The Underpinnings of a Rock-Solid Life - Part A

Truth is, God picked us. He chose us.

We have been elected. We have been predestined before we were ever born. But then somebody will say, well if that's true, then skip, why do you ask people to choose Christ, to make a decision for Christ, to come forward at an offer call?

Here's the reason why. Because it's your faith cooperating with his election. It's your faith, your choice, your step, that is cooperating with his election. But I will say even God gave you the ability to have that faith. You've been picked by God, placed in his family, and promised future benefits. Today on Connect with Skip Hytech, Skip explains how these truths can transform and strengthen your faith, as you build a rock solid life on Jesus Christ. Before we begin, here's a resource that will help you lock into the peace that Jesus offers you. Christians can be ambushed by surprise struggles. You know how that feels. Listen to Skip Hytech. Anxiety is the problem.

It's a problem all human beings at some point have to deal with. Understanding and overcoming anxiety is possible, and we want to help you move from feeling paralyzed by anxiety to finding lasting peace with three powerful resources. Overcoming an Anxious Mind, a new booklet by Skip Hytech, his teaching, Worship in the Uncertainty on CD. Plus, The War is Over Worship CD. The light has come. The cure for worry is to redirect your energy and replace your anxiety. This resource bundle is our thanks for your gift of $35 or more today to help connect more people to the Prince of Peace.

Visit connectwithskip.com slash offer to give online securely or call 800-922-1888. Okay, let's get into today's teaching. We're in 1 Peter chapter 1 as we begin our study with Skip Hytech. I discovered that according to the uniform building code in America, homes didn't have to be bolted to their foundations until 1958. Which is the reason why older homes in places where there are earthquakes or mudslide zones will even come off the foundation. So I want to talk to you about those underpinnings, those things that you build your life and attach to the foundation with.

Now the materials we use to attach to the foundation, we use truths to do that. And what's amazing about Peter, really is amazing, is that when he writes his letter to these recipients, even in his introduction he immediately immerses them into some pretty steep theological truths just in the first couple of verses. And here's why. What we think about God determines what we think about everything else. You get Him wrong, you get life wrong. And so theology is essential for life.

A.W. Tozer said, what a person thinks about God is the most important thing about that person. So you're going to notice as Peter introduces his letter, that he puts them into some pretty deep theological truths that are important to him and are the underpinnings for the foundation, which is Christ that we attach to. Look at verse 1 and verse 2.

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace to you and peace be multiplied. I know there's a lot of crazy sounding words in these two verses, especially verse 2. So I want to unpack this verse for you. And even as we covered all of one verse last week, we'll cover all of verse 2 this week.

Moving right along. Let me give you the four truths introduced by Peter. These are the underpinnings of your life, the underpinnings of a rock solid life.

Truth number 1. We've been chosen previously. We have been chosen by God previously. That's the first word in the second verse.

Look at the word elect. Now I know it shows up in verse 2, but I was reading this in the Greek yesterday, and I discovered that it's actually in verse 1 in the Greek language. It's a modifier of the word pilgrims. And in the Greek it says elect pilgrims who are scattered in these areas. So Peter is writing to a group of believers who are scattered all over the place, over in Asia Minor, undergoing persecution as we discovered last week.

But Peter wants them to know, and it would bring a tremendous amount of comfort for them suffering persecution to know you guys have been picked by God long ago. I remember when I was in school, I always dreaded when the students would break up into teams, and the two of the jocks, the athletic guys, would select people from that group to be on their teams. I hated that, because I was like, never picked till the last. So I'm kind of around, shuffling my feet, and finally there's like two kids left, and one goes heitzig.

So great, now I'm on this team. Last pick. Every now and then, there would be a rare exception where I would get picked a little bit earlier on.

That's usually because the student was new in school, didn't know any better, didn't know me, was hoping against hope, this guy's tall, he can probably do a lot of things. But Peter writes, and he goes, right away, it's important that you understand you're elected by God. This truth was, to Peter, monumental.

And let me explain how it came about, I believe. Peter had made a choice to follow Christ. But then Jesus comes along one day and he goes, you didn't choose me. I chose you. And I've appointed you, that you would go forth and bring fruit, and that your fruit would remain.

And I think Peter was like in his head going, what? I distinctly remember that day in Galilee, making a choice to follow this rabbi. And now he's telling me, he has chosen me. That was earth shattering to him. It rocked his world, it changed his thinking. And it did so much so that at the beginning of a letter that he writes, he wants the audience to know that right up front. You can have this as the underpinning of your life on the solid foundation that you have been elected by God. He's going to bring it up again in chapter two.

He's going to say you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, chosen, elected. It's sort of like if you were driving down the street, guys, and you went past a restaurant in your car that you've never seen before, and you say to your wife, hey, let's go eat there someday. And then you think, well, let's just go eat there right now. So you double back, you pull into the parking lot, you get out, you walk into the restaurant, and the waiter sees you and says, Mr. Heitzig, we have been expecting you. I'm going, wow, that's a shock.

How is that possible? And the closest I ever came to a situation like that, true story, is when years ago we were first married, my wife and I, and I got a call from a friend of mine who pastors a church in California, and he asked me to come and speak, and I got to choose when I was to come, and I would choose what topic. So I chose when I would come, and I chose the topic. And I flew out to Los Angeles International Airport, was waiting for him to pick me up, and my wife smiles and says, he's not coming to pick you up.

And she pulls out of her purse tickets to Hawaii. Said it was all a bluff to get you to decide, make a choice, you're going to go do this and do that, only to discover something else has been chosen for you. So I chose to go and speak and what to speak on, only to discover I had been chosen to go to Hawaii. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel is called God's chosen, or God's elect. Thirteen different times, Israel is called the chosen, or the elect people of God. You may remember the fiddler on the roof when the main actor, Tavia, looks up to heavens and goes, I know, I know you're chosen people, but every once in a while, couldn't you choose someone else?

Because of all the suffering the Jewish people have undergone throughout history. In the New Testament, Christians are called God's elect. In Romans and in Colossians, we are called the elect of God.

Listen to this beautiful articulation by Paul. This is Romans 829. Funny how we stop at Romans 828.

Keep reading, it gets better. Whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed into the image of his son. He chose you in advance to undergo a process of changing you to be more and more in your personality and character, like Jesus Christ.

And then he goes on a couple of verses later, who will bring a charge against God's elect? You have been elected by God, which always brings up a debate. It has been a debate going on for thousands of years. It's a debate about God's election and predestination of us, versus our volition, our free will. And so the question is simply framed, do I choose God or did God choose me?

Answer, yes. Both are true. You chose God in harmony with his choice of you. Now you can argue with that, you can read on that, you can fight back and forth about that.

May I suggest to you that you simply enjoy it. That's the whole point. He didn't write this to these struggling believers so they can worry about it and argue about it and fight and write about it, but they could enjoy the fact that they're on God's team, that God picked you in advance. When did he pick you? Was it the day when he looked at you and he saw that wonderful character that you have?

He said, you are irresistible, I've got to pick you for my team. You had nothing to do with it because the Bible says he picked you before you were ever around. Ephesians chapter 1, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Charles Haddon Spurgeon used to say, it's a good thing God picked me before I was born, he never would have picked me afterwards. Truth is, God picked us, he chose us. We have been elected, we have been predestined before we were ever born. But then somebody will say, well if that's true, then Skip, why do you ask people to choose Christ, to make a decision for Christ, to come forward at an ultra call?

Here's the reason why. Because it's your faith cooperating with his election. It's your faith, your choice, your step that is cooperating with his election. But I will say even God gave you the ability to have that faith.

Here's what it's like. A man is drowning, a rope is thrown out to him. That rope alone cannot save that man. That man has to grab a hold of the rope. Or he's just going to...

He's gone. He's got to grab a hold of the rope, but even that is not enough. There has to be somebody on the shore throwing the rope and pulling it in. So God by election throws the rope and pulls it in, we by our volition, our choice, grab a hold of the rope. God always makes the first move. He always makes the first choice. He always takes the initiative and we respond. 1 John 4, what does it say? We love him because he first loved us.

Ours is a response to his initiation. Now inevitably, somebody hears something like this and somebody's going to say, well, that's not fair. And I will say, what do you mean that's not fair? Well, I'm not yet a believer. And maybe it's because God didn't pick me. Well, why aren't you a believer? In fact, why don't you believe right now? Why don't you turn your life over to Christ right now? I'm not ready. Okay.

Then how can you say it's not fair? Maybe I'm not ready because he hasn't chosen me. Well, I'll tell you what. Why don't you pray to receive Christ right now? And I will prove to you that you will discover that God has in advance chosen you. Well, I don't know if I'm ready for that. Okay, well then maybe God didn't pick you. Well, it's not fair. Well, receive Christ and you'll discover that you've made the choice, but he's already chosen you.

Well, I don't get that. Neither do I. I'm just declaring it. But what a comfort that would be to persecuted believers scattered throughout Asia Minor to hear this truth that would be the first bolt of underpinning that attaches them to the foundation, and that is we have been chosen previously. Here's the second truth. We are known completely. We are known completely.

Look at the wording. Select, love this, according to the foreknowledge of God. You know the word foreknowledge in the Greek. It's prognosis. Prognosko, prognosis.

Doctor, what is the prognosis? That's the word he uses here, foreknowledge. God knows, God sees everything in advance.

That's a lot of knowledge. The same word is used of the death of Christ. Jesus' death was in some accident.

It's like, well, he got himself in trouble, got himself arrested. They stuck him on a cross. He died.

No, that was preplanned. Same guy Peter in Acts chapter 2 will say, Him, Jesus, being delivered, listen, by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God you have taken by your wicked hands, crucified and put to death. God sent him, you in your choice crucified him. Both are true. God's knowledge, foreknowledge. Have you ever compared God's knowledge with our knowledge?

It's a fun little comparison. Man's knowledge is accumulated knowledge. It's the product of tedious learning. It's the result of long research.

It's augmented by human experience and it's subject to deterioration. That's our knowledge. God's knowledge is immediate, comprehensive and without deterioration. In other words, God never needs to research anything. He never has to use Google or Wikipedia to find out facts. His knowledge is immediate and comprehensive. God never has to string one logical premise and attach it to another to come up with a result in critical thinking. He just knows. God never uses words like huh or wow or I didn't know that. His knowledge is all encompassing.

You can never tell him anything he doesn't already know and he never forgets. How much stuff have we forgotten over the years? You really realize that when your third graders come home and they ask you a third grade level question that's on their assignment and you're going, I have no clue. It's been so long.

Yeah, but that's third grade level. We've forgotten it all. David was amazed of God's total knowledge, His omniscience. And he said, Oh Lord, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down.

You know when I rise up. And then he said this, You understand my thoughts afar off. Or literally, You know what I think before I think it.

Before the chemical, electrical signal is sent at the synapse of the neuron. God knows that. Have you ever had a weird thought and you go, Where'd that thought come from? The other day I was singing this weird song. It came to my mind.

It's from the 70s. I never even liked the song to begin with. And it starts coming out of me. I'm started singing it. My wife goes, What are you doing singing that thing? Where did that come from?

I have no idea. It's been stuffed in there for a long time. And it came out. And God knows how it came out. He knows my thought before I think it. Jesus displayed this kind of foreknowledge. Did he not? Jesus knew in advance that when he sent two of his disciples into that little village opposite Bethany, that there would be a little donkey waiting for them to take and bring to Jesus. He told them that. Jesus knew in advance that when his disciples walked into the city of Jerusalem, they would see a man carrying a pitcher of water who would lead them to an upper room or they would make the Passover ready. He knew that. He told them that in advance. Jesus even knew what people were thinking. How many times did the New Testament say, And Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, What would it be like hanging out with somebody who knew everything? That'd be a little uncomfortable. Because you'd be talking and then you'd just think something and Jesus would give you that look. Yeah, dude, I know exactly what you're thinking.

But here's the comfort. If God knows everything, then He knows the worst about you already. He knows the worst about you and He loves you anyway. In human relationships, when one person gets to know another person, there's typically a fear. The fear is if that person really knows everything about me, I will be rejected by that person. And that's why we learn to hide in relationships. That's why when we date, we put our best face on and our best foot forward and say the nicest of things because we're hiding under this illusion, this fear of if I'm known for who I really am, I will not be loved. God already knows the worst about you and loves you anyway.

How cool is that? The Bible says He knows our frame and He remembers that we are but dust. You don't expect a lot out of dust. Also, if God knows everything, He knows the best about us, not just the worst, the best. He knows your heart. He knows your motives.

If you have good and pure intentions, He knows that. Sometimes we do our best and we fail. And when we fail, others see our failure only, but not the motivation behind our try and we get judged by them.

They're critical of us. But God knows the whole scoop. The Bible says even if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and He knows all things.

So this would be another point of comfort to these estranged, scattered believers. You've been chosen previously. You are known completely.

Number three, we are growing constantly. Verse 2, Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, here it is, in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Boy, that's a mouthful. Let me unravel that. Let me kind of string it all together in the simplest form.

The one who chose you previously and knows you completely will help you grow constantly. Look at that word, sanctification. If ever there was a churchy sounding word, this is it, right? I mean, you didn't probably stand in line at the grocery market this week and say, have you been sanctified?

It's just not a typical word, but it's a good word and it's a word you ought to know. It simply means to be marked as different, to be set apart, or to be made holy. God's in the process of making you a holy person. Let me tell you what holiness does not mean. It does not mean that you'll ever become a perfect person.

Whew. Some of you are still living under the illusion that I'm going to try, I'm going to attain perfection. You'll just drive everybody nuts around you. It doesn't mean you'll ever be perfect, but it does mean, it does mean that you are being transformed, you are being changed, you are becoming an increasingly obedient person. That's what it means. So He says, in sanctification, in that process of being changed, sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Christ.

Okay, stop there. Peter's using a metaphor that if you were a Jewish reader, you would understand it's a metaphor out of Exodus chapter 24, when Moses brings the law to the people of Israel. He sprinkles them with blood. He came down from Mount Sinai, had the law of God, brought it before the people, and the people said, whatever the Lord says to you, we will do it. So oxen were killed, a basin of blood was brought, Moses dipped something in it, and he started sprinkling the people with blood, and as he sprinkled them, he said, this blood is the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words. The sprinkled blood was the tangible demonstration that two parties, God and the people, were entering into a binding agreement.

So what does Peter mean? Simply this, you've been saved by the blood of Christ, or his words, the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. You entered a covenant with God by putting your trust in the God who called you, sending His Son, Jesus Christ. You've been saved by Christ. You get sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Just as you cooperated with the Holy Spirit once when you got saved, you should be cooperating with the Holy Spirit again and again and again.

That concludes Skip Heitzig's message from the series Rock Solid. Now, here's Skip to share how you can keep these messages going strong to connect more people to the good news of Jesus. You know, you can never be out of Jesus' reach.

No matter what you've done, no matter where you've come from, no matter where you're going, He loves you, and He's ready to welcome you when you come to Him. That's great news that the world needs to hear, and you can help share that news and keep these teachings coming to you through your support today. Your gift helps connect more people with the love of Jesus. Here's how you can give right now. Visit connectwithskip.com slash donate to give a gift.

That's connectwithskip.com slash donate, or call 1-800-922-1888, 800-922-1888. Thank you for your generosity, and come back tomorrow as Skip Heitzig explores what a new life in Jesus means for you. As I read the words of Jesus, as He describes the future eternity, He's speaking about real life. I know a lot of people like to say, well, this is the real world, man. Get real. This is the real world.

Okay, this might be the real world, but then that is the really real world. Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection. Connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig as a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.