God's Will: Faith

God’s Will: Faith
The first thing that I want to consider is faith.

As soon as you mention “knowing God’s will,” people’s ears seem to perk up a little. “What does God want of me?” is the question that drives every religion. I wonder how many upon hearing the question asked suddenly have a list of questions that they want an answer to, “What job should I take? Who should I marry? Should I have kids? How much should I give? What church do I attend?” or for some the questions are much deeper, “How can God’s will allow suffering? How does God’s will involve my freedom of will? Can I change God’s will with prayer?” Though I am not going to answer every question, I hope that you will become equipped to answer them yourselves.

I want to make a very bold opening statement and hopefully by the time we are done it will be explained, the statement is: I know God’s will for your life. Is that shocking? I don’t think that it is or that it should be, for if we are to believe the Bible, then we have the full revelation of God’s will for our lives, even being “fully equipped for every good work (II Tim 3:16-17).” The first thing that we need to know about God’s will for us is that: no matter who you are, where you are, or what you are going through, God’s will is for you to trust Him. Faith is God’s will for your life. Simple. Understandable. Faith is what God desires of you, it is His will for you right now.

What do I mean by faith? Trust. God is trustworthy in every sense of the word. He alone is true (and Truth (John 14:6; 17:17)). He alone does not change (Mal 3:6). The whole of the Bible is extolling the excellencies of faith. Chapters like Hebrews 11 or Romans 4 or Ephesians 2 make it plain that faith is God’s will for us. Jesus even says that if we believe (that is have faith) we are not condemned but that if we do not believe (that is not have faith) we are condemned already (John 3:18). The great struggle in the Bible that we see played out is that the people of God do not believe, that they are stiff necked (Ex 32:9; 33:9; 34:9; Acts 7:51 continues the indictment as does Romans 9-11) and what is it to be stiff necked, Hebrews 3 illustrates this better then anywhere else in my opinion.

Hebrews 3 is a chapter encouraging belief (faith) in the One True God, and as a means of illustrating the need for faith, it illustrates the opposite of faith, that which we want to avoid. In verses 16-19, the author uses 4 terms interchangeably, showing why God was not pleased with Israel and why they would not enter His rest, a rest that is now available for us to enter into. I will italicize the words that I want you to hear the most,

“For who having heard, rebelled? Indeed was it not all who came out of Egypt, led by Moses? Now with whom was He angry forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose corpses fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.”

The last line is the most shocking for it is the summary of the proceeding verses. Why is it that the Israelites could not enter into God’s promised rest? Rebellion, sin, disobedience, in a word, scripture’s word: unbelief. That is amazing to consider. Rebellion, sin, disobedience can all be summed up in the single word: unbelief. Believing, faith, is the heart of what God wants for us. Faith is God’s will for your life.

I want to consider for a moment why it is that we are to believe God. We could go about this any number of ways, I was considering just examining some of His attributes, His character, but have decided to look at one passage of scripture and open up what we learn of God from that passage.

Exodus 17 has been a favorite of mine for some time because it is one of the most awesome pictures of God I have seen. Verses 8-13 recount the battle of Israel with the Amalekites. Israel has been delivered from Egypt, and is now in the wilderness on their way to Mount Sinai, where they would receive the Ten Commandments. On their way through the wilderness they encounter the Amalekites, we are not told why the Amalekites want to fight, only that they do.

Exodus 17:8-13, “Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said to Joshua, ‘Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of that hill with the rod of God in my hand.’ So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. So Joshua defeated Amalek and His people with the edge of the sword.”

God is sovereign.

Think about what just tool place in this recounting of history. It is not a story for teaching purposes or for a moral, it is not allegorical or fictional, it is factual and historic, true. Men came out and fought with another with swords and weapons. Lives were lost, sons and brothers and husbands died. Wounds were attained. Limbs were surely lost, scars were made. Men came out and fought with every ounce of their being, for men fight no other way. There were no half hearted fighters. When a man charges you with a sword you neither walk away nor limply hold your shield. You fight for your life, even if that means running faster then you ever ran before, but surely, none were relaxing or just standing by. The battle was intense, it was hand to hand and sword to sword. It was real, it happened, we need to put ourselves there, and try to understand what these men saw on the battle field. The screaming, the blood, the death, the sorrow and pain, and finally the victory, the joy, the excitement. These men fought with everything that they had to fight with, and I do not think that they stopped to see if Moses still had his hand in the air. The last thing on their mind was Moses, their concern was Amalek. Put yourself there, on the battle field, imagine the sights, the sounds, even the smells. It was raw, it was real. And on that battle field all that mattered seemed to be the battle. But God is sovereign.

They fought with everything in them and yet, when Moses, safely removed from the threat of battle, became tired and began to lower his hand with the rod in it, suddenly all their fighting seemed to be as nothing. The tide turned, the men they were defeating were now defeating them. They had been prevailing since the beginning and they were still fighting as hard but now the Amalekites were fighting harder. They fought harder. Moses stretched forth his had and suddenly they prevailed again. Think of the confusion on the battle field. How were the tides changing so dramatically?

These men had wills. They were not puppets or shells, but people. Yet, God is sovereign. I see something in this story of the awful wonder of who God is. I marvel at His power and ways. Wars rage, yet the outcome never rests with the victor. God is all powerful, all knowing, all seeing, and in control of everything. What to us seems like the greatest battle, a fight that we must fight with every ounce of our being, ultimately rests with God. We no more control the outcome then those men on the battle field that day controlled the victory. God is sovereign.

God is not cruel or a ruthless dictator or an indifferent deity that scoffs at man and then destroys him, no, there is something much more wonderful and glorious than this. Yes, God is sovereign, and this we must never forget, for I am persuaded that His sovereignty rests at the foundation of our faith. Yes, God is love. And God is light. Yes, He also is gracious and merciful, just and righteous, even holy but what is the glue that holds it all together? Sovereignty. Love that is not sovereign in everyway and everything is an imperfect love, desiring only the best but unable to guarantee the best. It is merely human and weak and imperfect. Justice that cannot guarantee justice is no better then a human court, erring and lacking. Surely more could be said and should be said for not only is God’s love sovereign but His sovereignty is in love. For all of God’s attributes are essential to the character and essence of God, for if any were lacking He would cease to be God. If He were less then perfectly just or perfectly righteous or if His love were tainted and perverted as is ours or if His mercy compromised His justness then He would cease to be God, so all of His attributes are in perfect balance and harmony with one another, none greater or weaker, better or worse, but perfect in everyway and act and will. When He is merciful He is yet perfectly just (Rom 3:21-26). When gracious, yet always righteous. He is never any attribute to the exclusion of another, He is not pitted against Himself, willing good but bound to evil or vise versa. He was pleased to bruise Jesus for our iniquities, yet He was righteous, just, wrathful and merciful and full of love at the same moment. Is this beyond us? Absolutely, but it can be received by faith.

But what I desire you to see is that God is sovereign or perhaps a better way to say this is that God is God. Yet, let me show you something more of God.
Verse 18 concludes the battle saying, “So Joshua(!) defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.” God is sovereign yet God calls us to himself. The battle was undecidedly turned by God (this was the lesson that He was trying to teach Israel, have faith) yet He, God, ascribes the victory to Joshua. Why? We learn later that Joshua was a man of great faith, He believed God, he trusted the revelation of God., even earning a place in the “Hall of Fame” Hebrews 11:30. God was pleased to ascribe the victory to Joshua for Joshua believed, he had faith in God. God is sovereign and calls us to Himself by faith, not that we should be destroyed or used, but glorified. Romans 8:30 makes it clear that “whom He calls…these He also glorifies.”

God is sovereign yet God calls us to Himself. From this we learn that God is merciful, kind, gracious, even loving. He is sovereign and needs nothing yet He chooses to be known by us, revealing Himself to us. Why? That He would be glorified, known as He is, trusted for who He is. Joshua trusted in the Lord, he had faith, and through that faith shared in the glory of God, even having God’s victory ascribe to him. And so too us, when we have faith (I John 4:4).

God is God and that is everything or should be everything if we understand the weight of that statement. To not trust Him is to cut off the branch upon which you sit. To trust Him is to know true life. As Jesus said, “He who believes has eternal life but to those who do not believe, they are condemned already.” Faith in God rests in the fact that God is God.

Who is God? He is the sovereign God of all creation, ruling every moment and molecule in perfection, revealing His glory to all of creation. He is the Beginning and the End. He is the One revealed in the Bible. Consider what it is that God is, His power, His might, His wisdom, His glory and perfections. Consider and tremble, for God is God. Yet, He calls us to Himself. Us, the wicked and depraved, the immoral and indifferent. We, the fallen creation, those in rebellion against their Creator. To us He calls, and what does He call out to us, but believe. Believe that He has sent Jesus, His only Son to rescue us from Satan, redeem us from the curse, and to ransom us to Himself. He calls out, “Believe and be saved! Trust Jesus for I have sent Him to save you from your sin and the wrath that is to come!” Faith does not make Jesus true or give Him His efficacy but faith acknowledges the truth of Jesus, it receives Who Jesus is. Faith does not make true but receives the truth. Faith in God says, “yes, You, Jesus, are God and I trust you .”

To not believe is to ascribe falsehood to God, it is to blaspheme His character. To not believe is to reject your Creator and Sustainer, it is not just a choice or preference, but an act of rebellion and hatred. Why could the Israelites not enter into the rest: unbelief. So with us, we have peace with God through faith in Jesus (Rom 5:1). But we have enmity with God without faith (Rom 8:7).

It is faith that is supremely pleasing to God (Heb 11:6). To have faith is to battle as did Joshua, sharing in the glory and victory of God, to not have faith is to be Amalek, that though he may have been the stronger or more prepared, yet, he fought in vain. God’s will for your life is faith. Whatever you are going through it is that you might learn to trust Jesus (Acts 17:26-31). God’s will right now, in your battle and struggle that you are facing is faith in Jesus.

I told you I knew God’s will for your life and I am sure that some are disappointed or feel that this was a cop out, that you are no better off, but if you will consider God, as revealed in scripture, and then consider your circumstances in light of God, you will see what is taking place. You are engaged in a battle (called life) and all that you can see is what is taking place around you, the battle, the life and death, the blood and carnage yet you have not turned to see the hill, to see Who is upon that hill, you have not yet considered Jesus in your battle, that what matters is not you or your fighting or reasoning or effort but all that matters is Jesus. You can hate this (because of your sin nature) or you can recognize the folly of fighting against God and submit to Him, place your trust in Him, not because you fully understand but because He is God.

He is calling you to trust Him, His will right now is that you would have faith in Christ in whatever circumstance you find yourself. He is patient and good, forbearing and longsuffering, not that you would despise Him, but that His goodness (mercy, grace, patience, kindness) would lead you to repentance (Rom 2:4).

Now, it might seem that this word is to no non-believers, to the lost, the non-Christian, but that would be a mistake. It is a word to the saved, the believer, the Christian, too. For what God wants of His adopted children is their faith in Him as a good, loving, kind Father, sovereign and powerful, able to deliver from all adversity, willing only their good, and that by faith we would rest in His acceptance of us by faith. His will for His children is that they would trust His love on the basis of the work of Jesus on their behalf and never their work on Jesus’ behalf. He wills that we would look at our pain and heartache and not see condemnation or wrath but only love, for it is only love for His children. He wills that we, like Paul, would so believe His love and word, that we too might sit in a jail cell and sing hymns not because it is an exercise in futility but because it makes sense if we believe God (Rom 12:1). When we are told not to worry about food or clothing it is not because worry is bad but because we need not worry. Worry is wrong because it is absent of faith. Singing in jail is not something that we need to manipulate but if we only believe the gospel we will be enabled to sing to God no matter the circumstance of life. Faith is what God desires, it is His will for you, trust Him.

And lastly, this as an after thought, when I say to believe the gospel, that does not only mean the content of 4 books or the New Testament only but the full revelation of God in the Bible, cover to cover. God is the gospel, and His word is the full revelation of His gospel. (I will return to this hopefully later. I think that it is a point that many miss and that may open the word more fully for some.)

I think that next we need to consider, 1) suffering as God’s will and then 2) the nature of saving faith, what it is to believe. Then we will return to 3) knowing God’s will as our response to who God is: faithfulness.