have many sons in glory. For this, God’s gracious call has gone forth, and every one who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is justified, and is fitted to share in the glory that is to come. Any moment we may find ourselves there, where neither disease nor death, sorrow nor sin, shall ever enter. Yes, we shall be glorified as surely as we have been called and justified.
H. N.