02/05/2019
As Christians we study a great deal on the life of Jesus, and we focus heavily on the cross, but there is one fact that we minimize... Jesus was always doing the will of God. Jesus rose in the morning to speak with His Father, continued speaking with Him all day long, and then spoke to Him before retiring in the evening. Why did He do this, and why should we likewise be in constant conversation with God?
“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”
1 John 4:14 ESV
When I am engaged in a large project at work I begin my days with a status meeting, and during this meeting we also review what needs to be done that day. Then, during the course of the day there are many small meetings that are specific in nature where the minute details of the project are discussed, and finally a closing meeting at the end of the workday to discuss what we accomplished, what we will do the next day, and anything that must occur overnight. Jesus did much the same as He went about doing the will of God... He was sent to do a job... the will of God... and it required constant communication in order to make that happen.
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”
1 John 4:15 ESV
We are linked to the will of God too, and should be asking Him in like fashion to reveal His will to us. We quote scripture regarding the fact that God abides in Jesus and Jesus in Him, and we also quote scripture detailing how Jesus abides in us and we in Him, but let’s not forget that there is a third piece to this joining... God also abides in us, and we in Him. Does this thrill you? Does God residing in you illuminate the fact that you should be seeking and doing His will just like Jesus does? Doing the will of God; Jesus repeats this of Himself, and so do His disciples say this of Him.
“"I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
John 5:30 ESV
So what is this will that God has for His Son? We often say it was to die on the cross and to be resurrected, and although that is a vital part of God’s will for His Son, the ultimate will of God for Him is yet to come... raising each of us who believes in Him and giving us eternal life on the final day!
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day."”
John 6:38-40 ESV
As I work on complex initiatives at work, there are certain tasks that must be completed in order for the project to be completed, and there is typically an order in which they must be completed. Even in seemingly simple things, such as changing a flat tire on your car, you must first retrieve the spare tire, lug wrench, and jack, then use the jack to lift the car bit, loosen the lug nuts with the lug wrench, raise the tire completely off the ground, completely remove the lug nuts, remove the flat tire, install the replacement tire on the lugs, screw the lug nuts on finger tight, lower the car until the tire is touching the ground, tighten the lug nuts completely with the lug wrench, and place the flat tire and tools in the trunk of your car. This is a simple task, but to accomplish it there are many steps, and they must be completed in a certain order. Imagine the complexity of God’s will as it pertains to us!
He started the process of redeeming us the moment that Adam and Eve fell from grace. Every step along the way preparing us further, and pointed to the coming Christ. Then when He came, the will of God continued on through Him... his birth, his life, every miracle, each word, even the cross, His death, resurrection and ascension... all part of God’s will... all done to reconcile us to Himself on the final day. The cross, although incredibly important, and the object of our focus and great attention, is another task that had to be done to accomplish God’s ultimate will. Our sin had to be accounted for, and forgiven, by cleansing us in the blood of the unblemished lamb of God before the next step in God’s will could be done. If changing a tire on your car appears complex... consider God’s will to redeem us, and restore us to Himself.
“Oh Christian, have you put your confidence in the man Jesus Christ? Have you placed your reliance solely on Him? And are you united with Him? Then believe that you are united with the God of heaven.” - Charles Spurgeon
Jesus, and the cross, both instruments of God’s will, but more than that the hinge pins upon which That will hangs and swings open. Do you feel Jesus and God abiding within you? Can you look back on scripture and see the long and detailed path that has made your forgiveness possible? Then you have answered the knock at the door, and now you await the conclusion of God’s will as it pertains to your redemption.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.”
Revelation 3:20 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your love that wouldn’t abandon me to sin, but which placed into motion my redemption, and ultimate salvation. Thank you Holy Father for desiring that I join you at your Table, and live in your house throughout eternity. Thank you Merciful Father for your Son Jesus, and for His obedience to your will... even unto humiliation, brutal suffering, and death because of His love for you, and me.
Thank you for allowing me to abide in both Jesus and yourself, and for the amazing grace that comes from your desire to abide in me. Help me Father to hear your will for me, and to do that will as Jesus did. Give me courage and strength in the hard times when I am called upon to suffer, and send your angels to encourage me as I seek your will; crying tears as I pray, and sweating drops of blood before you in my own Garden of Gethsemane. In that moment of great travail I pray that you will hear my answer to your will in these words “Thy will not mine be done.” Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who has loved me from the foundation of creation, and who has never abandoned me. Praised be your name, and the name of your Son Jesus Christ who you sent to do your will... even though it meant great suffering and death. May all glory come to rest on your head now, and forevermore.
“Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”
Isaiah 53:10-11 ESV
Rich Forbes