THE WILL OF MY FATHER

What is it? How is it Done?Pondering Matthew 7:21

Dr. Joseph Campbell (1904-1987), a well-known author and university professor of comparative mythology and comparative religion, wrote the following insightful statement in his book titled "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" - "When Yehovah Himself answers Job out of the whirlwind, He makes no attempt to vindicate His work in ethical terms, but only magnifies His Presence, bidding Job do likewise on earth in human emulation of the way of heaven (Job 40:7-14)." Although some scholars might differ somewhat with Campbell's understanding of God's primary purpose for speaking as He did to Job in this passage, Campbell is most certainly right that, in general, our Lord Jesus desires mankind to emulate on earth the way and will of heaven. In the prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray, one finds this key phrase: "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10). Later within this Sermon on the Mount, in which many feel Jesus reveals the true nature of God's will for mankind, Jesus warns, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven" (Matthew 7:21, NKJV).

Such statements in the sacred writings, of which there are many, beg the question, "What is the will of God and how does one do it?" When it comes to discerning the will and way of God, there is an enormous amount of speculation, some of it scholarly and sincere, some of it not. Much of the world simply doesn't care what God wants of mankind, and such is abundantly evident in the way He is shoved aside in every area of their lives. This is true not only of individuals, but of organizations, institutions, nations, and even of too many churches who falsely profess to be proclaimers and followers of the will of God - Yehovah. In a world where the "way of heaven" is viewed at best as irrelevant, there is little interest in seeking to understand God's will, and even less interest in emulating it and applying it. The result is a continual and increasing promotion, whether intentional or by default, of the darkness that blinds us to the countless blessings our Creator longs to pour out upon us! Even among sincere disciples of the Messiah there is a tendency to focus our attention more on the particulars of our party traditions than on what constitutes the true will of our Father in heaven, which, frankly, has little to do with our many traditions and religious regulations - e.g., Matthew 15:6 ("You reject what God said for the sake of your own rules - traditions" - New Century Version). Our will supplants God’s will, and our "worship" of Him becomes "vain, useless, worthless" (see Matthew 15:8-9: This people draw near unto me with their mouth, and honors me with the lips, but their heart is far off from me. But in vain they worship me, teaching for doctrines, men’s precepts).

A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a friend in Miami, Florida. He wrote, in part, "In our men's Bible study on Wednesday morning, we are going through the book of Matthew. The other morning, we looked at verses 21-23 of chapter 7, and it hit me that we were blowing by the phrase 'the will of My Father' in verse 21. It dawned on me to look and see what you have written on this phrase in this text, so I went to your Textual Index and looked at the six articles you had listed there, but none of them (and I may be wrong here) seemed to address the question: What exactly is 'the will of My Father'? Further, in researching this in my Expositor's Bible Commentary, which I believe you are familiar with, nothing came up clarifying this. Have you given any additional in-depth thought on what Jesus may have meant regarding men 'doing the will of My Father'? Thank you, as always, my friend." I am indeed very familiar with the commentary set of which this brother speaks, and he is right: it left the reader with little insight into the nature of the will of God. It simply stated, "The determinative factor regarding who enters the kingdom is obedience to the Father's will, ... and Jesus alone claims to be the authoritative person who reveals the will of His Father (vs. 21)" [The Expositor's Bible Commentary, vol. 8, p. 192]. Nothing is said there about precisely what the will of the Father is. It does tell us, though, what it isn't: "It quite misses the point to say that the Father's will is simply the OT law" [ibid]. I would agree whole-heartedly with that. Considering the teaching of Jesus, and also the writings of Paul and others, it would be absurd to assert that it was God's "will" that mankind forever live under bondage to LAW. Even "OT law," although it served a limited purpose, was never intended to be permanent in nature, especially for His people today, "for you are not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14). To identify God's "will" with some legal system, in which we find a host of rigidly regulated religious rituals and "acts of worship," is an enormous error ... yet, sadly, one many have made over the centuries, and which many continue to make even to this day!

 

• This friend from Miami also is correct regarding the several Reflections articles in which I mentioned something in passing about Matthew 7:21. In none of those articles was my focus specifically upon the phrase "...he who does the will of My Father in heaven." To some degree, I suppose, I too "blew by" that statement in my haste to focus on other aspects of the teaching of Jesus in that section of His Sermon on the Mount. Thus, I told this brother and friend that my next issue of Reflections would correct that oversight (which is the article each of you are now reading).

There are several places in both the OT and NT writings in which we find the phrase "God's will," or "the will of God," or "His will," or some similar wording. In each, however, mention is made of the "will" of this Supreme Being for His creation. As we have already noted, there are a number of these passages in which nothing is said with respect to the specifics of that divine will. In Matthew 12:50, for example, Jesus says, "Whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother." Cool. Awesome! So, what is that "will," and how does one DO it?! One would almost think that we were given an impossible task with no directions for achieving it: "Do My will." "But Lord, what is Your will?" "Sorry, my child, but that's up to you to figure out, and you had better get it right, or I will beat you with many stripes!!" In a similar scenario, I have asked legalistic patternists to provide me a list of the particulars of their elusive "NT pattern" that we must follow precisely in order to be saved, and they have refused to provide it. Instead, they say, "You have a Bible; go read it and figure it out for yourself." Is this what God is doing as well?!! Thankfully, God doesn't behave like some who profess to be His children. In fact, we have been informed as to the nature of His will. Why many of us have been confused is because it wasn't what we expected. We were looking for a list; we were expecting law. It was/is neither!!

Before we get into that evidence, however, let me say a few words about Matthew 7:21, which is the verse that triggered this current study. It comes at the end of the Messiah's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), which many feel, and I believe rightly so, is the very essence of the message of God through His Son to mankind. It reveals His true intent and purpose for us. It gives us a glimpse into His nature, and it informs us as to how we may emulate that divine nature in our daily living. It is a call to action, a challenge to rise above earthly passions, and to begin a process of transformation from selfish pursuits to selfless service unto God and our fellow man. At the close, in verses 21-23 of chapter 7, Jesus warns His hearers that "lip-service" is not what God expects of His people. Just saying we are devoted to His lordship over our lives is a hollow profession if we don't show it in the attitudes and behaviours of our daily living (vs. 21). We may even do some very good things on occasion, acts that may even convince ourselves and others that we are "holy ones," but if our hearts and minds are not transformed, if our motivation is wrong, then those acts are a false witness to our true nature (vs. 22); they are acts that will not secure any reward from the Lord (vs. 23). Jesus closes the "sermon" with the parable of the wise and foolish builders (vs. 24-27), in which He urges us to consider our foundation in life. How we build, and upon what/Whom we build, is critical to our ultimate survival.

The reader from Miami, whose email I mentioned above, asked me, "I know Jesus is finishing His Sermon on the Mount, so is Matthew 7:21 in some way the sum of all His teaching in chapters 5-7?" In other words, is "the will of My Father" the teaching He just gave us in this discourse? Even though Jesus speaks of God's "will" a time or two in this "sermon," without ever specifying precisely what the "will" is at the time He used the word, He nevertheless had God's "will" and eternal purpose for us in view all through His teaching. He was seeking to shift our focus away from LAW to LOVE, rom religion to relationship. Yet, some, as they read His message, utterly fail to grasp His intent to show us the nature of God's will for us (as seen in the church sign to your right).

Jesus did not come to bring new rules and regulations to govern a new "religion." He came to free us from such. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which the Messiah has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. ... You have become estranged from the Messiah, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:1, 4, NKJV). Saying "Lord, Lord," and engaging in a host of religious acts (even though those acts may be good in and of themselves), is nothing but an outward show if His Spirit does not dwell within us, daily transforming us into His image! The "goats" found this out the hard way in Matthew 25:31-46. All the good works in the world, and all the cries of "Lord, Lord," will "profit me nothing" if we do not possess the love and Spirit of God within us (1 Corinthians 13:1-3; Romans 8:9). The will of God for us is simply this: He wants us to strive to be holy and pure, as He is holy and pure; and He calls us to show LOVE unto Him and unto others in all that we say and do. I like what the brother of our Lord said in James 2:8 (and remember, the book of James is, in many ways, a practical commentary on the Lord's Sermon on the Mount). James writes, "If you are fulfilling the royal law, according to the Scripture, 'You shall love your neighbour as yourself,' you are doing well." You are not only doing "well," you are also doing His "will." His will is for each of us to be channels of blessing through which He touches the lives of those around us. The German theologian Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) summed it up well: "God expects but one thing of you, and that is that you let God be God in you."

It is not God's will for mankind that they perform the "five acts" of a "worship service" exactly "according to the pattern." That is absolute nonsense!! Dr. R.C.H. Lenski rightly observes that people are dreadfully wrong when they regard our Lord's reference to "the will of My Father" as "a reference to orthodoxy" [The Interpretation of St. Matthew's Gospel, p. 306]. It is not God's will for mankind that we search the Scriptures for every rule and regulation regarding our "religious" experience, and that we conduct our lives in obedience to such "laws." Jesus rebuked the legalistic religionists of His day for doing this very thing (John 5:39-40). James tells us what Jesus meant by "religion" -- he wrote, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world" (James 1:27). Be holy as I am holy; love as I love! Let Me live in and through you in your daily lives! Let God be God in you! Jesus continually stresses "the ethical side of religion" [Dr. Charles Ellicott, Commentary on the Whole Bible, vol. 6, p. 42]. Whereas we tend to focus on the externals, the Lord looks at the heart. It is far more in the why than the what of our actions that we discover the true will of our God. Dr. Paul E. Kretzmann expressed it this way, "A mouth-Christianity can never be a valid substitute for heart-Christianity" [Popular Commentary of the Bible: the NT, vol. 1, p. 40]. Dr. John Gill (1697-1771), an English pastor and theologian, wrote the following in his commentary on our text, "Such do the will of the Messiah's Father: he that sees the Son, looks unto him, ventures on him, commits himself to him, trusts in him, relies on him, and believes on him for righteousness, salvation, and eternal life; he it is that does the will of the Father, and he only" [Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, e-Sword]. Which is precisely the point that Jesus made rather forcefully in John 5:39-40 to those searching the Scriptures thinking that in them they could obtain life.

Is this rather "untraditional" (some might say) perspective of God's divine "will" for mankind to be found within the New Testament writings? Do they reveal to us this better way to understanding and applying His will? I firmly believe it is, and that they do. Although there are several places (like Matthew 7:21) where the term "the will" of God is left largely, if not entirely (even by the context), undefined, that is not always the case. Let me close this study by giving several examples:

• 1 Thessalonians 4:3, 7-8 - "For this is the will of God: your sanctification ... For God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification. So, he who rejects this is not rejecting man but the God who gives His Holy Spirit to you." In the intervening verses, Paul expounds on the meaning of this: focusing on those who give in to lustful passions, and who transgress against and harm and defraud their fellow men. God wills us to be holy, as He is holy, and to love one another, as He loves us.
• 1 Thessalonians 5:15-18 - "Always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."
• Hebrews 13:20-21 - "Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus the Messiah, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen." He who dwells within us, is also working through us, to bring about His will for us. And what is it that "pleases" the Father? "Do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased (vs. 16). "Let love of the brethren continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers" (vs. 1-2). Marriage is to be held in honour (vs. 4); our character is to be free of the love of money (vs. 5). "Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name" (vs. 14). Godly character; Christian service unto others. Holiness in action. This is what pleases our God; this is His will for us.
• Romans 12:1-2 - "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Our very lives are to be lived in holy, loving service to others, thereby "proving" that this is His "will" for us, and that such service is not only good and acceptable, but it is also worshipful in nature. It is exactly what He is looking for.
• 1 Peter 2:13-17 - In this passage, Peter speaks of our responsibility to be good citizens of the communities and societies within which we live. It is His "will" that we behave honourably and godly before the peoples of this world, serving as an example of holiness. "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil but use it as bond-slaves of God. Honour all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honours the king." His will is that we be people of godly character; loving, charitable, merciful, yet unwilling to forfeit our freedom in Christ to those who would enslave us (as per Paul's charge in Galatians 2:4-5).

Written by Al Maxey and edited by Bruce Lyon

After reading all that Al Maxey has presented in this article, I believe there is a very simple way to do the will of our God and Father Yehovah and that is by acting out the creed of Jesus in our lives.

Where do we find the creed of Jesus?

Answer: Mark 12:28-32:

²⁸ One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the fforemost of all?”

²⁹ Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord - Yehovah our God is one LORD. [Deuteronomy 6:4]

³⁰ and you shall love the Lord - YEHOVAH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul - being, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’

³¹ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

³² The scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; ³³ and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as himself, is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

³⁴ When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.”

Now if you keep the creed of the Lord Messiah Jesus you will be always doing the will of God.

Now comes the clincher, how can we as human being keep the creed of the Lord Jesus?

Answer: To try to keep Jesus creed by ourselves is impossible. So, to live out the creed of the Lord Jesus in our lives we need the indwelling presence of the spirit of God - Yehovah that will enable us to keep the creed of His son Jesus.

Jesus says that the words that he spoke were not his but were given to him by his Father.

John 14:10:  Do you not believe that I am in the Father Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does His works.

John 14:24: Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.

John 15:7:  If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

John 17:8: For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.

For those who are new creations in the Messiah Jesus we know that when our God and Father requires anything from us to do His will He always provides the enabling power to accomplish it!

Jesus was always acting as the agent sent from the Father and as His agent whatever he did or said was as if his God and Father Yehovah was saying or doing it!

Conclusion: If you want to do the will of God keep the creed of the Lord Jesus. The entire New Testament is basically a commentary on how to keep the creed of the Lord Jesus.