Attributes of God's Will
Read Proverbs 19:21
Because God is a Sovereign God, His plan will come to pass. He has the authority to do what He wanted to do. We are just a man and we cannot do what God can do. We are to be used by God as a vessel or an instrument in order to fulfill what God had purposed (Isaiah 46:10-11). In this lesson, we will discuss atleast three (3) primary attributes of God's will.
I. God's Immanent Will
• Jeremiah 23:23-24 — "Am I a God near at hand?" says the LORD, "And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret places, so I shall not see him?" says the LORD; "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" says the LORD.
• Acts 17:27-28 — He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being.
• Haggai 2:5 — "According to the word that I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt, so My Spirit remains among you; do not fear!"
Immanence describes a God who is at hand, working through the minutiae of the lives of His creation to produce a love for and enjoyment of His Word, His Gospel, and Himself. God does not sit back and merely observe a creation which he set in motion thousands of years ago. He is present and actively participating in His world. This gives the believer rest in the knowledge that there is no place or situation that is too far to be under God's protecting hand. God's will is good, acceptable, and perfect (Romans 12:2).
II. God's Immutable Will
• Malachi 3:6 — "For I am the Lord, I do not change."
• James 1:17 — Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
In God's immutability lies a great source of comfort for the believer. The fact that God does not change his mind, his characteristics, his plan, or anything else is a security better than any earthly insurance for it guarantees His quality of character and gives security to the believer that if He has saved one of us, that saved person WILL persevere to the end for God has chosen him and will not change his mind and let that man slip through His fingers into the breach of hell. No, God neither changes His plan, His covenants, His prophecies, nor His justice; this lends greatly to His dependability. God's will includes prosperity, protection and hope.
III. God's Irrevocable Will
• Romans 11:29 — for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable.
The Word of God teaches that the Jews are God's people by His sovereign will, and that this calling is without repentance. The Bible does not says that God chose all Jews, including Christ-rejecting and wicked Jews, even without them repenting to believe the Gospel. This is the false doctrine which many people think from ignorance of the Scriptures. What the verse truly means is that God has never changed His mind concerning His promises to make of Abraham a great nation, and to bless the nations of the earth through Abraham's seed. These prophecies have and are being fulfilled still today.
