The Will of God: A Christian’s Prime Motivation
There are so many people doing and saying things in the name of Jesus Christ, but what was the Lord’s prime motivation? The will of God.
John 4:34 – Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Matt 26:39 – He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”
Eph 5:17 – Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit,
It could be said on one hand Jesus Christ had “options” given He was God in the flesh, with the Holy Spirit given without measure to enable Him to fulfill His task – but really, He did not.
The Lord had chosen to surrender entirely his own will to that of the Father, and indeed to do so was to Him better than a good meal when he was tired and had not eaten. Indeed it was far more, but being love, He explained in simple terms to those who followed Him the motivation of fulfilling what the Father wanted at all costs.
Although Jesus had power, and told Pilate he could have commanded 12 legions of angels to defend Him (Matt 26:53), He also had asked first the Father whether He could not go to the cross when He asked to let the cup pass from Him. The Father had said drink the cup, and so Jesus like a lamb went to the cross in submission to the Father’s will.
For love’s sake He obeyed, and indeed, Jesus ties the definition of “love” with obedience, when He said “If you love Me, keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15)
God’s people are called to do no less.
The Kingdom of God on Earth
God’s Word says the church – comprised of His people – are to be zealous to do what He wanted. This is the restoration of order within a creation that has gone its own way and sought its own will, contrary to the will of God.
God’s highest creatures – the fallen one-third of all the angels and man who Satan in turn enticed to fall – are independent in mind, and do their own will. The most satanic principle is “do what you want,” but anyone led of the Holy Spirit ought to know it is abhorrent to work from a self-willed basis.
The Lord says in His word He wants a showcase people whose very lives will point back to God who gives all life, and from which all good flows.
No Other Way
It thus follows that is is also not optional to die to one’s self.
Jn 12:24 – Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
This dying to self means putting God’s priorities above one’s own. The “life” here in the Greek is the psuche (soul) life. The soul is the mind, will, and emotions – what makes us us in the natural.
Jesus sacrificed His soul’s desires but it’s most important to see that His soul’s desires actually merged with the Father’s so that He was one in will with the Father. It was not a tug of war, but a harmony, and this came by the power of the Spirit of holiness.
God’s Will Encompasses All
Others might say God’s highest motive is love, but to say a Christian does things to please the will of God includes love, and is not mutually exclusive, but in total agreement with God’s will.
1 Cor 13:1-3 – Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.
Love does not trump authority. True love is in total agreement with God’s authority in the spirit of it, not the letter, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life!
The apostle Paul emphasized love, but he also agreed with all of the truth, and the truth is it is God’s will that we love one another, so to say following God’s will is the highest motive is not a contradiction of the dictate of love, but rather a fulfillment of it.
Jn 13:34,35 – A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
If anyone’s “love” is not in agreement with the will of the true Holy Spirit, it cannot be classified as “love” as Jesus would recognize it.
God cannot violate His law, and His Spirit is the One who is to know the difference, and our only hope is to be guided by Him who will never contradict God’s will.
By the Spirit
None of this is possible unless one abides in the true Vine! (Jn 15) By their fruits you will know them that do.
If one does abide in the vine, it is like tapping into a river of life. He is the one who makes all things possible. He is the one who gives a zeal for God whether it feels good, or we must swear to our own hurt, and change not.
Ps. 15:4 – In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not.
It must be understood that Christianity is not about us, but about the Lord Jesus Christ. And indeed, Jesus directs us to the Father, so actually in the order of kingdom authority, we live first as unto the Father, through Christ Jesus, by the enabling power of the Holy Spirit.
Who wants this in the fullness of it? The answer of that question speaks to your will – the heart of who you are. True faith originates in the will, and all else springs from it.
2 Cor 8:12 – For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.
God, who is love, who is slow to anger and quick to show mercy, says His longsuffering is to lead us to repentance – a surrender of our will to all of His will.
Life depends upon it. Not just yours, but all those who you stand to affect. If you are willing, so is God. It is for the highest good, and leads to being filled with the Holy Spirit that you may will and do His good pleasure in spirit and in truth, not presumption and theological theories.
God’s authority is preeminent, and again, it encompasses all other things we think of as His will, or virtue, or desirable. Humans are self-willed otherwise, and God’s people are supposed to make it their aim to please Him in all things.
Enter into His will. It is what you were made for. It is what you really want whether you yet realize it or not. May the Lord bless you and lead you into all His will as the Lord also showed us.
