Then I said, Behold, I have come – in the volume of
the book it is written of Me – to do Your will, O God (Hebrews 10:7).
The concept “the will of God” is often
misinterpreted. Preachers hardly ever view the will of God as the basis of an intimate relationship with God. If you view the will of God just as a series of instructions and executions and not to present your body a living sacrifice to fulfill the will of the Father it is death because the life of an intimate Father- son relationship is absent. The moment that you give yourself to God it requires a flow of faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Trust in the Lord develops only in an intimate relationship with Him.
People often seek God’s will only when they want to
purchase a vehicle, make a job change or marry a wife. Surely, it has its place. The will of God is not just to search out God’s mind on important matters but it is a never-ending quest to know God in all your ways. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths (Proverbs 3:5-6, emphasis added). To pursue the will of God without an intimate relationship with the Father is futility because isolated water pools attract death but life is sustained in flowing with the Fountain of Live.
The will of God should be understood in the light of
God’s purpose to bring forth many sons (nothing to do with gender) to glory. The will of God is rooted in the Father-son relationship. The will of God is all about the glory of the Father that is to be revealed in the life of His sons. The light that shines in the sons of light is the glory of the Father. Jesus said, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.” In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, which is the glory of the Father in the Son. He came to do the will of the Father and in doing so He revealed the Father to His own.
The highest level of the will of God is the
manifestation of the glory of the Father in the life of His sons. The passion of God to bring forth many sons to glory is that all of creation, visible and invisible, may bear witness of the light of God that is shining in His sons. The Father is the delight of His sons and His sons are the delight of the Father. Everything in heaven and on earth revolves around God and His family. For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother (Matthew 12:50, emphasis added). A son of God seeks the will and glory of Him that sent him. When the will of God is being done on earth as it is in heaven the Father’s glory is revealed and His kingdom has come to men.
In the beginning God created Adam in His image
and likeness and in their relationship creation witnessed the love of the Father for His son (Luke 3:38) and the son’s love for the Father. God placed Adam in the garden not to do his own will but God’s will that His glory may be made manifested. Because of perfection in Christ our first parents did the will of God spontaneously, without faith but in love. Faith and hope does not exist in the realm of perfection because hope is dreaming of perfection and fulfillment and faith is walking in the time of imperfection and lack as if it is the time of perfection and fulfillment. Unfailing love is in the realm of perfection. God blessed Adam and Eve, who was His family and godly seed to be fruitful and to multiply and to fill the earth with a harvest of sons. Because of their transgression they despised the will of God and thus frustrated the plan of God to bring forth sons for His glory.
When Adam sinned he died to God and was no
longer His godly seed. Adam deprived his offspring the privilege to be God’s sons. Subsequently God had a need for a new godly seed to perpetuate His dream to bring forth sons.
Adam was 622 years when Enoch was born. Enoch
was 308 years old when Adam died at the age of 930 years (Genesis 5). Thus, Enoch must have learned firsthand from Adam about his relationship with God in the garden. Enoch yearned for the Father-son relationship Adam had with God. He discovered faith and hope and he believed God for the relationship that Adam lost in the garden. He walked (conversed) with God and God began to teach him like He did Adam. He believed God so much he began to experience the joy and strength that man knew before the fall. Life became so great in him that he would have still remain on earth if God had not taken him. He was too full of life to die, so God took him bodily into heaven so that he did not see death and could not be found among the sons of men. Before God took him he had this testimony, that he pleased God. Enoch proved that without faith it is impossible to please (reveal) Him and through faith you can attain bodily to resurrection life (Hebrews 11:5-6). Enoch prophesied of the mighty ones who are soon to be released on the earth (Jude 14). These will be a generation that will know God as Father and they will walk with Him like Enoch did.
God never changed His original purpose to bring
forth many sons to glory. Many years after Enoch, God established a covenant of works with Israel. The Old Covenant brought a change in relationship between God and His people according to the contents of the covenant. This was a covenant between God and Israel. Those outside of Israel had no part in this covenant. The terms of the covenant of the Law were that Israel, through the works of the Law, had to justify themselves in the sight of God. If they made the law honorable they would be a special treasure to God above all people and they shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation to Him, the Lord will set them high above all the nations of the earth and all His blessings shall come upon them and overtake them. If they violated the covenant, curses will come upon them and overtake them because God is the Righteous Judge (Deuteronomy 28). But showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Exodus 20:6).
Israel was responsible to keep the covenant intact.
Because the Law is spiritual, imperfect man could not fulfill its requirements in the flesh (Romans 8:4). Flesh and blood could not be justified by the works of the Law. Israel in the flesh could not please (reveal) the Father who lives in heaven (spirit) because the Law is not of faith but of works (Galatians 3:12), which is death. Do and don’ts is not the will of God but the works of the law. Without faith it is impossible to have a relationship with God because without faith it is not possible to please Him. The Law of Moses was never meant to emphasize a relationship with God but it is a schoolmaster that brings us to Christ. Christ is the end of the Law and the beginning of righteousness to everyone that believes. Christ is the one that introduced God to us as Father. Without faith it is impossible to know God as Father; this is to please Him. Only Christ could make the Law honorable and fulfill the prophets, which is the revelation of the Father’s glory in and through His life. The old covenant failed utterly to produce sons of God that were to reveal the glory of the Father. However, Elijah under the Law was the only one that attain to resurrection life in the body and perfection in the soul, which is manifested sonship. Through the Spirit of Christ that was in him, he saw what Enoch (without the Law) saw, believed God and God took Him and he was not found among the sons of men. The Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead quickened his mortal body. Before Christ’s manifestation in the flesh the ancient prophets had the Spirit of Christ in them, because they were identified with the oracles of God which is the Spirit of prophecy (the Word of God; Christ). Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and search carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching carefully, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and glories that will follow (1 Peter 1:10-11, emphasis added). Elijah witnessed that life is of faith and not of works.
Then God took away the Old Covenant, the
ministration of condemnation that He could establish the New Covenant, which is the ministry of reconciliation to God, in His Son, of all people on the face of the earth. Though the Covenant of Works came in glory that even the skin of Moses’ face shone, the New Covenant was brought in much greater glory, even in the glory of God’s only begotten Son. Christ took away the Covenant of the works of the Law that He could provide, in Himself, a relationship with the Father for us through the New Covenant in His blood. The New Covenant was Christ’s responsibility to fulfill, and the Father’s to maintain. All that is required of man is to believe God and Jesus Christ.
The New Covenant in the blood of Christ changed
the relationship between God and man again. It is a covenant of faith, believing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. It is a covenant not to engage in the works of the Law but to engage in the works of faith, labor of love and patience of hope (1 Thessalonians 1:3). Man can only relate to God through faith, hope and love. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13, emphasis added). Faith, hope and love are the three doorways into heaven where God dwells; the three dimensions of a divine relationship. Those outside of Christ have no part in this covenant.
As a believer you confess: In Christ I count among
those that God gave Christ for His own possession. Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Law and made it honorable for my sake. Christ has borne the wrath of God against my transgressions. The Father has forgiven, once and for all my transgressions, changed my nature by writing His laws in my heart and sanctified and made me perfect. I am joined to Christ and have become one Spirit with Him and God has placed me in the body of His Son. God view me as part of His people. In this covenant God has become my Father and I have become His son. I have not my own relationship with the Father but I am sharing Christ’s relationship with the Father; the most important relationship He provided for me through His sufferings. He also provided for me to share in all His other relationships.
I also confess that as the covenant stands now,
seeing that Christ has fulfilled His part of the covenant, it is a one-sided covenant of pure grace and nothing else but grace. The Father is keeping His side of the covenant of grace forever. If I am outside of Christ I have no part in this covenant.
When Christ, the Seed of God, was made
manifested in the flesh He revealed God as Father to creation. The earth witnessed that God made provision for man in His Son to be His sons.
The Father sent Jesus to the earth to redeem the
earth from the fall (sin and death). Jesus came to do the will of the Father and to accomplish His works. The will of God for the Lord Jesus Christ was to fulfill the Scriptures. Thus, we can say He fulfilled all of the word of God that was spoken over His life according to the anointing that was working in Him. Consequently, the Father was glorified in the Son. The will of God for your life is to fulfill the word over your life according to the anointing that is working in you that your Father in heaven may be glorified.
Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets because He
is the word of God made flesh. Fulfillment of the word of God alone brings glory to God. Only when the Word became flesh fulfillment came and the Father was glorified. Being the Word He showed forth the glory of God, which is the character and power or ability of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14). The Lord showed us that in doing the will of the Father even unto death, He lived to reveal the glory of the Father. The Father-Son relationship was demonstrated that we may know the plan of God for our lives. The will of God for His sons is to share in the Son’s relationship with the Father; even unto death should God so wish. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death (Revelation 12:11, emphasis added).
The will of the Father does not consist of do and
don’ts but to be a partaker of the divine nature through His great and precious promises. It always points to faith where you through a relationship with the Father grow to manifest more trust in Him that He may be pleased. In this imperfect and broken world the will of God is not done out of perfection but out of faith. While you are imperfect you can only present to God faith and not perfection. Faith is a choice and not the spontaneity of perfection. Therefore every time you act in faith, doing the will of the Father you give something of yourself to God which you do not really have but hope for; it is a sweet-smelling sacrifice to Him. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 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 (Romans 12:1-2, emphasis added).
Where does the will of God begin for your life? It
starts with visions of hope (in all areas of your life) that God deposits in your born-again spirit. It is your responsibility to discover the will of God in every area of your life and to fulfill it according to the anointing that is working in you. The will (word) of God (Christ) and the anointing (Holy Spirit) in you is one for God is one. Many Christians never discover the will of God for their lives. There can be various reasons for this great tragedy. The greatest problem is ignorance but in many instances it is lukewarmness or just plain unbelief. With time the Holy Spirit will gradually reveal the fine details of the will of God for your life. This emphasizes an intimate relationship with God. If you seek Him with all of your heart He will disclose His heart to you. Lukewarmness is to serve God on a part time basis. The will of God is a fulltime business that involves all relationships with people, places and things in all areas of your life.
Once you start to see your purpose on earth you
should start to prepare yourself for the task. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all (1 Timothy 4:14-15, emphasis added). Obedience of faith brings glory to the Father. When your obedience of faith has become a dedication you can call it perseverance of faithfulness. Believe me the will (word) of God is Spirit and life; His name is Jesus. When you have become the will of God, you live no longer but it is Christ living in you. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20). The will of God made flesh is the Spirit of sonship.
When you wish to achieve your goal by performing
something impressive, you are missing the mark. When you turn to works, Christ has become of no effect to you. Christ has no need of your works; He has provided all things for you that pertain to life and godliness. You only need to believe it. Faith is not passivity but grace. Passivity is deception, the enemy of your soul. What is the difference between legalism and grace? Legalism says, “I need to impress God to be counted worthy of favor and show Him my righteousness less He withdraws His favor from me.” Grace says, “Because I am justified and righteous in Christ, I produce the fruit (works) of righteousness because I am seeking the glory of Him that sent me.” You need to grow in His relationship with the Father till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. You need not to work for your own relationship with God. Christ provided for you, in Himself, His relationship with the Father. By faith you grow in His relationship with the Father. If it is you that live, it is your imperfect relationships that are revealed but if Christ lives in you, it is His perfect relationships that are manifested to the glory of the Father. If it is you that live you manifest the life of a mere man but if Christ lives in you through faith, a son of God is manifesting the glory of his Father.
Christ removed all toil and sweat that came on
Adam as a result of sin by introducing grace through faith. To understand life through the lenses of grace is to enter into the rest of God. As long as you want to labor to prove your merits of worthiness you seek your own glory and your testimony is not true. When you are doing the will of God on the basis of Christ’s merits you are seeking the glory of Him that sent you; then the Spirit witnesses with your spirit that your testimony is true. This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (Galatians 3:2).
The will of God is the heavenly vision that God has
placed in the heart of every individual believer. You must discover it and be obedient to it to the glory of the Father. This is the race that you must run by faith and finish the course. This is a choice you have made to be obedient to the heavenly vision.
In us, Christ, the Word of God, must become flesh.
We are the ones in whom God’s Son must be revealed. The law (will of God) is fulfilled in two commandments. Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40). Some erroneously say this Scripture is part of the Law and is therefore legalism. Love is the fulfillment of all the Law and the Prophets. The Law could not have been fulfilled in the flesh. If love fulfills all the Law and the Prophets it is no longer of the flesh but of the Spirit. Love is mercy, grace and compassion that God and His sons manifest to one another and to all of creation. There is no fear in love but love casts out all fear. Love, the perfect will of God, is not the spirit of bondage again to fear but it is the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba Father!
Sonship is the manifestation of the Son in the sons.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me… (Galatians 1:15- 16a, emphasis added). Peter told us how to continuously manifest Christ in us by saying, “If any anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any one ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs glory and the dominion forever and ever” (1 Peter 4:11). Though, the backbone of every son is a healthy prayer life you also need to search out the Scriptures to know the heart of your Father if you wish to bring Him glory.
Your purpose is to become a substance of pleasure
and delight for your Father who lives in heaven? It does not happen through works but by excepting through faith what Jesus is to the Father and then with Him flowing in the explosive works of God. It is not building something afresh through works but enjoying what Christ has already provided for us in Himself.
If you love God, He knows you. Love is perfection,
the anointed substance of joy and fulfillment you have become to Him. It is the relationship that brings fulfillment. The relationship of the Holy Trinity with each other is one of fulfillment. The evidence of a deep relationship with God is fulfillment, which are joy, peace and righteousness. You find fulfillment in God and God finds fulfillment in you.
In following Christ you have become all things to all
men, loving them with the love of Christ. You should treat all of God’s people as a nation of kings and priests. Even if the least in the kingdom of God have reproached you and that one does not deserve your respect you still must remember you are standing in the presence of a mighty king and a priest after the order of Melchizedek. You should treat all the household of God as royalty and all men with respect, though they do not deserve it. If you really believe you are a king and a priest and a son of God start showing it. The nature of Christ is to be humble, filled with mercy, grace, compassion and faith in hope that some may be saved. All of your words and deeds are seed. Sowing is a choice of seed. The right seed is to be merciful, gracious and respectful to others. Divine love and godly wisdom is priceless. The right seed produces the will of God on earth as it is in heaven that brings glory to your Father in heaven.