God called Abraham not only for the purpose of bringing him to the land that He would show him but also for the purpose of making a great nation out of him. God's goal is to gain a group of men to be His people. God called Abraham with the purpose of making him and his descendants His people. In other words, God's choosing of His people began with Abraham. He called one man out from among so many men. Thereafter, God revealed Himself to this man, and His salvation was to be accomplished through this man. Salvation would come out of this one man. God would reach His goal through the man He chose and called.
Abraham was selected. This means that God called out for Himself one man from among many men. God wants to gain a group of people for Himself. In the Old Testament there was a nation, Israel, because God wanted a people on this earth, that is, He wanted a group of people who were separated unto God, who were for His glory, and who belonged to Him.
Although God let the Israelites go in regard to many of the sins that they committed, He would not let them go when they committed the sin of idolatry. For God's people to worship idols is a very serious sin. God's place can never be usurped by idols. God's purpose in choosing a people is for them to become His testimony on the earth. What should they testify? They should testify God. God has placed Himself in the midst of His people. In other words God's people are the vessel which contains God. Wherever there are God's people, there is God's testimony. Rabshakeh, a general of the king of Assyria, the enemy of the children of Israel, said, "Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?...Who are they among all the gods of the countries, that have delivered their country out of mine hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of mine hand?" (2 Kings 18:34-35). This shows us that before the enemies of the Israelites could deal with the Israelites, they had to first deal with Jehovah because the Israelites were one with Jehovah. God has placed Himself in the midst of His people. He has placed Himself, His glory, His authority, and His power in the midst of His people.
Acts 15:14 says, "God...visited the Gentiles to take out from them a people for His name." This is a picture of the New Testament. In the New Testament the church constitutes God's people. All of God's testimony, work, and will are found in the church today.
God's goal is to gain a group of people unto Himself. His goal is to gain a group of people who will declare, "I belong to Jehovah. I am the Lord's." This is why the Bible pays so much attention to a person's confession of Christ. The Lord said, "Everyone who confesses in Me before men, the Son of Man will also confess in him before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God" (Luke 12:8-9). The Lord wants to gain men who will confess His name. Many times, confessing Christ is not just preaching the gospel, but declaring, "I belong to the Lord. I belong to God!" This is God's testimony. In this way God will gain something. God wants to gain a group of people, who will confess, "I belong to God, and I am for Him."