My Will, Your Will, HIS WILL
This brief exposé won’t do any more than scratch the surface of a very profound and penetrating topic. If it provokes readers to continue to probe, ponder and pray, then it will have accomplished significant results.
The will, and more precisely the expression of one’s will, is fundamentally our giving substance to our choices. We make decisions which, in essence, are expressing our will.
Since everyone has the power of volition, it is inevitable that conflicts arise as individual wills are exercised. Virtually all conflicts emanate from the clash of opposing wills. We see the seeming benevolent side of this phenomenon in sports where individuals and teams strive to exert their will over that of their opponents. At the other extreme we have war!
We have here exposed and isolated the principal reasons for our clashing with God. It all boils down to a conflict of wills. The Bible tells us that prior to surrendering to Jesus, we were enemies of God, we were at enmity with God, we were virtually at war with Almighty God. This difference in wills with God is so absolute that Jesus even condemned those exercising spiritual gifts because they were not doing the will of the Father:
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matt 7:21-23, NKJV)
As we continue this study, we are going to be overwhelmed by the significance of knowing and obeying the will of God. In the first chapter of Paul’s epistle to the believers in Colossae, a church he didn’t found, Paul prays that they will have full knowledge of the will of God. This was basically the first thing he wants following his salutation. This is an indication of the supreme importance Paul attached to doing the will of God.
Maybe one of the most significant passages regarding the importance associated with knowing and doing the will of God comes from the mouth of Jesus. It is contained in the tenth chapter of Hebrews and includes a pertinent excerpt from Psalm 40:7. The author of Hebrews was probably citing from the Septuagint, the Greek Old Testament, since his audience would have been familiar with the Greek language rather than Hebrew. In citing Psalm 40:7, the second line reads, “A body you have prepared for me:” instead of, “Thou hast given me an open ear.”
Although these phrases appear to be quite different, they carry the exact same meaning as expressed in verse 7, “I come to do thy will, Oh God.” These phrases are adamantly declaring Jesus’ intention of giving absolute obedience to the will of the Father.
Chapter 10 of Hebrews is all about ending the Mosaic Covenant and replacing it with the New Covenant in Christ. The old order under Moses, animal sacrifice, was incapable of permanently removing sin, but the perfect sacrifice of God’s sinless Son gloriously accomplished this through His absolute obedience to doing the will of the Father.
Closing out the Old Covenant while introducing the New Covenant in Christ was a gargantuan step for the Jewish people. Their entire religious experience was wrapped up in the sacrificial system through Moses. Now all that was being swept aside as they were being told it was only a shadow of the reality found in Christ. Not only were the Jews being told that their whole religious system was a shadow of the reality to come, but now Gentiles were also being included! I believe the key to all this is found in the book of Hebrews.
Four times through chapters three and four of Hebrews we are told to listen to the voice of God. This is precisely where hearts of flesh and stone are separated. Many of the chosen people slipped out of a personal relationship with God into a more casual, mundane and routine condition wherein God could be taken for granted. In this condition one could end up relating more to objects of worship than with the Object of worship. Israel got sloppy in how they handled the law and were at various times castigated by the prophets. They basically forgot that their relationship with God was meant to be dynamic, not static.
In transitioning from Old to New Covenant, Jesus demonstrated how significant it was to maintain an open, hearing relationship with God the Father, “I have come to do thy will, oh God.” It wasn’t just a matter of carrying out a set of static commands. It was a total commitment to the will of the Father. Jesus was utterly purposed to carry out whatever plans the Father had. He knew and responded to the voice of God.
Knowing and doing the will of God is paramount in every believer’s life who is committed to becoming the person in Christ the Lord always intended him to be. Jesus came on the scene focused only on hearing the voice of the Father and accomplishing His will. One of the greatest hindrances for this to materialize in our lives is our will. Whenever we decide something, whenever we make up our mind about something, God has basically been deterred from speaking into whatever the issue was. This, of course, assuming the original decision was without His input. For this reason, it is usually a good policy to avoid adamant statements, especially statements with long term intentions.
Test yourself. Is God permitted to speak into, give direction to, absolutely every area of your life? Jesus not only came to do only the will of the Father, He remained committed and faithful unto the very end.
“…nevertheless, not My will but Thy will be done.”
