Introduction

What do you see when you look at yourself in the mirror?  Having had a string of situations lately involving Christians suffering from deep depression, paralysing anxiety, attempted suicide, spiritual confusion and various other debilitating issues, it seems that many believers do not see themselves as particularly appealing to God. This is an issue that is much broader and deeper than first appearances suggest. It is in fact a source of global conflict, for at the heart of human religion is a longing to know we have divine approval.

1.5 billion Moslems daily testify, “Come to prayer! Come to prayer! Come to success! Come to success!”[1]  They are totally convinced that God’s favour runs from Abraham through Ishmael the father of the Arabs and finds final expression in Allah’s choice of Mohammed as the final messenger. This spiritual conviction is totally incompatible with the Jews’ belief that Abraham is their spiritual father through God’s choice of Isaac. These great monotheistic religions will remain in conflict over the place of the state of Israel in the world until God himself publicly declares to all men who are his chosen ones.

All Christians know the answer to this question already, it is not so much that the members of the choice are the favoured ones, but Jesus is his Chosen. This simple reply is however embedded in a biblical doctrine that most believers want to ignore either because of its depth or its long history of controversy. The local and global issues already flagged in this article in fact fall under a single theme, “election”[2]. In the Bible election is a source of endless joy and comfort (Rom 11:33-36; Eph 1:3-4; 1 Thess 1:2-5) and as such the remedy for emotional turmoil. The following text is surely as true for each of us as it is for Christ, “come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious” (1 Pet 2:4) if when we look into the mirror we do not discern that we are precious to God then we must be looking at ourselves rather than at Christ in us. But why would we do this? The place to begin an understanding of the subject of election is with Jesus himself.

The Mirror of Election

The title of this article came to my mind in a highly particular context. I was in conversation with a visiting teacher from Israel recently about the role of the land in God’s plan of redemption. In any discussion of Israel the notion that the Jews are “God’s chosen people” is inescapable (John 4:22). Whilst trying to listen to what the Spirit was saying in the conversation my mind was drawn to a large mirror in the room and a famous quotation by the 16^th century theologian John Calvin. “If we have been chosen in him (Jesus), we shall not find assurance of our election in ourselves; and not even in God the Father, if we conceive him as severed from his Son. Christ, then, is the mirror wherein we must, and without self-deception may, contemplate our own election.” Calvin’s point is that we can be freed from any speculation concerning God’s choice of us to be saved by looking at Jesus. If we recognise Jesus to be Saviour and the Son of God the eternal favour of God is certainly upon our lives as it was upon Christ himself. That Jesus is the Elect of God is the testimony of scripture.

Jesus the Elect of God

Peter says “Christ…was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you” (1 Pet 1:19- 20). This takes God’s election of Jesus back into his eternal plans (cf. Eph 1:3-5). Concretely however, the language used of the choice of Jesus takes root in the history of Israel.

When God calls Abraham he makes a climactic promise that reaches beyond his immediate descendants, ““in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” (Gen 12:3). This makes it plain that the purpose of election is to do good to all others. Significantly, the first use of “chosen” in scripture is also of God’s favour on Abraham and literally refers to the LORD’s “knowledge” of the patriarch for the purpose of distributing the blessings of election[3]. Therefore when God says to rebellious Israel, ““You only have I known/chosen[4] of all the families of the earth therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”” (Am 3:2 cf. Jeremiah 1:5) he means that he has drawn this one nation into covenantal intimacy with himself [5] but that they have failed to reveal him to the world. Jesus is the one who will fulfil the covenant’s purpose of election where Israel failed.

The language of election is particularly intense at the time of the baptism of Jesus[6]. When the Father declares, ““You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”” (Luke 3:22), he is quoting from Isaiah 42:1; “Behold my servant…my chosen, in whom my soul delights”. As the unique Son of God Jesus is the full expression of God’s sovereign joy. His life is overflowing with healing power because he embodies the truth that it is the “Father’s good pleasure to give…the kingdom” (Luke 12:32) to those who seek to fill the lives of others with blessing (Acts 20:35). The climax of Jesus identity as God’s Chosen is not however found in his miracles, but in his death.

That the Messiah is the Chosen One of God was agreed to by both Jesus and his enemies, but for the leaders of Israel God’s Elect could not possibly die on a cross[7]. “And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!”” (Luke 23:35 cf. Matt 27:43). To those watching him perish Jesus does not at all look like the mirror of election but the image of rejection. This misjudgement actually contains within it a great saving truth. In his sacrificial service for others Jesus is in fact taking upon himself all of the curses of the covenant (Deut 28:25-68) which rebellious Israel deserved. Paradoxically, it is the foreordained will of God (Acts 4:27-28) that by rejecting its election in Jesus Israel becomes the means for the taking away of the sin of the world. If the chosen people of God were completely blind to their own Messiah, how can God’s favour be recognised today.

Recognising the Elect

Through observing the religiosity of his own time and expanding this to humanity in general Martin Luther taught there are only two possible approaches to divine reality. The first, which he termed “the theology of glory”, emphasises humanly observable success. Using Islam as an example, the unprecedented speed by which the religion spread across the globe. Alternatively, many Jewish folk would argue that the preservation of their race and the restoration of the modern state of Israel are miraculous proofs that they alone are the favoured of God. The second approach, termed “the theology of the cross”, sees strength manifest in weakness. The New Testament always sees election in these terms.

“God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are” (1 Cor 1:27-28) “Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5) “For we know, brothers  loved by God, that he has chosen you, because…you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction…” (1 Thess 4, 6) These texts teach the sign of divine favour is the reception by the weak, poor and persecuted of the gospel. This is a Christ-centre understanding of divine election.

Karl Barth says, “But for His part the Elect (Christ) who stands at the head of the rejected elects only the rejected. The Gospel tells us unequivocally in this connexion that “the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost” (Lk 19:10)… Who is the Elect? He is always the one who “was dead and is alive again,” who “was lost and is found” (Lk 15:24).” Barth uses the words of the father of the prodigal son to point us to Jesus as the beloved of the Father who as crucified-and-raised is identifiable as the Elect of God.  This truth is one of the great mysteries of God’s saving plan revealed in scripture.

The Mystery of Election

God’s choice of Jesus as Christ and Lord means that the saving presence of God takes on a shape conformed to death and resurrection. This is highlighted in the teaching of the New Testament about the persecution of the followers of Jesus.  In the Gospels, “the elect” are always referred to in the context of end-times tribulation threatening their very existence (Matt 24:22, 24, 31, Mark 13:20, 22). In the letters, to be a Christian is to be called to suffer, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake” (Phil 1:29); “21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” (1 Pet 2:21). In the climactic book of the Bible, those “called and chosen and faithful” (Rev 17:14) must faithfully endure the final war between the beast and the Lamb. In every case however suffering in Christ brings the assurance of future resurrection life with him (Rom 8:17). This is a central part of our identity as elect in the Elected Son (2 Tim 2:12). There is however another element at the centre of the secret connection between election and salvation, Israel.

In Romans 9-11 Paul unveils the divine purpose concerning the unbelief of Israel in terms of “God’s purpose of election” (9:11). He expounds a three phase movement in salvation history. 1. The hardening of the (gentile) pharaoh’s heart (9:17-18) created the scene for the mighty exodus deliverance which defined Israel’s covenantal identity[8]. 2. Similarly, when the mass of Israel “were hardened” (11:7) this led to a massive ingathering of gentiles under the new covenant. 3. In the final phase of salvation Israel’s “full inclusion…. will…mean but life from the dead” (11:11, 15). When Israel accepts its election in the crucified and resurrected Messiah its own history of mortification and vivification will be complete, redeemed Israel will be the living herald of the imminent general resurrection and the End. “I want you to understand this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And in this way all Israel will be saved…”(Rom 11:25-26).

But how will “all Israel”[9] be saved so that Christ may come again and consummate God’s age old purpose of election? Paul teaches his ministry to the Gentiles will incite his fellow Jews to “jealousy” so they will turn to Jesus as Messiah (Rom 11:11-14). From our historical position there are revelatory truths in scripture that can radically transform the state of the Church so as to overwhelm centuries of Jewish resistance to the gospel and usher in the Lord’s ultimate intention.

Looking in the Mirror

Paul teaches, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it.²⁶ He did this to dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water,²⁷ in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection.²⁸ Men ought to love their wives just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. …³¹ As the scripture says, For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one.³² There is a deep mystery revealed in this scripture, which I understand as applying to Christ and the church.(Eph 5:25-28, 31-32 GNB).  It is the revelation of the mystery of the beauty of the Bride of Christ that can catalyse the consummation of election.

God’s process of beautifying humanity began in Eden. In the original marriage covenant Adam was called to be a mirror for Eve where she was to behold her beautiful identity in his love and covenant faithfulness (1 Cor 11:7).  After the Fall, the nations were to behold the love of Israel’s covenant God through her call to be his “treasured possession” and “a light to the nations” (Ex 19:5; Isa 42:6; 49:6; 60:3). Radiating the glory of God’s gracious election Israel would attract the world to her LORD. However, Adam failed, Israel failed, and now God the Father has chosen the Church to be the beautiful Bride of his beloved Son. The Church knows who she is in reflecting her glorious heavenly Lord, Jesus (2 Cor 3:18).  The inner reality of the church is to be the mirror of the mirror of election, Christ. This is why we have been chosen. Israel and the nations can behold the beauty of the Lord in the radiant Bride of Christ.

The Church in its fullness can demonstrate that the purpose of Abraham’s election has been fulfilled in us. As Abraham was called to bless “all the families of the earth” (Gen 12:3) and we are his children through Christ (Rom 4:11) this too is our vocation. It is a calling that can only be realised, particularly in terms of the focus of this article on Israel and Islamic peoples through humble service. The Church is a mirror reflecting God’s choice of Jesus as Messiah and Saviour as Christians send aid to the oppressed in Libya[10] or practically assist the homeless and destitute in the land of Israel. If God’s saving purpose is to be fulfilled there must be no limits to the sacrificial character of this ministry. Let me explain how I know this.

One of my most profound spiritual experiences happened in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (the site of Jesus crucifixion, burial and resurrection) last year. When you enter the chapel that stands over the site where Jesus was stripped and nailed prostrate on the cross, a large painting faces you.[11] As I looked at the face in the painting something strange and wonderful happened, my heart was filled with a precious awareness, “This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” As Jesus was being crucified his heart was perfectly submissive to his Father; the Father’s heart was fully satisfied to have Jesus as his Son. To fully please the Father is the inner meaning of Christ’s election. Sometimes it is necessary to have a further insight into an experience to enter more fully into its meaning. It was only after I returned to Perth that I sensed that my experience in Jerusalem of Jesus’ beautiful submission was itself something beautiful to God as a Father. Such experiences are alluring beyond measure. When the Church limitlessly images the love of the crucified God in the midst of the world then the way will be opened for the beautification of all humanity.

Conclusion

Somewhere there is a song that says something like, “Take a long hard look at yourself in the mirror, we all have imperfections.” This is surely true, but so often the Church has obscured her true beauty as a body chosen by the unconditional love of God by pretending otherwise. The riches of the Vatican, the intellectual pride of many Evangelicals, the ethical superiority of a host of Liberals and the spiritual arrogance of various Pentecostals sadly fail to image the true beauty of election – that God chooses the wholly unworthy. Is not this perpetual religious error at the root of so many of the struggles of believers in our day, such as those of the depressed and debilitated folk I described at the commencement of this article? Have we not projected onto Christians the expectation of carrying a certain image of spiritual achievement other than the crucified and risen Lord?  We have failed very largely to expound by word and culture the mystery of Christ as the mirror of election, and to teach that this mystery is the best of news that God in our Jesus has found a way in which the perfect can shine forth through the tarnished reality of our lives. Every Christian, whatever their position or condition, can rise in the resurrection power of faith to this truth: If as the chosen of God we have been enabled to “see” the beauty of God in Christ in the ugliness of the cross (2 Cor 5:19) it is surely true that Christ in us can reflect God to the world.