God's Will for All People

So last week, we were talking about the local church and being God's missionary people.

And this week, we're going to be looking at a little different direction, but similar theme.

We're going to be looking at God's will for our lives, and how can we know what

God's will is for our lives?

The definition of the word will means purpose, intention, desire, and determination.

It is the thought that precedes a course of action.

We have the will to obey. We have the will to lose weight.

Well, no, we don't have the will to lose weight. I don't have the will to lose weight. You might.

But we have to have a will. We have to have a desire. We have to have intentions.

We have to have purpose. and then we have to have determination to carry through

on those things. That's what a will does for us.

It helps us to have the resolve to accomplish something.

If God has a will for mankind, which he does,

then he has a general will or desire for all of us, for mankind,

and that general desire, that general design, that general purpose for all of

us, God's will for all of us, is the same thing.

The question must be asked, if I belong to God, then what is my purpose in life?

How do I fit into the general will of God? So today I would like us to investigate

the question, or the answer to the question, what is God's will for all people?

There are many fine points to God's will for all people, and the list of things

may never be exhausted, but I want us to look at six main points to God's general will,

and in doing so we will see how we can do God's will.

Now, I just said that I have six points, and usually I have three points in

a sermon, but this is not going to be twice as long, just so you know,

just so you can be ready for it.

You don't have to worry about being here two hours.

Kidding. I must warn you, however, that there is no one specific passage of

Scripture that lists out the will of God.

There's no Scripture that said

this is the will of God for all mankind that says 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.

Whatever. It just doesn't do it. So we're going to be looking at numerous scriptures.

So I would urge you in the notes on the back of your bulletin,

while you take notes, go ahead and write down the references to these scriptures

so that you can read those at a later date,

a later time, as you reminisce on this sermon. All of you do that, right?

You go home and reminisce or what is it what is it called the cows do no ruminate

cows do that with the cud you know they kind of anyway that's kind of gross.

But like I said, there's no one scripture that speaks of God's will in its entirety,

so we're going to be using a lot of references to his will.

The first thing that we see about the will of God is that it is the will of

God that all men might have the opportunity of salvation.

What do I mean by salvation? Salvation means being saved from our past,

being saved from a future life in God.

In hell, being saved from a life of sin that causes problems.

God is desire that all people might have the opportunity for salvation.

It's the will of God that all people might be saved. Romans,

these are some scriptures that you know probably by heart.

Romans 3.23 says, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 6.23 says, for the wages of sin is death, and thankfully there's another

part of that verse that says, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

So this reveals every man's need for salvation. We have all fallen short.

Everyone has fallen short of the glory of God.

From the very beginning of time, man sinned and has fallen short of the glory of God.

God created Adam and Eve, the first parents in the Bible, the first people in

history, and it says in Scripture, which I'll refer to later,

that God created them in God's own image.

And so they were created with all goodness, all righteousness,

all holiness, but he also created man with a free will—.

And Adam and Eve, our first parents, sinned and walked away from God. They disobeyed God.

That was their right to do with free will.

And because of their sin, all

of us have this inborn sense, this inborn nature to have a fallen nature.

So all of us are, we're not born with sin in us, but we're born with the tendency to sin.

In fact, if you don't think that we all have this tendency to sin,

I'm going to tell you right now, you put two small kids in one room with one

toy and find out if there isn't any gnashing of teeth going on.

There's jealousy and all that that comes into us. So the word sin is actually an archery term.

It means missing the target.

Doesn't mean missing the bullseye. In that picture, you see that none of the

arrows have actually hit the target.

It means missing the target completely.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

So if we look at that target as the glory of God, we can't even get on the target.

We can't even get on the cardboard, the sheet.

We're just that far away from the glory of God.

So in a spiritual sense, sin is falling short of the complete holiness and glory of God.

It is missing the mark of God's glory.

Scripture talks about our righteousness being like filthy rags.

We can't even in our own goodness, which some of us have more than others,

we can't even in our own goodness reach the goodness of Christ, of God.

And so in this spiritual sense, we see that we're missing God's holiness and

God's perfection. So to hit the target, we would have to be perfect in action, thought, and life.

If God's nature is goodness and love and complete holiness, then it must be

understood by us that we have failed in being completely like God.

Now, you say, Pastor.

Go ahead, say, Pastor.

Obviously, none of us is like God. In fact, you just asked me about some of them, I'll tell you.

But we have all fallen short. None of us are like God, and yet we find that

God has reached out to us.

And if we know that the just payment for falling short is to be out of fellowship

with God and separated by death or eternal separation from God,

then we know that our own sin is what separates us from God.

But it was God's will that because of his immense love for us,

he would provide the payment for our sin in the person of his own son.

Now, even from the very beginning, God had a plan.

He knew when he created Adam and Eve, in his foreknowledge, he knew Adam and

Eve were going to walk away from him and disobey.

But he didn't want to make them like robots and just obey them out of machination.

He made it so we had that free will and yet he knew we would walk away and he

knew that we would need some reason or some way to bring us back.

Acts chapter 4 verse 12 says salvation is found in no one else for there is

Acts 4:12

no other name under heaven given to men by which they must be saved.

John 3 16 and 17 you know these for God so loved the world that he gave his

one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,

but to save the world through him.

And to show that the scripture says it was in God's predetermined will that

Christ should die for our salvation, we find this prophecy in the Old Testament scripture.

Isaiah 53, verse 10, you can write this reference down.

Isaiah 53:10

Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him, speaking of the Messiah,

and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering,

he will see his offspring—that's us—and prolong his days, and the will of the

Lord will prosper in his hands.

So God knew that we—.

His offspring, joint heirs with Jesus, he knew that we would come back to him,

and so he provided that son as the sacrifice, the Lamb of God, to provide for us.

Then Luke recounts the words of Peter in the books of Acts, chapter 2,

Acts 2:21–24

verses 21 through 24, and I've only written a part of it up on the screen.

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Peter says this, Men of Israel, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth was a man

accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs, which God did among

you through him, as you yourselves know.

This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge,

his will, and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

Now you're saying, Pastor, I wasn't there, so I couldn't have put him on the cross.

But it is our sin, mankind's sin throughout history, that put Christ on that

cross to die for us, to take the punishment of our sin on himself,

and to be buried in the deep depths.

And then it goes on, but God raised him, Jesus, from the dead,

freeing him from the agony of death because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

So it is Christ's death that takes our sin to the grave, his resurrection that

raises us up to new life, and that sonship with God.

Luke chapter 24 verses 46 and 47 says this, this is what is written,

Luke 24:46

the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,

and repentance and forgiveness of sin will be preached in his name to all nations

beginning in Jerusalem.

I think it should be noted that not too many people, especially people who attend

church, would argue that salvation is the will of God for all people.

But now closely related to the will of God in salvation is God's will that all

who are saved would receive the gift of eternal life. Isn't that a hallelujah?

From creation, God has desired for man to have eternal life,

but man sinned and lost that life. God has since that time been searching to

redeem man and bring him back for a love relationship.

God's desire is that we would be his kids, just like our kids have a loving

relationship with us, and yeah, I think we returned that love too when we started that love.

But anyway, God wants us to be back in a love relationship. Eternal life,

a life lived in the presence of God, could only be restored by God through the

shedding of his Son's blood.

Now, my discipleship group, the guys that meet with me on Wednesday night,

every other Wednesday night, we're starting in the book of Revelation.

And so we're beginning in that, and in part of that, it talks about the streets.

It gives us a description of heaven.

Many people think of heaven and being there on the golden streets and the gates

of pearl and all this kind of stuff, and think how beautiful it would be.

But the biggest thing, the most beautiful thing about eternal life is it being

in the presence of God the Father Almighty forever and ever and ever,

and be praising the Son forever.

So we've already read John 3.16 that says that whoever believes in Christ will have eternal life.

And as speaking to the thief on the cross in Luke 23, verse 43,

Luke 23:43

who repented in his last hour of life, Jesus said, I tell you today,

the truth today, you will be with me in paradise.

Another passage of eternal life, about eternal life with God,

found in John chapter 14, verses 1 through 3, which is often read at funerals,

John 14:1–3

is this, Do not let your hearts be troubled.

Trust in God. Trust also in me.

In my Father's house are many rooms.

If it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place

for you. and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take

you to be with me, that you also may be where I am.

So we know that the will of God for all people is that all people might have

the opportunity to be saved.

We also know that the will of God is that all people who are saved would have eternal life.

And so third, we see it as God's will then that we should have fellowship with him and with each other.

Genesis chapter 1, verse 26, says that we were created for a relationship with

Genesis 1:26

God because we were created in God's image.

It says, let us create man in our own image.

And this is the first reference to God being a trinity, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

It says, let us create man in our own image.

One aspect of the image of the trinity of God is unity and oneness.

God is three persons in one.

So too, we are created for oneness with God and with others in mankind.

It wasn't enough for God to create man. He also created woman to be fellowship with man.

Genesis 1, verse 26 says that, as I said, we were created for in God's image.

Genesis 1:26

He also, we see in Genesis chapter 2, verse 18, it is not good for man to be alone.

Genesis 2:18

In John chapter 17, verses 20 through 26, in what is referred to as Christ's

John 17:20–26

high priestly prayer, he prayed

that all believers everywhere would be one with God and with each other.

He prayed for our unity, said this in his prayer in the high priestly prayer,

John chapter 17, my prayer is not for them alone, speaking of the disciples at that time.

John 17 · chapter mention

He said, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one.

So the intention is that all mankind would be in unity under the cross of Christ,

that all Christians would be one in the purpose and unity of the blood of Christ

and the fellowship of the Spirit.

I in them and you in me, may they be brought to complete unity to let the world

know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am and to see my

glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you,

and they know that you have sent me.

I have made you known to them and will continue to make you known in order that

the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.

So we saw last week that the mission of the church really is to love God,

love people, make disciples.

We see that's what our purpose is, and that's what Jesus was praying and saying

there, God, you have loved me.

I've become one in you. Now make them to be one in us.

Matthew chapter 12, verses 48 through 50, Jesus said, anyone who does the will

Matthew 12:48–50

of my father is my brother and sister.

He was asked this about when he was in a house healing somebody,

and somebody said, your mother and brothers are outside.

And Jesus said, who is my mother and brother?

My brothers and sisters are those who do the will of God in me.

We have fellowship and relationship with God when we are doing his will.

In Mark chapter 12, verses 30 and 31, it's an echo of an Old Testament scripture.

Mark 12:30

Jesus is referring to the Shema, which is spoken by Jews many times,

and it is the Lord your God, he is one.

And then it goes on to say, Jesus said, quoting, summing up the commandments

in scripture, he says this, love the Lord your God with all your heart,

soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

So we can have peace and fellowship with God through Jesus Christ through repentance

and forgiveness in his name and through obedience to his word and by doing his will.

Number four, a condition—I told you it was going to get done before two hours,

but I still have three to go.

Number four, a condition for receiving eternal life with God is God's will that

our lives should be transformed, what Scripture refers to as being born again.

John 3, verse 3, in reply, Jesus declared, I tell you the truth,

John 3:3

no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. The man he was speaking

to says, well, how can we be born again?

I can't enter my mother's womb again. And he says, you can only be born again

in spirit and in truth by the water and by the spirit.

Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2 says, gives us evidence that it's God's will

Romans 12:1

that we'd be transformed.

It says this, therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's,

by the way, brothers, multiple brothers,

when you have multiple brothers together, it's called a brethren.

Why wouldn't you put multiple sisters together, you don't call it a cistern?

Just... Keep taking that.

Therefore i urge you brothers in view of god's mercy to offer your bodies as

living sacrifices holy and pleasing god this is your spiritual act of worship

do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by

the renewing of your mind,

then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is,

his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

We need to be transformed and renewed in our mind.

What have we said before? Thoughts produce feelings, feelings produce actions,

actions have consequences.

When we have a renewing of our mind, it changes our thoughts.

And when our thoughts become right, Philippians 4 verse 8 says,

Philippians 4:8

whatever things are lovely, pure, righteous, noble, think on these things.

When our thoughts are pure and righteous before God, then our actions and consequences

follow with that as well.

The writer of Romans says, we should be transformed by the renewing of your minds.

What Paul is talking about here is a

renovation project, kind of like the contractor would do on the old show.

They don't have it anymore, but the old show called Extreme Makeover House Edition.

Have you ever watched that?

Before installing anything new in the house, the contractor first goes in and

guts the building, just tears everything out of it, walls and everything.

He rips up and destroys any rust, mildew, rotten or obsolete or soiled furnishings.

He gets rid of anything that does not serve a new purpose in a new building.

And that's the way it is with us.

Paul calls on us to submit ourselves to a renovation project of our heart,

the temple, the house of God's dwelling by the renewing of our spirit.

We have a blueprint for that renovation project found in Colossians 3, verses 1-17.

Colossians 3:1–17

Write this reference down because I'm not having it all on there,

but it says this, Since then you have been raised with Christ,

set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

Set your mind on things above. Mind, think.

Not on earthly things, for you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Then he goes on to say this, and it's not just in Colossians,

it's in two other of Paul's letters, similar account.

It says, put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature,

sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.

You used to walk in these ways in the life you once lived.

But now you must rid yourself of all such things as these—anger,

rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.

Do Do not lie to each other since you have taken off your old self with its

practices and put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge,

in the image of its creator.

Here there is no separation between Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised,

barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all.

Notice that he says, put to death these things.

How do you put to death thoughts like lust and all of these type of things?

How do you put to death those things?

One, you can starve them.

You can starve those desires. You can just not go there.

We tell addicts when they have problems, if you have an addiction to anything,

whether it's alcohol or drugs or whatever it is, or even sexual addictions,

you cannot go to those places anymore.

You can't go to those porn sites. You can't go to that bar.

You can't go to be with your friends who are so-called friends who have taken you into drugs.

You have to starve yourself of those things. You have to put those lust to flesh.

How else do we put those to flesh? by thinking on righteous things,

by dwelling in the word of God and doing that.

He goes on then, therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves.

Now this is putting on, you put off, you put away, you got rid of, you put to death.

Now he's saying, clothe yourself, put on compassion, kindness,

humility, gentleness, and patience.

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.

Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Part of our Lord's Prayer, oftentimes one of the translations.

One of the versions of it says, and forgive us our sin as we have forgiven those who sinned against us.

So we're praying that God will forgive us,

but he'll not in spite of whether we've forgiven anybody else,

but just as we have forgiven others that have sinned against us. And then he says.

And over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect peace.

Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.

And be thankful that the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and

admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms,

hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Last week when we began the service, I had some of those signs,

sayings that were on signs in front of churches, and one of them was preach,

the Word of God even if you have to do it with words.

So in other words, preaching the Word of God is through our life and through our transformation.

And in that, 2 Corinthians, It's one of my favorite verses.

517 says this, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old ways are gone, and the new ways have begun.

When we are in Christ and we begin that process of sanctification in us,

God takes the old ways out.

If we surrender to him, he will remove the old ways from us,

and he will put the new ways in us, and we begin to live in that new way of

life. So fifth, it is God's will that we should become holy or sanctified.

This is the continuing process of regeneration and transformation in us.

The word sanctified means to be set apart for holy use or to be made holy.

When the instruments in the temple, in the Jewish temple, were to be sanctified,

they were purified, they were cleansed, they were washed and completely cleansed out.

In fact, the gold that was used

in it had to be purified in fire before it could be used in the temple.

And even before that, then they had to be dedicated for the use in the temple,

for holy use. They could be used for nothing else.

Get that? So if we are going to be sanctified and consecrated and set apart

to be holy, God says you should be used for nothing else.

Now there's a thought about our lives.

1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 3 says, it is God's will that you should be

1 Thessalonians 4:3

sanctified, that you should be set apart for God's use, that you should be made holy.

In the Old Testament, as I said, everything was purified and cleansed and set apart for that purpose.

Every priest had to go through a cleansing process before they were even allowed

to enter and offer sacrifices to God.

So too, our sanctification means when we come to Christ in faith,

sanctification is not something we can do to ourselves or by ourselves because

the unclean cannot clean itself, right?

God, through Christ's blood and the power of the Holy Spirit,

cleanses us from all sin and sets us apart for God's holy use,

but only as we yield ourselves as empty vessels for him to use.

And finally, it is the Lord's will, God's will, that we should participate in

doing his will through evangelism, sharing the good life of Jesus Christ at

the end of every service.

And I noticed, I don't know if she's done this before, and I just haven't noticed

it, but I noticed that on the front page or inside bulletin where it has the

ritual or the order of service at the bottom of that.

Now Maureen has put, read it.

Go and serve a world that desperately needs Jesus. That's our mission.

That's who we are. When we leave this place, our purpose is to go out of here

and serve a world that desperately needs Jesus.

We need to share the good life of Jesus Christ with others.

In John chapter 4, in the story of Jesus leading the Samaritan woman at the

John 4 · chapter mention

well to find peace in God, Jesus said when the disciples asked him to come and

eat, he needs to be eating, Jesus said,

my food is to do the will of him who sent me.

We are fed not by rigorously repeating the things we've learned in Sunday school,

but by doing the work of the Lord and being his witnesses in the world.

I've heard people testify to this anyway.

The Lord met me when I was helping somebody else, when I was helping them find

Christ or walking through that

threshold of faith or helping them with a spiritual or emotional problem,

the Lord seemed to say to me, this is what I made you for.

We're being fed when we do the will of God who sent us.

People don't care. This is something my dad told me when I started out in ministry.

My dad was a pastor also and a conference superintendent, as you know,

and he had actually pastored this church back many years ago. He's a little boy.

But he said to me when I entered the ministry, he said this to him,

people don't care how much you know.

They want to know how much you care.

And how much more can we love our neighbors than to share with them the gift

of love and life through Jesus Christ.

In what's referred to as the Great Commission, in Matthew 28,

Matthew 28:18–20

verses 18 through 20, Jesus said this when he's getting ready to leave and go to be with the Father.

He said this, Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to obey all I've commanded you.

And as to our witness, Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2, verses 9 through 12,

1 Peter 2:9–12

but you are a chosen people.

This is going to sound familiar, right? But you are a chosen people.

Have you heard that before?

A royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,

that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful life.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.

Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from

sinful desires which war against your soul. Have you ever felt like you've had a.

Until I surrendered my life to Christ. Live such good lives among the pagans

that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and

glorify God on the day he visits.

Go now and serve a world that desperately

needs Jesus. That's kind of our statement at the end of services.

And then here's another one that you all know well, leading on this.

Let's say this together.

God is on a mission to redeem a lost world to himself, and he chooses to use

us, his chosen people, to accomplish his mission.

Knowing that this is the will of God for all people, here's what you must do

to live in the will of God, and you can write these notes down if you can read them.

It's pretty small because we've said a lot in a short time.

Acknowledge the will of God. These are the six points. Acknowledge the will of God in salvation.

Acknowledge our sinfulness. Accept the free gift of eternal life.

Allow yourself to be transformed by the power of God.

Allow the Spirit of God to do the work of sanctification in your life,

and advance the kingdom of God by doing the work of evangelism.

If you want to take your phones out, take a picture of that.

That would be fine, because I said that pretty quickly, but that would be something

to kind of reread and remind yourself of that. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, as we close this time of worship, we've had a lot of information

put before us today, and sometimes our minds begin to wander off into other

places. I know mine does.

And as Liz said earlier, sometimes we just don't even know the words to say

to describe you, but we want to praise you.

We want to glorify you. and we can glorify you most through our lives.

So we ask, Father, that you would help us to glorify you through us to others.

In Jesus' name, amen.