Knowing God's Will

Knowing God’s Will

Online Sermon: http://www.mckeesfamily.com/?page_id=3567

If Jesus Christ appeared in the flesh before your eyes and you could ask Him any question that you would like what would your question be? For example, you might ask Him why so many tragic events happened in your life or why He allows war, pestilences, or injustices to exist? And while the answers to these questions would be intriguing, i.e., if we could even understand them, standing in the presence of His holiness would not our number one question be Lord would you please tell me Your calling for my life so that I might understand the reason why I exist and so that I might obey You? To know God’s will is crucial to pleasing Him and yet those seeking His will are often left wondering how and under what circumstances can a finite human being truly know the will of the Divine? For instance, are there parts of God’s will that are irrevocable, unknowable and not subject to a response from humanity? What parts of God’s will be common to all of humanity that require a response from us in order for them to come to fruition in our lives? Does God have a specific will or plan for me that is unique and once obeyed is the key to pleasing Him and attaining the fullness of Christ in my life? And if this plan exists how does one go about learning and obeying this good, pleasing and perfect will? Since Christ died and rose again to atone for our sins we truly do want to please Him and live up to our God-given potential but without answering these fundamental questions of the Divine purpose in our lives how can His greatest glory and our maximum impact on His kingdom ever be realized? The following sermon is going to review Romans 12:1-2 and others passage in the Bible to help answer these all-important life questions.

The Sovereign Will of God

God’s will can be broken down into three specific categories. The first category of God’s will relate to His eternal decrees. God’s plan for all things seen and unseen is absolute and as such cannot be thwarted or modified by anyone or anything (Isaiah 46:10, Ephesians 1:11). To pray to change the absolute will of God for all creation would be futile and very frustrating for what He wills He always makes happen! For example, no matter how much faith, prayer or attempts to get the Messiah to come to conquer Rome this did not stop Jesus from fulfilling the plan He set even before time began to be the suffering servant of Isaiah and atone for humanity’s sin on the cross (Revelation 13:8)! Even if one were to quote Jesus’ own words in the Sermon on the Mount, “ask and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7) to try and force Him to return in one’s lifetime this would only happen if the appointed time of His will was to return within one’s lifetime (1 John 5:14). Has there ever been anything written in prophecy that even the greatest of earthly kings in all their earthly splendor, power and wealth have ever been able to either add or take away from either the timing or their details of their occurrence? Not only is God’s eternal will absolute and irrevocable, but it is also “beyond anything we can full know on earth.” Lest we hear the words Job did, “brace yourself like a man (or woman), I will question you” we must accept the truth that there are many things that has and will happen that we as finite, sinful human beings are incapable of knowing or fully grasping His glorious plans! The omniscient, omnipotent, sovereign Lord’s ways are infinitely higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8), for while we strive to know everything about the world we live in that is not our home (Hebrews 13:14) and the one we are going too (John 14:3), we remain like Apostle Paul, only seeing dimly and a mere glimpse of God’s plan and His glory (1 Corinthians 13:12)!

God’s Will of Salvation

The second category of God’s will relate to His “moral will” for all of humanity. While the moral laws are like His eternal decrees, forever settled and unchanging, they differ because God allows humanity the choice to either follow or reject them! The most important of these moral laws relates to the choice of either accepting or rejecting God’s gracious gift of salivation. “Apostle Peter tells us that the Lord is not slow in keeping His promise to return but is merely patiently waiting, giving everyone more time and opportunity to repent because He wills that none should perish (2 Peter 3:9)! While God wills all to be saved, He does not force His gracious gift of salvation on anyone. It is by His grace we are offered His gift of salvation, but it is through our faith in the atoning sacrifice of His Son that one receives it and is born again (Ephesians 2:8-9). While God could force everyone to be saved, because humanity is created in God’s image who has free will (Genesis 1:27), by design we must have free will over how we live our lives. With this freedom of choice come great responsibility! Everyone is offered this gift of salvation for “all creation testifies to God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what is made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:20) … how could God be just if this were not so? Apostle Paul states, “I (we) have the freedom to do anything, you say, but not everything is beneficial. I (we) have the right to anything but not everything is constructive” (1 Corinthians 10:23). So, when it comes the single most important decision of our lives, salvation, God wills it, but we must choose to accept it by faith in His atoning sacrifice and the total surrender of our lives by denying oneself, taking up one’s cross and following Jesus (Matthew 16:24). We can only imagine the rejoicing that occurs in heaven when a person repents and gets adopted into God’s family and the sorrow it brings when a person dies in their sin when they could have had eternal life!