As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32 Bible Verse).

God is calling every man or woman to Himself. The call of God is not a one-off event. God places more than one call in our lives. There are different levels and depth of God’s call. I have summarized these calls as “the four calls of God”.

1) God’s call to Repentance

Sin separates man from God. If there is going to be any relationship between man and God, there must be a change of man’s attitude to sin.  God’s call to repentance is the first call of God on man. Before God sent His son, Jesus Christ, to preach the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven, He first sent John the Baptist to preach repentance. Repentance was the first requirement and the first call of God on the people of Israel to prepare their hearts to receive the Kingdom. Man must put away deadly sins such as greed, sexual immorality, murder, idolatry, sorcery, hypocrisy, etc.

Greed is stealing, stinginess, cheating, lack of contentment, sharing only an insignificant portion of your wealth, storing more than you need, the desire for riches etc.

Sexual immorality is homosexuality, bestiality, fornication, incest, masturbation, and adultery.

Murder is abortion, unjustified wrath, and cruel words.

Sorcery is magic, all forms of magic, all spiritual mediums that is not God.

Hypocrisy is lies, hiding the motives behind your actions, pretense, hiding truth, etc.

Idolatry is loving man more than God. Idolatry is loving things (money and other material things). Idolatry is praying or bowing down to anything or anyone, dead or alive, other than Jesus Christ and the Heavenly Father.

All are sinners. All is guilty of sin.

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23 bible verse)

God is calling all men to repent. If man repent from his sins, then he fulfills the first call of God in his life.

2) God’s Call to Obedience

After God’s call to repentance, the second call of God is the call to obey his commandment.

And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment (1 John 3:23 bible verse).

God is calling all men to believe in His son, Jesus Christ and to love one another. In the last days, love would wax cold (2 Tim 3:1-4 bible verse). We are in the last days. Evil begets evil. The devil is not victorious over the soul of man when he does evil to man. The devil is victorious over the soul of man when he relishes wickedness on man through the bad deeds of other people, causing man to become evil. The only way to defeat the devil is to always repay evil with good as the LORD Jesus commanded (Mathew 5:48 bible verse). The earth (the hearts of men) is the battle field. There are two camps of fighters:

a) The Salt and light of the Earth: True Christian believers prevent decay and drive away darkness on the earth by their love.

b) The workers of iniquity: They grow darkness by sowing evil in people (doing wicked things to people). Their bad deeds cause the hearts of many to grow cold and become evil.

Man must grow and mature in love. Love has other names: kindness, forgiveness, humility, no jealousy, contentment, politeness, respectful, sharing, servant hood, mercy, selflessness etc.

All works or actions without love is dead. Anyone who hopes to serve in the kingdom of God, must first grow in love.

If I have the gift of prophecy and can understand all secrets and every form of knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains but have no love, I am nothing. Even if I give away everything that I have and sacrifice myself, but have no love, I gain nothing (1 Cor 13.2,3 bible verse)

Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love (1 Cor 13:13 bible verse)

What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works (have no love)? can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works (no love), is dead, being alone. Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works (I will show you my faith by my love) (James 2:14-18 bible verse) 

The God’s call to love your fellow man is a very crucial call from God because a man’s place in the new world to come is determined by how he answers this call.

I saw the dead, both unimportant and important, standing in front of the throne, and books were open. Another book was opened—the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their actions, as recorded in the books (Rev. 20.12 ISV bible verse)

Simple and Practical Ways to Express Love to Others: Why You Must Care

 

3) God’s Call to Discipleship

God’s call to discipleship is the third call of God on man. All disciples are believers, but not all believers are disciples. Disciples are cross carriers. Disciples of Jesus Christ carry the cross of total renunciation and self-denial, daily and follow Jesus. Disciples are learners. Disciples of Jesus Christ learn from the Great Teacher, Master and Shepherd, Jesus Christ. There is a price to pay to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. There are also great rewards for choosing to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. The disciples of Christ are a line of Kings and Priests (Rev 5:10 bible verse) in service to God. The disciples of Jesus Christ will rule the earth with Christ in the millennial reign and in the world to come. The disciples of Jesus Christ pay the great price. The disciples of Jesus Christ are the five wise virgins who sold all they had to buy as much oil for the journey (Mathew 25:1-13 bible verse). The disciples of Jesus Christ are the man who sold all his other fine pearls to buy the only one pearl of greatest value (Mathew 13:45-46 bible verse). The disciples of Jesus Christ are the man who sold all his property to buy the field of great treasure (Mathew 13:44 bible verse). The disciples of Jesus Christ are the good soil who, through perseverance, bore crops in plenty (Mathew 13:8 bible verse). Every disciple pays three great costs of discipleship. One day, large crowds “followed” Jesus, but He turned to them and enumerated the criteria they must fulfill to become His disciples (Luke 14:25-33 bible verse). I have discussed more on discipleship in the bible study post;

How to Be a Disciple of Christ and Not Just a Believer

4) God’s Call to Serve in the Kingdom of God

This is the last call of God on man. God does not call any man to serve in his kingdom if that man has not yet answered the first three calls. To qualify to serve in His kingdom, a man must go through discipleship. It is after following Jesus Christ as a disciple and learning from Him that a man can serve in God’s field.

I will discuss more on how to serve in the kingdom of God in my subsequent bible study post. Please subscribe below to receive the newsletter in your inbox.

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