A Theology of God’s Will
Do you know God’s will, His sovereign and perfect will? Now
there is an important and maybe life changing and even scary question for you.
We can know God’s will. There is more than one. There is His sovereign will,
His permissive and His individual or descretive will. We do know that God’s
will is never frustrated, what He choses to do He accomplishes. Like God’s Word, it will never return void,
but always accomplish its purpose for which it was sent (Isaiah 55:11-12). God
is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and immanent. He is all-powerful and can
do whatever He wants. Moreover, God is also all wise and He is good He can do
whatever He wants and it will be right and correct. However, be glad that He
cannot do something contrary to His nature or what is evil or cruel. Remember,
God is unchanging too.
God has foreknowledge of everything and He will accomplish
His promises through it. We may experience what seems like contradictions such
as the fact that God is sinless, but allows sin in the world. In 2 Peter 3:9 we
read that “God is not willing that any should perish,” yet many are not
saved. This is part of His permissive will. He allows or permits us to walk
uprightly or sin. He allows us to choose life or death. God does not intercede
in some evil, like Joseph’s imprisonment or ultimately Christ’s crucifixion.
But He uses it for His glory and our good. We must understand that God’s will
permits rather than causes sin. God allows individual responsibility or free
will.
Take evangelism for example. If God foreknew who would be
saved, the elect, why bother. God’s knows the end of His plan and He has a
means. His plan includes us and our faithfulness to witness to His plan. In His
word He tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. So we are
the ones who tell others about God’s plan of salvation, or not. God wants us to
be faithful. Of course it is God the Holy Spirit who transforms our lives.
The strict Calvinist believes that God causes all events and
that man’s will is not free. Man can get drunk and kill his family. God does
not cause sin. It was Judas, not God who betrayed Christ. Sin is a
transgression outside of God’s law. God is above the law and cannot sin. God is
good, but not everything that happens is good. Mankind does not act in God’s
will always; in fact his heart is deceitful as Jeremiah states. But redeemed
and transformed, man can act in God’s good and perfect will. Yet, evil exists
and acts outside of God’s will even though He uses it for good in the long run.
The cross is the ultimate and only fully redemptive response to evil. Good
glorifies God. God created all and it was “very good.” Evil entered the world
in God’s creation. We as humans have the option to obey or disobey God and our
relationship with Him. Seeking after God and His will as delineated in
Scripture is how we put on the “full armor of God,” and His protection from
evil. We reap what we sow and if we sow to the Spirit, we reap eternal life
(Galatians 6:7-8).
So, be fully yielded to Him and His word, delighting in His
will. Isaiah 40:29-30 tells us that “He gives strength to the weary and power to
the weak, but those whose hope is in the Lord will renew their strength and they
will soar on wings like eagle’s; they will run and not grow weary, they will
walk and not be faint.” Psalm
40:8 says, “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” David
again in Psalm 143:10 prays, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my
God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” It is the Holy Spirit who is our Counselor and
guide.
My life verse from Isaiah 30:21 was spoken audibly by God to
me while in a counselor’s office saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” It is
preceded by “whether you turn to the right or to the left you will hear a voice
behind you saying...” In other words, God’s word, which is the dynamic
and lively word is sharper than any two-edged sword and will lead or keep us on
the right path. His permissive will tells us to keep within the boundaries of
it and that there is not just one spot to stand or person or job that is His
will for us. We can be in His will meandering left or right within His Word,
the Bible. Clearly throughout Scripture
we are admonished to be sanctified, pure and holy. We are to love as He first
loved us. There will always be uncertainty, so we are not to worry. We are to
go straight to Jesus. It is all about faith.
We are to choose to trust in all things. We are as Paul said in 1
Thessalonians 5:16-18 to “Rejoice always, give thanks in all things
and pray unceasingly, for it is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus.”
Remember it’s in His timing and His ways, so we need to wait
on the Lord for He alone is perfect and worthy to be praised.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.