LOCUSTS AND HONEY
Vol. 7, Part 2
The Will of God and The Plans of God
In this edition of Locusts and Honey we will be looking at some verses regarding The Will of God. God has a will regarding mankind collectively and each of our lives individually.
Calvinism vs. Arminianism
In my opinion, God gives a free choice to follow Him or not. Various denominations spend considerable time debating the differences between free-will (often called “Arminianism”) and “Predestination” which suggests that you don’t really have a choice. Christians of good faith come out on both sides of this on-going argument. For my purposes, I come down on the side of free-will believing that each of us has a free choice as to whether we will follow Christ or not. Those who are Calvinistic may disagree; however a more free-will approach encourages people to share the Gospel with the lost whereas with a more Calvinistic approach allows one to argue that those who God calls to be saved will be saved whether there is evangelism or not. The Arminian approach believes that Christ died for everyone and that the verses regarding those “elected by God” really refer to those who God foreknew would come to believe in Him. The Calvinistic approach believes that Christ died to save only those who were given to him by the Father and that the elect are chosen by God before the foundation of the world.
Generally Protestant denominations fall within one or the other of the camps. Denominations taking the Calvinistic view would include most Presbyterian churches and most Reformed and Congregational Churches.
Denominations taking a more Arminian view would include most Baptist churches, The United Methodist Church, Wesleyan Churches, the Nazarene Church, Churches of Christ, Christian Churches, Church of God, The Christian and Missionary Alliance, the Church of God, most Pentecostal Churches and the Assemblies of God.
God’s Will
Whether we call it God’s will, God’s plans or God’s purposes, we all know in our heart that God has a plan for both the world collectively and for us individually. In this edition of Locusts and Honey, we will focus upon the over-arching plans, purposes and will of God in history. By understanding the “larger” purposes of God, we can better consider God’s individual purpose, will and plan for each of us and how we fit into the larger purposes of God. I will discuss some of these larger purposes and give some verses to support those purposes.
Salvation
Introduction.
God came to save and redeem men and women. Due to the choices made in the Garden of Eden, corruption came into the world and into our lives. Through the sinless sacrifice of the Lamb of God, men and women are able to be redeemed and to receive eternal life. I believe that it is God’s will for people to be saved but God does not remove from us free choice just as He permitted Adam and Eve to have free choice, even though their choices brought forth disastrous results.
Verses.
Acts 2:23—This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
2 Peter 3:9—The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
1 Tim. 2:4—[God] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
John 3:16—For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that WHOEVER believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 6:38-40—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 17:3—And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
Jer. 29:11—For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
Rom. 6:23—For the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Rom. 10:13—For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Titus 3:5-7—He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Eph. 2:4-7—But God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved, and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come He might show the exceedingly riches of his grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Restoration into the Family of God
Introduction.
Related to salvation, the saving work of Jesus Christ allows us to be restored into the family of God. We became once more conformed to the image of God and like Jesus Christ. It is God’s will that his table be full. When those who are invited do not choose to come; God still sends out servants (both the Holy Spirit and believers motivated by the Spirit) into the highways and hedges to invite all to come in regardless of the condition of their life. Those invited put on the wedding garments, white and pure, of God’s grace and sit at the Holy Table of God. (A good example is the ex-beggar, Lazarus.) (Luke 16:25) The earthly family of God can be viewed as a new nation or the New Israel. We are also the church which is called out from the unsaved. We find Jesus Christ to be our elder brother and God to be our father. We become not only a holy nation but a holy priesthood with each of us having the ability to enter into the presence of God. Instead of being citizens of the Kingdom of Earth, we become citizens of the Kingdom of God.
The Bible uses a number of pictures of us as a people called out from the world. God’s plan was to call a people who would be a “heritage” of the Lord. As a part of the family of God, we are a new nation, a church, a heritage, a kingdom and a Godly people. We are called to follow God, to live holy lives and to do good. We are to be a witness to the nations, a bright and shining city, and a light in the darkness.
Verses.
Gal. 1:4—Who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.
Romans 8:28-29—And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
Eph. 1:5—He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his well.
2 Cor. 3:18—And we all with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.
1 Pet. 2:9—But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
We are sealed with the Holy Spirit
Introduction.
Part of God’s will was that we would be sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit calls and convicts us of sin and witnesses to the things of God. It is a mark of being in the Family of God. The Bible indicates that the Holy Spirit is like a down payment to us from God assuring us that we will inherit the promises of God including eternal life. (Eph. 1:13-14). When you become a Christian you are sealed with the Holy Spirit. Not only are you sealed but it is God’s will that you will be full of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a promise of our eternal life to come and helps us to be called and to know and commune with God.
Verses.
Eph. 1:13-14–In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the ]guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.
Eph. 5:15-20—Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.
Holiness
Introduction.
In coming to Christ, we become a holy people. It is God’s will that we be a holy people and a holy priesthood of believers. Instead of doing our will, we now desire to do the will of God. It is God’s plan and will that you do the works of the Father. Like Christ, you listen to God and do what God tells you to do. The High Priest of Israel wore a plate on his turban saying that he was “Holy to God” (Ex. 28:36). We have each become a high priest and we are to live holy lives.
Verses.
Eccl. 12:13—The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
Micah 6:8—He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.
1 Thes. 4:3-5—For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.
1 Pet. 2:15—For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.
Eph. 1:4—Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him, in love.
Eph. 2:10—For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
2 Tim. 1:9—Who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.
Jn. 15:16—You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
Thankfulness
Introducton.
It is God’s will that we be thankful.
Verses.
1 Thes. 5:18—In everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
To Proclaim God’s Name in the Earth
Introduction.
It is God’s will that we proclaim God’s name in the earth. Part of this involves proclaiming the glories of God and God’s plan for salvation. We are to be fruitful and part of our proclamation helps others to hear the voice of God and to acknowledge God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Verses.
Ex. 9:16—But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.
Matt. 29:19-20—Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Conclusion
Although I may not have summarized all the plans and purposes of God, we can be confident that there are certain large and overarching purposes of God and God’s will. We know that God wants men and women to be saved. We can be assured that God is looking to build a people for Himself and this people will be sons and daughters of God. They will be part of the family of God and will be a nation of prophets, priests and kings.
We know that God used Jesus Christ as a means of redeeming man from his sin and that it is through Christ that we are restored into right relationship with God. It was God’s will that Christ would come to earth and die for our sins and live resurrected as the first among many brothers and sisters.
We know that God wants the Holy Spirit to be part of our lives and that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit which is a deposit that we receive now for the eternal life that we are promised in the future. We know that the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin and helps to lead us to Christ. We know that it is through the Holy Spirit that we get power and anointing to do God’s work and to praise and worship God.
We know that it is God’s will that we live holy lives, doing God’s will on earth and being fruitful and productive. God has prepared for us to do good deeds and to bless others. It is God’s will and plan that we share in the redemptive work of Christ by being his hands, his feet and saying the words of God as led by the Holy Spirit who has the mind of Christ.
It is God’s will that we be a prayerful, thankful and praising people.
It is God’s will that we share the work of Christ. We participate in the spread of the kingdom of God by sharing with others with the result that more and more people come into the Kingdom of God and the praise of God is expanded over the earth.
These things are some of the “larger” or “over-arching” purposes, plans and will of God. We may rest assured as we do these things we are doing the will of God. We can pray confidently knowing that we are praying and acting in accordance with the will of God. We can also trust that we are not moving alone but that God is directing us and guiding us through His Holy Spirit.
In a future edition of Locusts and Honey we will look at how God deals with his specific purposes for each of us and how these specific purposes fall within the currents of God’s overall purposes.
