God has elevated His Word above His name. The magnificence, perfection, and brilliance of God is unmatched, and His wonder is really too vast to comprehend. However, it isn’t as important to totally understand the wonder of His being as it is to trust in it. Our minds may not be able digest the fullness of God, but we must have faith that He is who He tells us He is in His Word. Hebrews 11:6(NKJV) informs us, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Our trust in Heavenly Father is the basis on which every other good thing in our lives will depend, so if we are not doing our very best to learn about God, we’re missing the very purpose for which we were born.
God created each of us uniquely. No two people are exactly alike, and this is an astounding truth to comprehend. It demonstrates the brilliance of God. He didn’t create us to be robots or puppets, but rather, we can glory in our individuality. However, when it comes to His love and how we share it, there can be no deviation among His children. Through the Apostle Paul, God tells us in Philippians 2:3-4(NLT), “Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” As sons and daughters of the Most High God, we are commanded to be humble and to love others like Christ. We can’t allow our personal agendas to interfere with God’s plan and purpose for our lives. His Will must be our highest priority, and this means that we are living life through the heart and mind of Christ.
Philippians 2:5-7(NLT) commands, “5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form.” Jesus Christ left the throne of God to come to earth to carry out God’s mission. This mission was to save us from eternal darkness, and to make it possible for us to become God’s children of light. We must understand that there is no greater honor in all of eternity than being a child of God. And as His children, He demands that we spiritually grow and mature so that we become like our Big Brother, Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:29(NLT) declares, “For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” God knew us long before we entered our biological mother’s wombs. He chose us as His very own, and our purpose and privilege are to become like Christ. If we miss this, we miss everything.
Heavenly Father wants us to understand that through His brilliance and perfection, He weaved together a wondrous mystery, and this mystery concerning His plan was hidden until Christ came to the earth. This plan was to make us God’s sons and daughters through Jesus Christ. It was to bring us into God’s household of faith, and this faith that we’re coming into through Christ is a lively faith! It is active, powerful, and constantly transforming us; constantly grooming us for all that God has in store.
Jesus Christ gave us the blueprint. He showed us how to walk in God’s love and to accomplish God’s purpose. In John 5:30(NLT), Jesus said, “I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.” Jesus knew that God’s Will cannot fail, because God’s Will is perfect, and it holds everything together. This verse also informs us that the Son of the Living God has a will of his own. This makes perfect sense, because it would be unreasonable to assume that God would give us free-will and not give it to His only begotten Son. Jesus Christ had free-will. He didn’t have to lay down his life to save us. He did because of his overwhelming love for the Father and for us.
God tells us in Hebrews 12:1(NLT) that we are surrounded by a huge crowd of witnesses that walked this walk of faith that you and I should be totally captured by. They believed God to the fullest because they were fully persuaded that He was able and willing to perform all that He has promised. This huge crowd of witnesses are men and women whose records of believing God are written about in the Bible. It’s Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham and Sarah. Like them, we are commanded to “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.”
Heavenly Father didn’t stop there. In Hebrews 12:2(NLT), He told us exactly how to run this race. This verse states, “We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” Jesus Christ left the template that we must follow. God’s purpose and plan for our lives is infinitely better than any we could devise on our own. Accepting this truth is a requirement for all His children. Like our Big Brother, Jesus Christ, we must lay down our will for God’s Will. We must study His Word to find out His requirements so that we build our faith, please God with all that we do, and increase in spiritual strength so we are prepared for whatever the future holds. ■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Laying Down Your Will for God’s Will”, written for 4theChristianman.com. Copyright© 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.