The Will of God
Today, I will base my thoughts on one verse of Galatians, chapter 1, verse 4, referring to our Lord Jesus Christ, “Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.” There is so much packed into this one verse that it could be discussed for hours or days, without ever getting to the bottom of it.
The first doctrine conceptualized in the verse is that Jesus gave himself for our sins. Given our mortal condition and lack of understanding, the idea of giving oneself is mind-blowing. I submit that most of us are self-centered and self-absorbed, distracted by trivial things, and so ignorant of the world around us, that the act of giving, or even knowing what to give, does not happen as much as it should. Jesus is unique among anyone who has walked the path of mortality because none of his life was about him. Instead, it was all about doing the will of God, the Father, common to us all.
There is one more thing before I get to the main point of my message today, and that is the following phrase of the verse. It says, “…that he might deliver us from this present evil world.” The fact that Paul uses the word “present” implies his belief that we existed before now and will continue to exist after. And then it adds the word “evil” to describe our living conditions.
So, what do those ideas say about the will of God? Did God send us to live in an evil world on purpose? He knew there would be evil and wickedness in this world, but did he make it that way? If we harken back to the story of the creation, God says over and over during the process that it was good. He raised his children, Adam and Eve, in a garden that provided them with all they needed, and additionally, they were immortal. You could say that everything our Father created was perfect for us because perfect is how He does everything.
Based on the conditions of the creation, our Father in Heaven’s will appears to be focused only on benefiting his children. So, how did our present world become evil? The answer is obvious: our will has replaced God’s. The one other perfect thing the Father gave Eve and Adam was the ability to choose for themselves. The gift of moral agency is the one thing God will never take back or interfere with. We are the ones who have improperly used the gift of agency to defile the perfect world God created for us. That is the reason we are in our current condition, and that is what Jesus came to deliver us from.
To set the stage, I will share some common Christian beliefs about God’s will, sovereignty, predestination, free will, universal salvation, and the paradoxical concepts that God is incomprehensible and his ways or will unknowable.
The will of God can be defined as his plan and purpose for humanity. This plan, by necessity, starts at a conceptual phase of human existence. If God has existed for eternity, which I believe, and had offspring in one form or another. Because we are the offspring of God, then we are co-eternal with God. I contend that his plan is for his children to become like him, meaning that we can eventually become like him. That is why Paul referred to God as our Father, and more importantly, Jesus explicitly taught the same doctrine.
The Christian doctrinal belief about God’s sovereignty is this:
- God has supreme authority and cannot be overruled by any other being or force.
- He is omnipotent, and nothing is beyond his ability or control.
- His plan for every aspect of His creation is perfect and wise.
- God’s plan is executed in the free will decisions of individuals.
- We are to submit to and trust in His sovereignty.
- Divine providence directs the course of world events.
All these things together point to the idea that everything is predestined. If that is true, then what is the point of creation? Is the planet and all of us just playthings of God? Are there no variables that change the course of destiny? This statement appears to lack coherence when considered within the context of the entire Bible. The Bible is replete with guidance, historical accounts, and illustrative instances that provide directives on conduct and actions. It also features encounters with God through prophets and the life of Christ. I do not believe that God’s plan is that petty and shallow. If anything, we are all predestined for salvation and exaltation, but then we defy God’s will and end up in a lesser state than God intends.
I have another problem with the first two items listed in the Christian beliefs on the will of God. The first states that God has supreme authority and cannot be overruled by any other being or force. I contend that God understands and lives within a set of rules or laws that govern the universe, and that he uses that knowledge in the works he performs. Additionally, any other being of His stature also abides by the same laws and would never overrule Him. His supreme authority comes from this knowledge and perfect intention and is not something that was given to him.
The second thing I will clarify concerns the statement that He is omnipotent, and that nothing is beyond his ability or control. The idea implied here is that God can do whatever He pleases. Applying our values and motives to that idea would allow God to change the rules as he goes along. Additionally, given the way God dealt with people in the Old Testament versus the New Testament, you could argue that God does change the rules. However, you would be in error to assume that because God’s purposes stayed consistent and unchanging through it all. This relates to my former arguments that God works within certain bounds or laws that He cannot or cannot violate.
The concepts of free will and sovereignty are interesting because God’s will and the moral agency he gives us work hand in hand to bring about our salvation. God has sovereignty because he operates within a set of rules. We have the same sovereignty as God if we act within that same set of rules. Of course, we must operate within the bounds of the present evil world, which limits us in certain ways. The only thing that can deliver us from evil is using our agency to do God’s will, which is precisely how Jesus did it. We will make mistakes along the way, but because Jesus did it right, he can redeem us from our sins. I know it is contrary to common Christian doctrine to think that we share divine attributes with God, but isn’t that the point of God’s will as it pertains to us?
It is God’s will that every person be saved. God has never created a person that he wills to go to hell. Unfortunately, that is what some so-called Christians believe. That is abhorrent and an affront to our Father in Heaven. Although this is a minority position in Christianity as a whole, the fact that anyone holds it is astonishing. That kind of believer makes others into atheists or agnostics, or wants nothing to do with religion. The antithesis of saying that only some are destined to go to heaven is that salvation is universal, and everyone will go to heaven. If I had to choose between the idea that some people are destined to go to hell or that everyone is going to heaven, I would choose the latter.
It is not impossible to know the will of God, as some might suggest. Reading scripture, praying, and meditating are effective means of gaining insights that will inform you on a personal basis of what Father in Heaven wants for you and from you. Listening to other like-minded individuals and inspired leaders, along with reading other good books, will bolster your understanding.
I hope that we will all seek to know the will of God in our personal lives, in addition to knowing his universal plan for everyone. By understanding both aspects of our Father’s will for us, we can use our moral agency better and align our will with his.