The Will of God [What He wants to happen]

By the grace of Almighty God, 26/01/2024 marks my 32nd spiritual birthday. It is instructive that my formative Christian years were the most fundamental spiritual stage of my life. It was a period that significantly impacted my perception of God, and many scriptures did not only convict me, but my life was gradually going to be changed by these verses too.

One such scripture was [and still is] Matthew 7:21 – 23, and it got me really curious about wanting to know God’s will, understand it and ensure that I was doing it. I used to wonder how one could call on the Lord’s name and, in His name, drive out demons and perform many miracles and yet be rejected by Him. In fact, the Lord calls such people ‘evildoers!’ According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a Will is “what someone wants to happen”. Based on this definition therefore, God’s priority [in the cited Bible passage] is not driving out demons or performing miracles. What then matters to God? Christ Jesus came down from heaven not to do His will but to do the will of God who sent Him; that he shall lose none of us who believe in Him, but raise us up at the last day [how are we doing with going after those who have since left the Lord – Matthew 18:10-14?]. His Father’s will is that we who look to the Son and believe in him shall have eternal life, and He will raise us up at the last day [John 6: 38-40]. Because we have chosen to do the will of God, we know that Christ’s teaching comes from God [John 7:17]. 

For us to truly understand God’s will, we must first stop conforming to the pattern of the world but be transformed [by the Bible] by the renewing of our minds [Romans 12:2]. Otherwise, we will not be able to test and approve what His [good, pleasing and perfect] will is.

What then is the pattern of the world? First off, we are warned not to love this world or the things it offers us [e.g., lawsuits, aggressive behavior, defiance, authoritarianism, ostracism, oppression, etc.] for when we love the world, we do not have the love of the Father in us. This is because the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements, office, authority, ‘power’, possessions, etc. These are not from God, but are from the world [I John 2: 15-16]. The 17th verse of the passage assures us that if we do God’s will, we will live forever. As followers of Christ, we cannot conform to the attitudes, belief systems, principles, and perceptions of the world. Rather, we must fix our minds and thoughts on God [Colossians 3:2] – that way, we will be changed from the inside out. Let us not be unaware of the culture that is all around us – religion, values, custom, language, marriage, food, clothing, music, etc.

As believers, we must constantly be on our guard [1 Timothy 4:16] because Satan will try anything in his power to turn us away from God [Luke 4:1-13]. According to 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does because our weapons are not worldly. Rather, our weapons have divine power to demolish strongholds, arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God. We also take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. The believer’s greatest weapon of all time is prayer, not rebellion [James 5:17-18]!

It is God’s will that we should be sanctified: that we should avoid sexual immorality; that each of us should learn to control our own bodies in a way that is holy and honourable, not in passionate lust like the world, who does not know God [1 Thessalonians 4:3-5]. It is also God’s will for us in Christ Jesus that we be grateful by giving thanks in all circumstances [count your blessings!]. And He will equip us with everything good for doing his will [Hebrews 13:21]. For it is God’s will that by doing good we can silence the ignorant talk of foolish people [1 Peter 2:15]. Wisdom is the opposite of folly, and it is God’s will for us to be wise [Ephesians 5:17]. 

 It is not the will of God that we should boast and be arrogant, because we are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes [James 4: 13-17].

Focusing on external behaviour to get people’s praise while neglecting to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God is not doing the will of God [Micah 6:8]. If we do not do the will of God, our ‘righteousness’ cannot be a sincere attempt to please Him. Rather, it is tantamount to self-promotion [e.g., using the pulpit to exalt ourselves rather than glorify Christ Jesus]. Doing God’s will is not just an external characteristic – e.g., the Pharisees appeared ‘righteous’ on the outside, yet they were filthy within [Matt. 23:25–26]. 

If we are true Christians, we do not have to be terrified of God’s judgment day. Rather, we should be preparing for it – it needs to be another level of the relationship we already enjoy with Him now [through reverent faith]. But we must pause and reflect as God’s grace has made it possible for us to see yet a New Year. Let us ask ourselves if Jesus really knows us [we may claim to know Him]. Let us consider God’s grace that enables us to still be alive to witness the birth of 2024 today and strive to live in such a way that He will not be ashamed to call us his Children at the last day.

In summary, God’s will [what he wants to happen] is that we keep His commands, and His commands are not burdensome at all [1 John 5:3]. We must be careful not to reject this instruction [1 Thessalonians 4:8].

Happy New Year!

Zurich Church of Christ