THE WILL OF GOD

Over the years I've witnessed a lot of preaching where one of the most bothering questions of our age was asked. What is God's will for my life? It's sometimes equally put in a general sense like this; what's the will of God ?

It's the question of discussion today an this message has been necessitated due to the myriad errors preachers have purported in the attempt to answer it. It seems the will of God is a treasure that the Lord has hidden on a mysterious island that everyone has to search for.

Some too think about it this way. As John MacArthur puts it; like some dots that God has made on the path of the Christian and it's left to the Christian to find those exact dots. Well, these are not all the imagery people use to describe the will of God and how to find it. Sometimes I become sad to hear a Christian or even a preacher trying to address this issue outside the confines of holy scripture.

One of Our main problems in christendom is the lack of reliance on the sufficiency of scripture. I know that almost 99% of all believers believe in the infallibility of scripture but how many belive that the infallible bible contains the only authoritative word for Christian living? The number of professing Christians who just confess with their mouths the sufficiency of scripture are far more than those who practice it.

So to even before I go into this matter , we must first understand that the bible has all the revelations we need to exist as true disciples of God and it contains all the necessary steps we need to take. The will of God is not a mystery. Even if it was, it's no more. We now have the mystery made clear in the Light. So now the bible gives us in black and white those things that are the will of God.

If you have a concordance , you can search for the word will , God's will or the will of God and you'll find many passages that talk about this topic. The will of God are spelt out plainly in the passages of the bible and today , I will endeavor to reveal some of them from the scripture and hope to touch on others next time.

But before I start, I think it's imperative of me to clarify something. The will of God can basically be taken in two different ways.

• The sovereign will of God.
  It's also called the definitive will of God. It's that will of God that has been predetermined to happen and will happen. That is that whether we want it or not, it must be fulfilled. It was the will of God that he create a universe and he did without consulting us. It's that will of God that's minus us. We have no part to play in its fulfilment. It may involve us, as in God can use us as instruments to make it happen but yet without us he will not fail. Like the fact that without our praise, God can equally cause the stones to praise himself. See it that way.

Isaiah 46:9-10 Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Only I can tell you the future before it even happens. Everything I plan will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish.

Daniel 4:34-35 "After this time had passed, I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven. My sanity returned, and I praised and worshiped the Most High and honored the one who lives forever. His rule is everlasting, and his kingdom is eternal. All the people of the earth are nothing compared to him. He does as he pleases among the angels of heaven and among the people of the earth. No one can stop him or say to him, 'What do you mean by doing these things?'

• There's also this will of God that we have to do. It's not rigid and hence subject to change because it involves us. The end results might be achieved but the process involves us. We have to do it for ourselves. Our sanctification , thanksgiving and joy as a child of God depends on these ones. It may even win us a crown in heaven. Performing these will of God will draw us closer to him more. It will also make us obedient children of the most high. And it's this will that we shall concentrate much on today and next time.

Searching for amd doing the will of God is very important. It shows that we are his father, mother, brother or sister. For observe
"Mark 3:35 Anyone who does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."
Arw you ready to be the family of Jesus ?
Then let's starts with our first will of God.

1. SALVATION
   it's the will of God that you be saved. It's the principal will of God that involves us. Without this one, none of rest of the will of God can happen. In fact we must become his children before we can do any other thing he wants us to do. So in 1 Timothy 2:3 Paul wrote

1 Timothy 2:3-4 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

And the words translated desires is similarly translated as will in other version and they both mean the same thing. It's the will of God that none perishes. He wants EVERYONE to be saved. Although that won't happen but it's still his will. That makes this type a flexible one. Unlike the absolute will that says that God predestines and bring it to play, this one although God has predestined it, may or may not come to play because it involves fallible men. So salvation is the will of God. But not all men come to the saving knowledge of the Gospel so that they can be saved from their sin, wrath of God and judgement.
Also in 1 Peter 3 verse 9 he said

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Now that we have seen that God is willing that everyone comes to salvation, let's wait and consider the other will of God next time we meet here but till then , may the peace of the Lord be with you. Amen.
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