“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.” John 6:44. According to Jesus’ own words the Father must do the drawing (except the Father …draw him) otherwise none of us could be justified (saved). God works in mysterious ways, ways we mere humans can’t really wrap our minds around. God works through His Holy Spirit on the heart of every man – yet no man comes to Jesus unless God the Father is thoroughly involved. Not everyone accepts the truth and believes God when He attempts to convince them of His truth. If folks come to the foot of the cross it must be because God the Father drew them there and they believed. No man will seek justification (salvation) by his own volition.
Is it God’s desire that all of mankind be saved? “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” II Peter 3:9. The Greek word “pas” used here for “all” actually means all. But does that mean that eventually all men/women will come to Jesus Christ for their salvation? Not hardly. God alone does the drawing – He draws all but only those who are open to being drawn will come.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. “Whosoever” refers to the fact that God extends His free gift of salvation to “all” but it doesn’t mean “all” will eventually obtain everlasting life. Since God can see the beginning from the end He knows those who will be drawn – likewise He knows full well those who won’t accept His free gift of salvation. It was never His plan nor is it His desire that some of His creation would remain unjustified (condemned). God loves all of His creation with a love that is beyond our understanding, yet God knows what the conclusion of each person’s life will be and has known every aspect of the timeline of each of our lives since before He laid the foundation of the earth.
Apart from His incredible love and mercy there is a persistent fact that cannot be overlooked. God gave each one of us something that really boggles our mind, free will. God will not violate His creation’s free will – He has no desire to fill eternity with a bunch of undesirable, loveless robots. We are born sinners – we are born lost. Some will seek God as He draws them, but most won’t and that’s the tragedy. Think about it, God loves everyone equally, yet He knows each individual’s ultimate destination for eternity. It must be an incredibly painful period for God to endure whilst He watches the life of one of His creation begin and then end without ever coming to the cross of Christ.
So where does all this foreknowledge of God’s leave the faithful who believe and follow Christ’s great commission? Why would the Creator of the universe leave His disciples with such a commandment? If God already knows whom He will draw to Christ ahead of time (who will accept His free gift of salvation) why is it that we must spread His Gospel to all creatures? What does He need us for? Let’s see if God will provide us with an answer.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16. We, His children, are His messengers. God will use us as we demonstrate His Glory throughout our Christian walk. He invokes our help as witnesses to His truth – then others (nonbelievers) see Him in us. It isn’t that everyone is born either saved or unsaved, but that throughout their life they either recognize God as truth then believe – hence He draws – or they refuse to see His truth, thus they remain lost.
We, as God’s messengers, may be the catalyst that brings about a change in a person’s attitude towards God. Yes, God draws us to His Son but how does He do that? By using the faith of His children as a picture, as a sign, as a visible fulfillment of His promises. He knew before He created us just what it would take to convince us of the power, presence, and sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He knew His children would play a positive role in attracting others to the truth as they delivered His message to a lost world. This is one way God the Father draws us to Christ so that we would believe and follow His only begotten Son into an awesome eternity with Him. He also knew before the foundation of the earth which one of His children would be instrumental in another person’s life to help them see the truth. Sadly, He knows all too well those who are foolishly standing apart with an attitude of “I’m saved, that’s good enough for me.” This blatant refusal by God’s children to follow His commands must displease Him greatly. “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:13.
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” Matthew 5:14. Since we follow Jesus Christ we are to be that light to the world. Well then, the question must be broached – why do so many of His children remain hid? Like Jesus says when salt loses its saltiness it is good for nothing. What good is a bunch of good for nothing Christians?
All this craziness concerning predestination would be avoided if only we would at least attempt to understand God’s position regarding His domain. His word speaks of predestination in that He alone knows the beginning from the end. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8. If you give it some real serious thought you can see that, of course, He can speak of predestination since He’s known from the beginning who would be receptive to His drawing and who would remain in their stubborn rebellion to Him resulting in their ultimate, horrible end.
Here’s a little scenario on how this predestination thing works. God places a message on your heart to approach a certain person to witness to them. Now here’s the interesting part, God knew you would follow His will in witnessing to this person because He saw the fulfillment of His will before He even created you, even before He laid the foundation of earth. Therefore it is He (God) that draws. We are His instrument, not the cause.
God is and always has been, that’s just the plain truth. God is not restrained by time or space as is His creation. Scientists say there are four knowable dimensions and 6 inferred or indirect dimensions which, if true, means there are ten dimensions in all. To God there are no barriers to any of those dimensions because He transcends them all. Everything that happened on earth prior to you and I being here, and everything that will ever come to pass after we are gone, has been history to God since before He laid even one of this planet’s foundation stones.
To us humans’ seeing into the future is a very desirable concept but a dimension which will remain unattainable while we inhabit these earthen vessels. We can look back into the past but the future is beyond the bounds set forth by God Himself. Therefore man has no idea who will believe “the Gospel message ” and who won’t. That domain lies squarely on God’s shoulders.
We who have become born again are now a part of God’s family and as such we’ve become His messengers spreading the Gospel of Christ. We were given that command for a purpose. We’re to follow God’s will and speak to our fellow man about His truth – about who Jesus Christ is and what He did for us. But we can’t and don’t save anyone, we are only the messengers of an incredible, life saving message.
The Father draws – the Son raises us up on the last day– are you ready?
God bless you all,
Ron Graham