Intro: The centerpiece of the gospel is the crusifixion. It stands between life for ourselves and life surrendered to God. If we are to follow Jesus we must be crucified with Him. In this daily crucifixion that Paul talks about our will, emotions, and mind are no longer our own we were bought with a price. If we are truly crucified with Christ then a new creation is born. Jesus Himself clearly tells us of one of the most significant birthmarks of the new creation is in,
Matthew 12:50 “For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother and sister and mother.”
Romans 8:29 God’s will is for us to be conformed to the image of Jesus.
Ephesians 2.10 God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.
God’s primary will is His glory and our being transformed into the image of Jesus. The gospel is never meant to make us better it is supposed to reveal that we need to die.
John 4:34 Jesus told us that His food is to do the will of the one who sent Him.
If you are born again you are the house of the Holy Spirit. Jesus driving desire was to obey the father. If the Holy Spirit lives and we have been crucified with Christ then His desires should dominate our life.
Jesus Himself Matthew 7.21 “Not all who say Lord Lord will enter the kingdom. But all who do the will of My Father.”
Jesus brother James spoke to this as well in James chapter 1.
James 1.22-25 “Do what God’s word says. Don’t merely listen to it, or you will fool yourselves. 23If someone listens to God’s word but doesn’t do what it says, he is like a person who looks at his face in a mirror, 24studies his features, goes away, and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25However, the person who continues to study God’s perfect teachings that make people free and who remains committed to them will be blessed. People like that don’t merely listen and forget; they actually do what God’s teachings say.”
Any response to the gospel that does not include obedience is self-deception. If a profession of faith in Christ does not result in a changed life that hungers and thirsts for God’s Word and desires to obey that Word, the profession is only that - a mere profession. Satan, of course, loves such professions, because they give church members the damning notion that they are saved when they are not! They still belong to him, not God.
That does not mean obedience saves you. However if the Spirit of Christ lives in you then your character will be dominated by a desire to obey the Word and will of God.
What is the most important thing in learning, discovering, doing the will of God?
I. Be a part of the family of God
Romans 8.14 “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God those are the sons of God.” It is the Holy Spirit of God living in you that reveals the will of God to you. I have discovered as continue my journey of faith with Jesus that He will not do anything with you until He first does something in you.
II. Be willing to please God
Philippians 2.13 “For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.”
F F Bruce writes that...
When the Spirit takes the initiative in imparting to believers the desire and the power to do the will of God, then that desire and power becomes theirs by His gift, and they do His will ‘from your heart’
Jesus calls us to obey what He says, commands, directs then places these commands in our heart and provides the desire to do them.
2 Peter 1.3 His divine power has granted (perfect tense = speaks of the permanence of this grant) to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.
So if there is no drive or desire to do what God says or His will then you are most likely not born again. Because the only way we desire God’s will is if we are God’s children.
Pleasing people, comfort, reputation, recognition, pleasure, fun, and many other things melt before the heat of God’s will.
Hebrews 11.6 “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Without our surrender to His direction it is impossible for us to be in God’s will.
Work out. Let the love of God move changes your desires and motivate your actions. The present tense indicates that God’s grace and Spirit continually work effectually and productively, providing the necessary power for supernatural living.
John Piper reconciles Philippians 2:12,13 this way...
God’s sovereignty in sanctification does not remove our obligation. It enables it...God’s sovereign work in us is our only hope that we will press on to maturity. (from Let Us Press on to Maturity) God’s working and willing in us does not make our working pointless; it makes it possible. (from Assessing Ourselves ) We obey and we work. It is our act and our choice. But beneath our doing and our willing is God giving the willing and giving the doing. "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." It is really our work and really his gift. It is really our willing and really his gift
Oswald Chambers writes that...
God alters our disposition, but he does not make our character. When God alters my disposition, the first thing the new disposition will do is to stir up my brain to think along God’s line. As I begin to think, begin to work out what God has worked in, it will become character. Character is consolidated thought. God makes me pure in heart; I must make myself pure in conduct.
III. Be aware of God’s Spirit working in you
A) Discontent with yourself. A clear understanding of how terribly your sin wounds God.
B) Desire to see God’s character in you
It begins with an overwhelming desire to know Christ and Him crucified and then the power of His resurrection.
C) Discernment that Jesus has made you spotless, and blameless by His blood and Spirit living in you. This is an understanding that God has given you everything for pertaining to life and Godliness.
D) Determination to yield to the life of Jesus Christ. This is agreeing with the will of God to become conformed to Jesus Christ.
What area of your life does not belong to the power of Christ? Your attitudes? Your relationships?
The process of God’s will is not passive. It isn’t a matter of laying back and waiting for Him to move us like a puppet on a string. For example you are dressed today because you put your clothes on. You’re full because you fed yourself whatever you ate this morning. Most of you got here this morning because you got in a vehicle and drove here. Had you stayed in bed this morning God would have done none of these for you. Saying “God is gonna have to do this,” doesn’t mean a lack of activity but learning to trust God with the end result.
IV. Be about God’s will
A) Relationship with God – transformation of your character
B) Release of self – surrendering who, where, and what to God
1) May bring opposition
2) May bring persecution
3) Will bring revelation
C) Receiving what’s best
When we surrender to the will of God we are getting ready to receive God’s best for us. His best doesn’t necessarily mean cars, houses, money, good neighbors, good neighbor hood. Sometimes it means hardship, suffering, misunderstanding, misrepresentation.
But God’s best is never and has never been things. It is instead Himself. I did not want to come to Immanuel Baptist Church. However, my Father brought me here to draw me closer to Himself and work in me. He has you here for the same reason.
