Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected
indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious.
1 Peter 2:4
The CEO of a multinational company has many complex and specialized jobs to do. He needs to have vision for building his corporation and the leadership skills to get it there. He must negotiate with clients, motivate employees, jump legal and political hurdles, and take educated risks. The success or failure of a big business depends on having the “right man” at the helm. For this reason, selection committees will often spend millions of dollars to screen all the candidates before that “right person” is finally chosen.
The hundreds of titles of Christ show just how complicated the job of God’s Anointed really was. He had to be Savior, Redeemer, Advocate, and Friend. He came to destroy the works of the devil, console Israel, and willingly offer Himself as a substitute for sinful mankind. No one less than God Himself could be qualified for this position.
The Jewish religious leaders understood that their Messiah was singled out for His mission of redemption. Standing at the foot of the cross of Christ, the rulers of the Jews sneered at Jesus and said “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God” (Luke 23:35).
Only a very few of the titles of the Lord also apply to believers. This is one of them: “…just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,”(Ephesians 1:4). How wonderful is that! Before the creation of all things, the Chosen one chose us to be His special people.
January 17
