Will of
God
“And do not be conformed
to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may
prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Rom. 12:2)
What is
God’s will ?
•
It is God’s plan and stated purpose for His creation and for
each individual to receive salvation.
“For
this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men
to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim. 2:3-4)
“The Lord is not slack
concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward
us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”
(2
Pet. 3:9)
•
It means God’s salvation is available to everyone on
earth.
“For God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jn.
3:16)
The Lord Jesus Christ
commanded His disciples, “Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature.
He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not
believe will be condemned.” (Mk. 16:15-16)
What is God’s
Will for His Creation ?
•
Establishment of families.
“Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and
multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea,
over the birds
of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen. 1:28)
•
Glorify and worship God.
“Give to the LORD the glory due to His name; Bring
an offering, and come before Him. Oh.
Worship the LORD in
the beauty of holiness!” (1 Chron. 16:29)
•
Have knowledge of the One True God and Jesus Christ Who prayed to the Father:
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true
God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Jn.
17:3)
•
To be like the Lord Jesus Christ. “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren.” (Rom.
•
Holiness. “But as He who called you
is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy,
for I am holy.” (1 Pet. 1:15-16)
•
Keep God’s Commandments by loving Him with all the heart,
soul, mind and strength and also fellow human beings. (Mk. 12:29-31)
What
does
it mean by
“God’s will be
done
on
earth as it
is in heaven ?”
•
In the Lord’s Prayer it states: “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in
heaven.” (Mt. 6:10)
•
It means “Whatever the LORD pleases He does, in heaven and
on earth.” (Psm. 135:6; 115:3)
•
The Lord Jesus Christ declared: “For I have come down
from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of
Him who sent Me. This is the will of the
Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I
should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may
have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (Jn.
6:38-40)
•
In heaven there is love, joy, peace, righteousness and rest (Lk. 15:7, 10,
•
The Church, as the Body of Christ, can also do God’s will “on earth as it is in heaven” by having the same
virtues and qualities that the Lord Jesus Christ has (Eph.
How
does
God show His
will ?
•
There are three distinct periods of God’s revelation of His
will to man.
1. From Adam to Moses God
spoke directly to His people.
“And the LORD God commanded
the man, saying . . . ” (Gen. 2:16).
“And God said to Noah, . . . .” (Gen. 6:13)
“Now the LORD had said to
Abram: . . . .” (Gen. 12:1)
2. From Moses to Christ
God spoke through the prophets (Heb. 1:1).
God not only spoke the
Ten Commandments He also wrote them Himself (Ex. 20:1-17; 32:15-16;
31:18). The Scriptures were written by “holy men of God spoke as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Pet. 1:20-21) “All Scripture is given by inspiration of the
Holy Spirit.” (2 Tim. 3:16)
3. From the First Coming to
the Second Coming of Jesus Christ “God has in these last days spoken to us by His
Son,” (Heb. 1:2). After Jesus
ascended to Heaven God sent the Holy Spirit of truth “He will guide you into
all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever
He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” (Jn.
16:12-13)
How to discern God’s
Will ?
•
The Holy Bible has many good examples of how God reveals His
will to His people.
1 Read the Bible for God’s
instructions (2 Tim.
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, And He delights in his way.” (Psm.
37:23)
“I will instruct you and
teach you in the way you should go.” (Psm.
32:8)
2 Pray and ask God to show His will in a particular situation.
Abraham’s servant prayed
and asked God to show him which girl he should choose for Isaac (Gen. 24). David prayed to the LORD before deciding
whether or not to pursue the enemy (1 Sam. 30:8).
3 In the Old Testament time God spoke to
How does the Holy
Spirit
help us to discern
God’s Will ?
•
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I
will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your young men shall see visions, Your old
men shall dream dreams. And on My
menservants and My maidservants I will pour out My
Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.” (Acts 2:17-18)
•
The spiritual gift of prophecy is given to God’s “menservants and
maidservants.” There were men and women
prophets in the
•
“Then He said, ‘Hear now My words:
If there is a a prophet among you, I the LORD, make
Myself known to him in a vision, and I speak to him in a dream.” (Num. 12:6)
•
Peter saw the vision of God’s cleansing of the unclean
creatures to signify His acceptance of Gentiles for salvation (Acts 10:9-48).
•
The Holy Spirit guided Paul and his coworkers where not to
preach and Paul’s vision of the Macedonian call resulted in the founding of the
Church at
•
“But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. (1 Cor.
2:10)
How
do
God’s people have
the
assurance of
His will ?
•
After Moses was called from the burning bush on
•
God had called Gideon to deliver
•
The Lord Jesus Christ wants us to have faith in God and have
no doubts about what He can do for us (Mk.
What
happen to
people who
do
not
do the Will
of God ?
Hebrews 4:1-10
1 Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us
fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it.
2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but
the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in
those who heard it
3 For we who have believed do
enter that rest, as He has said: "So I swore in My wrath, "They shall
not enter My rest,"' although the works were finished from the foundation
of the world
4 For He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this
way: "And God rested on the seventh day from all His works"
5 and again in this place: "They shall not enter My rest."
6 Since therefore it remains that some must
enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of
disobedience,
7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David,
"Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if
you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts."
8 For if Joshua had given them
rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day.
9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God.
10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his
works as God did from His.
What
happen to
people who call ‘Lord,
Lord’
and
do not do
the Will of God
?
Matthew 7:21-23
21 Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord,
Lord,’ shall enter the
22 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?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!”
We
must
do the Will
of
God
to get to
Heaven
The Lord Jesus Christ
said:
“For whoever does the will of God is My brother and
My sister and mother.” (Mk. 3:35)
“For you have need of
endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the
promise:” (Heb.
“And the world is passing
away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. “ (1 Jn. 2:17)
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Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International. |
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