February
1, 2003
THE
WILL OF THE FATHER
"This
is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the
Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will
raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40, NKJV).
It is
the will of the Father that everyone who puts their faith
and trust in Jesus and believes in Him will be saved (see
John 3:16, 17). The Father sent Jesus to earth to show us
the way. Jesus said, "I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through Me" (John 14:6). Jesus and the Father
are One. Jesus said, "I am in the
Father and the Father in Me" (John 14:11). And
again He said, "I and My Father
are one" (John 10:30).
The Father
and Jesus are united in their purpose to save the human race
and to reunite us into the family of God. "He (God) has
made known to us His hidden purpose - such was His will and
pleasure determined beforehand in Christ - to be put into
effect when the time was ripe: namely, that the universe,
all in heaven and on earth, might be brought into unity in
Christ" (Ephesians 1:9, 10, NEB). What a blessing that
the Father and Jesus are united to save you and me and to
provide for us a future that is united with their future.
It is
our choice whether or not we accept the provision that God
has made. God's character of love will force no man, woman
or child to accept Him, however, it is also His pure love
and creative power that attracts us to Him. "I have loved
you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness
I have drawn you" (Jeremiah 31:3), and "When I consider
Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars,
which You have ordained, what is man that You are mindful
of him, and the son of man that You visit him?" (Psalm
8:3, 4). Jesus never turned anyone away and He always treated
people with respect, love and kindness.
Are we
willing and ready to accept God's will for our lives, namely
"that
everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting
life" (John 6:40)? Jesus said, "Whoever does the
will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother"
(Matthew 12:50). In Jesus, we are family, not "born...
of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13).
|
