Rom.9:6-13- Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
For this is the word of promise, At this time will I come, and Sarah shall have a son.
And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
This passage brings us into some of the deepest places of God’s love. Election is at the very heart of the gospel message. The Lord chooses the most unusual people, you would have to say the least likely to be His children and also to be His vessels to proclaim the gospel. Esau was supposed to be Isaac’s heir, being the firstborn, but the Lord chose to use Jacob to be heir of the promise. You would have to say that Jacob was the least likely being a scoundrel from his mother’s womb nevertheless he was God’s choice. We can take this a little further; why would the Lord chooses Paul the persecutor of the church to be the apostle to the gentiles, and why Peter the uneducated fisherman called to be the harvester of souls, and of course Mary Magdalene of questionable character chosen to be the first to preach the resurrection of Christ. Let’s face it, God’s ways are not our ways. Check this out from the Jonathan Edwards Study Bible on this passage.
“Jacob I have loved. “God of infinite goodness and benevolence can love those that have no excellency to merit or attract it. The love of man is consequent upon some loveliness in the object, but the love of God is enticed out to it and the cause of it.” WJE 17:281. He said elsewhere, “This is not at all upon the account of our own righteousness. God don’t bestow this great mercy upon some and not upon others because some are more deserving of it than others, because they are of a better disposition naturally, or because they done more good, han’t been so wicked in their lives as others.”
Then there is us; why did He choose a stoner on the lakefront to pastor a church in New Orleans? Why did He choose a businesswoman named Aurora to start schools and churches in Uganda? Why did He decide to use a bunch of hippies to start a revival in America? The answer is this, God does what He wants how He wants. He doesn’t need our approval.
