THE WILL OF THE FATHER{ PART 1}

THE WILL OF THE FATHER PART 1

The average believer in Christ seeks to do the will of God the father and do that which pleases the Lord. The challenge however is that the believer does not know exactly what the will of the father is. This ignorance of what the will of the father really means has led a lot of believers to chase after shadows and not the real substance. This ignorance was referred to by Apostle Paul as foolishness. He says anyone who doesn’t know the will of the Lord is unwise. Therefore to be wise we must all understand what the will of the Lord is. This is the charge from the apostle to us. The challenge is to strive to know the will of the Lord. Before the believer goes about chasing shadows, it is expedient that he is taught what the will of the Lord is.

¹⁷ Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.{Ephesians 5:17}

A man cannot know the will of the Lord except he himself first have his mind renewed. This renewal of the mind is what brings transformation to the believer. This renewal of the mind is evident in the way the man now sees things and understands things as they regard the Christian life and Godliness. Before Christ Jesus came there was a mind set with which the Jews lived. The mind set was that anyone who wants to be righteous and make heaven must obey the Jewish laws and rituals. They were taught for several years that righteousness could be attained if only they obeyed all Jewish laws. They were told that the father’s will is for them to live by the laws.

This way of thinking must change if the believer must be said to have had his mind renewed. When Jesus came and died, he brought a new and living way. A way of the spirit not of the world, that is not of flesh. This new way of living must replace the old way of life. The way of law which the Jews thought was the criteria for righteousness must now be replaced by this new and living way. There has to of necessity be a mind shift, a renewal of the mind. Without this renewal of the mind, a man cannot completely know what the will of the Lord is. To live with an un-renewed mind is counted as conformation to the world. If a man claims to be saved or to have accepted Jesus but still lives with an un-renewed mind, then such a man can be said to be conformed to this world and hence cannot know what the will of the Lord is. He will still think like a Jew and will still depend on the Jewish laws for righteousness and salvation.

² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.{Romans 12:2}

Therefore from the foregoing, only men with renewed minds can understand the will of the Father. I repeat only men with renewed minds. Not every man who claims to have accepted Jesus have this renewed mind of which we speak. It is for this reason that many believers are in church but only few truly understand what God’s will is. This lack of understanding is the primary reason why most Christians are chasing after Jewish rules and rituals for righteousness and eternal life. They are confused about what God really wants them to do.

What then is God’s will for the believer and the world at large? Is it important for the believer to find out what the will of the father is? Is the will itself of any value? Well, the primary reason why God took the form of man and came down to earth was for the will. The reason why the king became a baby in a manger is the will. The will is the reason for the agony of the messiah in gethsemane and the bloody cross. The value of the will is validated by the fact that God left heaven to earth to die with sinners on the cross. The will therefore is of unspeakable value. I think everyone on the face of the earth should know it. The will is worth searching for. It’s worth researching and exploring.

³⁵ Jesus replied, “I am the Bread of Life. No one coming to me will ever be hungry again. Those believing in me will never thirst. ³⁶ But the trouble is, as I have told you before, you haven’t believed even though you have seen me. ³⁷ But some will come to me—those the Father has given me—and I will never, never reject them. ³⁸ For I have come here from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to have my own way. ³⁹ And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the Last Day. ⁴⁰ For it is my Father’s will that everyone who sees his Son and believes on him should have eternal life—that I should raise him at the Last Day.”{John 6:35-40 TLB}

The will of the father is that everyone who sees his Son and believes in Him should have eternal life. The Father’s will is that all who trust in the son for salvation should be raised to life on the Last day. That is the exact will of the father as proclaimed by Jesus himself. Only those who believe in the Son enjoy eternal life. God the father has not given us a will that is beyond reach. No he hasn’t given us any tedious will. It’s a simple will, Just believe in my son and you shall have eternal life. I am however amazed that men have turned away from such a simple will to go adhere to religious rules and doctrines. The church is asking today “what does God want from us and for us?” How can we satisfy God? The answer? The will. The same will unchanged. What is it? “Believe in the Son whom He has sent”

²⁸ They replied, “What should we do to satisfy God?”

²⁹ Jesus told them, “This is the will of God,that you believe in the one he has sent.”{John 6:28-29 TLB}.

……………………………….How does the will work and when did it take effect?....2b continued in the next article.