God's will. What is God's will for my life?
Maybe you have asked yourself that very question at some time. Maybe you have wondered if God had some specific plan that he had laid out for you, some specific thing that you are supposed to do, that He wanted you to do. Maybe you have been waiting for him to show you what that plan might be.
If you have ever wondered about God's plan, about his purpose for your life, than I have some good news for you: today in our text Paul tells you what that plan is; he lays it out for you. No more searching. No more prayers are needed. No more late nights and early mornings wondering what God wants from you. The whole thing is revealed.
And here it is, God's will for your life. The one thing that he has set aside for you to do from the foundation of the world is this: salvation! God's plan, God's purpose, God's will for your life is that you come to salvation from your sin through faith in Jesus Christ.
That might not be quite what you were hoping for. Maybe you wanted something more. Or at least something more specific. Perhaps you were hoping that God had some great new career choice for you, a job that would be that one thing that is just perfect for you. Perhaps you were wanting to know if you should get married, quit your job, go back to school, start a family, all kinds of different things. Often people want a lightning bolt, something that falls from the sky that tells them what they are supposed to do. Is that what you were hoping for?
People search for their purpose and for God's plan, they look for that lightning bolt for the exact same reason that people read their horoscope, or go to see palm readers. People want some kind of assurance that if they make some drastic change in their life it will all come out okay. If I change my job, loose my job, quit my job, go to school, get married, have a child, adopt a child, move around the world, will it all turn out okay? Will God's favor follow me into this new adventure that I am considering? We say our prayers and wring our hands hoping that God will smile upon us. Hoping that whatever it is we do is within God's plan.
Oh you of little faith. Why do you test God so? Don't you know that he loves you? Don't you know that he cares for you? Don't you know that he has numbered even the hairs of your head? Why do you worry about these things? Your father in heaven knows what you need and He will provide it.
Yes, we say, but what is His will for me? What is His will for my life. I know God loves me. I know he provides for me. But isn't there more? Isn't there something more specific?
In fact there is. There are a whole list of specific things that are God's will for your life. There are 10 of them. We call them the Commandments. If you want to know what God wants you to do in your life, that's a good place to start. Read the commandments. Luther said that there was enough in the commandments to keep you busy your entire life. Given that everyone of us breaks them all each and every day, it's hard to disagree with him.
But what about all those other things? What about my job, my career? My education? My family? Where I live? That new house or new car that I want to buy? You have the commandments. Use them to evaluate your question:
Why do I want a new job? Am I coveting? Am I lusting? Am I tired of showing honor and respect to my boss? Or have I found a job that will bring me joy as I serve my neighbor and my family?
Or what about that young lady to whom you might “pop the question”, or that young man who has just presented you with a ring. Why are dating him? Her? Again, is it lust? Has that person become your god – the one you trust for your security? Or have you found one who truly encourages you in your faith and who directs you to a closer walk with God. Have you found someone to whom you will be faithful and who will be faithful to you? Have you found one to whom you will devote yourself as a servant for life?
What about your home or your car. Why do you want a new one? Maybe you are coveting. Or maybe you have a legitimate need to replace the one God has already given to you.
As we wring our hands worrying about God's plan what we loose sight of is the freedom that God gives to us in the gospel. Jesus died to set us free from the law. Therefore we are free. Therefore everything is a gift; God's good gift to you, for you to enjoy. So often our search for God's purpose turns every decision back into the threat of God's law.
God allows us great freedom in these things. He does not have one spouse, career, home or hometown that he wants you to have. God gives you the freedom to choose. Evaluate your motives according to the commandments. Confess your sin. And enjoy the blessings and the freedom that God gives in all of life's choices.
We often forget that God is a good God. He blesses us, no matter what we choose. Even when our choices are sinful God blesses us. If you change your job, get and education, get married, start a family; God will bless you. He is your Heavenly Father. He always provides for you. If you don't. God will bless you. He is your Heavenly Father. He always provides for you. Enjoy his many gifts. Obey the commandments, Confess your sins, and live in the freedom he has given to you.
Now to God's will. Because he does have a will, a very clear and specific will for you and your life. God does have a plan.
In the Lord's prayer we pray for that plan. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray.
The catechism teaches us what this means:
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
What does this mean?--Answer.
The good and gracious will of God is done indeed without our prayer; but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.
How is this done?--Answer.
When God breaks and hinders every evil counsel and will which would not let us hallow the name of God nor let His kingdom come, such as the will of the devil, the world, and our flesh; but strengthens and keeps us steadfast in His Word and in faith unto our end. This is His gracious and good will.
Luther borrows his understanding of God's will from our Epistle Text for today.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, [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 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8] which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.
Can it be any clearer than that? God has a purpose. God has a plan. His plan and purpose involve Jesus on the cross for you to die for your sin. And not just for your sin but for the sin of the whole world.
And don't worry, it does get more specific than that. God, as we said, wants you to obey the commandments. You don't. You disobey them every day. You hate God and rebel against God and run away from God and do everything you can to remain your own god. So when God made his reservation list for heaven, a list that he composed long before he ever spoke those words “Let there be...” so that this world sprang to life, God wrote your name down. Your name is written in heaven in His book of life because he predestined it to be there.
God planned that you would be in heaven so he sent someone to baptize you. You needed that because otherwise you would fight against him. He moved you to faith. You needed that because otherwise you would continue to resist him. He preserved you in that faith. You needed that because otherwise you would jump overboard and swim back to your sin. God's plan and his purpose for the whole entire universe has your name written on it in a prominent place.
God has a plan for your life. Not just the little stuff. Not just jobs and spouses and families, these are God's gifts to you and he sets you free to enjoy them. God's plan is for eternity, for salvation, for a life that he wants to give to you when this life is dead and gone. He has made his plan a reality, sending his only son Jesus to die for you.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment