When we speak of God’s will, we must trace it to the desire of His heart. Ephesians 1:5-12 is one of the most important portions in the Bible concerning the will of God. It says that God in eternity has a plan, which is according to His good pleasure. This portion mentions three related items: “purpose,” “pleasure,” and “will.” Pleasure is of the heart, since the heart is an organ for delight. God has a heart as well as man. Therefore, God also has things of His pleasure, delight, and affection, which means that He also has His heart desire.
To attain His pleasure, He has a plan which He purposed to fulfill to reach His goal. This purpose is His will. Therefore, God’s will and His heart desire are the same. Anything not touching God’s heart desire is not His will.
For example, the Bible reveals that God’s heart desire from eternity is a group of people as the companions of His Son. To reach this goal, God planned the creation of heaven, earth, and man according to His pleasure. Then He created everything according to His plan. At that time creation became His will.
Plainly speaking, God’s will is His heart desire, planned according to His pleasure. From His viewpoint, anything hidden in God is His heart desire. From our viewpoint, when His heart desire is executed upon us, it becomes His will. Therefore, the will of God which comes upon us is His heart desire, because His will is derived from His heart desire.
Since God’s will is His heart desire, we must learn what that desire is. It is the mingling of God with man. To mingle with man is both God’s desire and His will.
A thorough study of the Bible will help us discover the amazing fact that God in eternity planned according to His heart desire to attain the goal of mingling Himself with man. God in the universe has this one will: to work Himself into man and to mingle Himself with man. His creation, redemption, sanctification, and all other aspects of His work are for this one purpose. This is the one desire of His heart in the universe: it is the only goal, and it is the basic principle of all His work in the New Testament. Therefore, if we desire to know God’s will in any situation, we must first ascertain whether the situation is conducive to the mingling of Himself with us. Without this mingling, no matter how good or praise-worthy the situation may be, it is not God’s will. This is a strict measurement!
The earthly life of our Lord Jesus is the perfect expression of this principle. The Lord said, “Lo, I come to do thy will” (Heb. 10:7, 9), and, “I seek not my own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 5:30). We see how the Lord’s behavior on this earth was according to God’s will. To Him, His entire life on this earth was God’s will. However, He also said, “The words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his work” (John 14:10). This means that while He was on this earth, His words, His deeds and all His living did not originate from Himself, but the Father, who was abiding in Him, mingled with Him and worked through Him. From these three scripture quotations we see that the Lord’s life on this earth was in obedience to God’s will and that it was a life of the mingling of God with man.
We cannot separate the will of God from the desire of God’s heart; neither can we separate the will of God from God Himself. If we depart from His heart desire, we cannot know His will. Likewise, if we depart from God Himself, we cannot have His will. You may feel that you have understood and obeyed His will, yet if you have not touched God Himself, He remains God, and you remain you; there is no mingling whatever between you and Him, and you can be certain that what you have felt to be His will is not His will. A Christian should be like the Lord Jesus in obeying God’s will. Not only must we be able to say in every matter that it is not my will, but God’s will; we must be able to say further that it is not I that work, but God who works in me. It is not enough just to say that I know something to be God’s will. We must also be able to say that when I do this thing, it is God who does it in me. We must ask two questions, “Whose undertaking is this, God’s or my own?” and, “Who is doing it, God or myself?” If we can only ask the first question and not the second, the subject of His will remains doubtful. Anything that I do on my own is certainly not God’s will; only what He does is His will.
For example, a brother may be planning to go to a certain place. If he can only say, “I am clear that it is God’s will for me to go,” this is not enough. He still must ascertain whether God goes with him and mingles more with him. As another example, when we offer money on the Lord’s day, we should not only ask, “Is this offering God’s will?” but also, “Am I offering it myself, or is God offering it through me?” Therefore, in every matter, not only must we know what God’s pleasure and desire is, but we must also definitely determine whether we have the presence of God and whether God mingles and works with us. It is not enough to say that we are doing the work of God. We should also be able to say that it is God who mingles with us to do His work. This is His will.
From God’s viewpoint, the aspect of God’s will as His heart desire is difficult for us to fathom. But from the human viewpoint, the aspect of God’s will being His mingling with man is absolutely subjective and easy to comprehend, because God mingles with us through the anointing. Whenever there is the anointing, there is also the mingling of God and the presence of God. Without the anointing, it is impossible to have His mingling and His presence with man. Therefore, to understand His will, we must touch the anointing. Whenever we feel the inner anointing and the presence of God, we are in God’s will; otherwise, we are not in God’s will.
For years we have been speaking about God’s will, but somehow we have felt that it was remote and vague. Now we believe that God has given us light, that He has caused us to have a clearer insight, and that He has enabled us to present it in a more concrete manner. God’s will is now substantiated; it is no longer vague and abstract. The God we believe in is not only real and living, but He lives in us. In anything that is His will, He is in us anointing and mingling Himself, making His presence felt in us. If we can touch God inwardly in all matters, His substance is increased in us and mingled with us. Then we can be assured that this is the will of God and proceed accordingly.
Although God’s will is an extremely great matter, yet, speaking from the standpoint of God mingling Himself with man, it is not too difficult for us to touch, and it is not unfathomable. If we can comprehend this point thoroughly, then not only can we touch His will as something lofty and deep, but we can also easily know His will.
Home | First | Prev | Next