Two men guilty of cursing the same Lord, they are dying the same death. We see them on the cross next to Jesus. They are the same distance from the Lord, both close enough to talk to him through the shouts of the crowds. They were equal in every way except one: One would be lost, the other saved. Here is the great mystery. How did the man on the right recognize who Jesus was? How did he understand the Lord’s kingdom was eternal? How did He get saved? The only answer is the sovereignty of the Father.
Paul goes back through the tunnel of time and points to Jacob and Esau. Before they were even born, God declared that the elder would serve the younger because, “Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hated” People have difficulty with this, wondering how God could say He hated Esau before Esau was even born. I have a problem with it too–not with the fact he hated Esau, but that he loved Jacob, that He could save anyone, that he would choose me. The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I realize how far I am from his standard of holiness.
Was God right in his choice? Read the story of Jacob and Esau, and you see that Esau was a man who cared noting about spiritual life. Jacob, on the other hand, although he had all kinds of problems, desired to be blessed by the Lord to the point that he wrestled all night with the angel of the Lord in order to obtain His blessing. So when I read Genesis, I realize God made the right choice–Righteous and true are His judgments. He always makes the right choice.
One might protest by saying, “Because I am not elected does that mean I have no hope”? “No possibility of getting into the kingdom”? How do you know you are not elected? They may reply “because I am not saved”–Well, get saved today, and you will find you are one of the elect.
It is God who works all things to accomplish His purpose for you in time, in space, in history–even as he put the criminal right next to Jesus on Calvary.
