The will of God

In discussing God’s will, we will be looking at God’s necessary will, and God’s free will. Within God’s necessary and free will are His secret and revealed will. God’s necessary will is hard for me, so bear with me on this as I try to explain it without doing any Harm. God’s necessary will is that will which is required to sustain Him. God did not come into existence because of anyone’s will or even His will because He doesn’t have a beginning. He always was. So, how about God’s necessary will being that which

is required to sustain Him. Again, this is difficult for me to understand because God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. He always will be. So, have I completely messed that up or what? So, God’s necessary will, I think, is that which keeps Him Holy. His will is to perfectly display all of his attributes in perfect harmony and balance. That is all I got on that subject because it is beyond my comprehension at this time.

God’s free will; God is the only free moral agent in existence. Whoa, what, what about mans free will. Man has a freedom of will but is not a free moral agent. As I explain God’s free will, you will understand the distinction. God is the only one who makes decisions based entirely and solely on His good pleasure, by His wisdom and knowledge, and nothing else in existence has sway over His judgments or decrees. For instance, no one advised or instructed God about creation. Creation occurred because God wanted to create. Creation was not necessary to God’s existence nor to fulfill something that was lacking in God. Creation was not necessary for God to display His attributes to others because God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit live in perfect love, perfect harmony, and perfect fellowship before creation. Without creation, the triune God would have continued in perfect harmony forever. God, however, decided to create, so here we are.

Now the difference; Man is no longer a free moral agent because of the fall that all of humankind experienced in Adam. We are sinful. Totally depraved, although not as bad as we could be. A cursory look through history will show that some humans rise to the level where they display their total depravity in a way that seems unique to the rest of us. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Attila the Hun, and much more who history has recorded, responsible for the murder and rape of millions. What we don’t want to think about is that we are all capable of the same actions. That’s why Christians have a saying, “There but by the grace of God go I.”  It is God by His will that restrains us from being as evil as we can be, and praise God for that.

God’s Hidden will, for the longest time, in fact, the entire old testament period, the things that Christ would have to suffer were hidden from the Jews. We read the scriptures today and think there it is in plain sight, but we have the advantage of the truth reveal in Christ Himself. We have the benefit of the teachings of the apostle Paul, and many more down through the ages. There are things that by God’s will we are not to know; for instance, we do not see the timing of the second bodily coming of Christ; this is God’s hidden will. There are questions about the scriptures that there are no clear answers. We must have the faith to say someday they will be revealed to us, and on that day, we will know even as we have been fully known.

What about God’s revealed will? God has given us His Son, His Holy Spirit, and His written word. Through His Son, Holy Spirit, and His written word, we have God’s revealed will, not just for revelation but also for us corporately and individually. So, let's get to what everyone wants to know, what is god’s will for me? Corporately we are not to forsake the gathering together of the saints. So, find a place where the word of God is taught and go there. Corporately we are to be about building up each other in Christ, using or talents or giftings to bring together the body of Christ in love and encouragement so that when the world looks at us, they see something of which they want to be a part. Individually, we are to read God’s word daily, pray in the Spirit always and without ceasing, and above all, be obedient to God’s word. If we are doing these things, your gifting and calling make themselves evident, and sometimes not to you but others around you, they will let you know. Christ said, “If you love me obey my commandments,” these commandments He summed up for us.

   “And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27.

He also said,

“On these two commandments depend all the law and the profits.” Mathew 22:30.

So basically, if you fulfill those two commandments, you will satisfy all of the commandments of God. But there is one more. “Love one another” is God’s will for you. Don’t waste time looking for some significant ministry that is all about pride. Be faithful in the little things first, and let God take care of the rest.