Are you called now ?

Do you know what being called is all about? I hear less and less about being called and sad as it seems, people getting into the Bible is just not important as it was to the generations before us. They lived and died and tried hard to be a server of their community, moral, attend a local congregation frequently, and love God and of course read the Bible consistently. In this fast paced society, with all the distractions we now have, technology is a big one anymore, God is not important to our lives. And the less belief in the Bible means the farther away from our Creator we will become and understanding his Book and His ways on the way to live is totally unimportant in our daily lives, and I will add this is very sad.

Let’s discuss the subject of “Are You Being Called by God. (1 Peter 2:9)  states, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;”. It states here that the Christians of the New Testament, the Church are called by God out of darkness. Verse (21) of the same chapter, “For even hereunto were you called;” As always please read the entire chapters that are referred in all the articles that are written, to help you to understand the Bible more completely.

The Apostle Paul who wrote most of the New Testament states in (Romans 1:1) “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called”. In (1 Corinthians 1:1) “Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, “. As you can see the Bible states that Paul was called by God. As in (1Peter) you can see also that the Church is called to be servants of God too. (Hebrews 3:1) “Wherefore Holy brethren, partaker’s of the heavenly calling,”

If you have or can get a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, this lists all of the words in the Bible, you must use a King James Version for the Strong’s to define the words, but it gives the definition of the Old Testament words from the Hebrew Language to English and the New Testament words from the Greek language to English. Or go on the internet type in King James Bible and go to the key word “called” and it should list all of the words, there are at least a hundred of them.

There are two main words in the New Testament that interpret the meaning of called. The first one has the # 2564; it means “to call, to bid, called. The second on is #2822, it means from the Greek to English, “to invite; appoint, a saint called.” All of these scriptures listed here are defined under these meanings. (Romans 1: 1, 6, 7) Called to be an Apostle, You are also called of Jesus Christ. (Galation’s 1:6) “Called you into the grace of Christ”; (Hebrews 5:4) speaking of the High Priest as well as Christians, “And no man takes this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron,” Aaron is Moses brother and God called him and his sons to be the High Priest for the nation of Israel. (1Peter 1:15) “Speaking to the Church in different areas, “But as He (God) has called you is Holy so be you Holy in all manner of conversation; (1Peter 2:9, 21) “. Who has called you out of darkness...” v 21, “For even hereunto were you called,” (1Peter 3:9; see 1Pet. 5:10; 2 Peter 1:3; Revelation 19:9, 11, 13. And the list could go on and on so I encourage you to get into your Bible and look for these nuggets of knowledge from our Loving Creator.

 The Old Testament the Hebrew definition of called is the same as in the New Testament, #7121 means to call out; that are bidden; invited. And #2821 means an invitation.

God called Abraham, Moses, Joshua, the Major and Minor Prophets of the Old Testament, God chose David as King. In the New Testament Christ (who is the God if the Old Testament) called the 12 Disciples, after the crucifixion of Jesus, the New Testament  Church began and like the Old Testament God called and is calling people for His wonderful service.  Please read other related articles I have written on this website.

Many people believe today that we come to God and except Jesus Christ as their Savior and this is the right thing to do, but the fact of the matter is the folks that come to Christ now are being called by God to his service. And with some folks they feel drawn to Christ but really aren’t being called and most of them in time fall away and never really become a committed and dedicated Christian in their lifetime. Don’t worry Please, they too will be saved but in God’s timing not ours.

Again, called is invited, to bid, to appoint, called a Saint, by God. God is working out Salvation for all of mankind, he is not just letting a few in His Kingdom and the rest as some preachers say, “they’re going to Hell” if they don’t except Christ now. Except Christ is a MUST but God will get most of mankind I believe to except Him at the specified time. God is NOT trying to Save all of mankind in this present Age; He is working out His plan not ours.

Let’s start with Adam, He sinned, and God knew he would sin, so mankind went on in sin and apart from God. As civilization continued on and grew, God would intervene at the precise time so His plan would stay on target for saving mankind from himself and from Satan the Devil. Then came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then the nation of Israel. God called Prophet’s to preach repentance time and time again to the nation of Israel but they wouldn’t listen. After the nation of Israel and their fall came Jesus Christ the Savior of the World came. (See 1 John 4:14), to preach about the Kingdom of God and to die on the cross for the sins of the world as it states in John 1:29,. Now for the last 2,000 years we are living in the Church Age when God calls (invites) those that he wants to be as it says in (1Peter 2:9) “to be Kings and Priests in God’s Kingdom”. So right now, God through Christ is saving the Church to be leaders in His Kingdom and like any business, when you have your leadership in place, then you can start the real process of saving mankind through Christ. Let’s put it this way, Christ is sinless and was crucified for all of mankinds sin,  He died and was resurrected, then the Church at His coming is saved because He paid the price for their sin and they will be resurrected at His coming, then in the Kingdom (Christ’s reign for a 1,000 years), all that are living and those born will be saved through Christ and last but not least, from Adam till the end of the Kingdom all that have not had the chance to come to Christ will then get their opportunity to come to Christ. It is a procession of saving mankind. Create mankind, let them know how to live, “what sin is”, send a Savior to the World to pay for that sin and start the process of a spiritual creation instead of the physical creation we now have.

 Old Testament is our example (1 Corinthians 10:6) “How these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.”

New Testament, Jesus is Our Savior of the World, the Church, then mankind in the millennium, and last, all of mankind that has lived and died on this Earth.

God is a loving God and wants all of us to be there with Him forever and ever. We Christians all know and Love the scripture of John 3:16, but not many of us really ponder what verse 17 says, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him (JESUS) might be SAVED.”

God through Christ will save mankind but always remember it is a process, he is not trying to save everybody yet. Please read the article, “Adam and Eve, the effect is still here”.  Is God CALLING you now?  Preparing you in this life to assist later in the calling of all of mankind? Only you can take that invitation. God Bless, and Please don’t hesitate to contact me for more information, I would be happy to answer.  Pastor Mark