The will of God and the will of man.

Aussie Pete

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Life is a series of decisions. God gave man a unique capability, volition, the ability to choose. To avoid confusion, I am using "volition" rather than "will".

God has a plan and purpose for mankind, as revealed in His commissioning of Adam and Eve.

God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28

"Every creature", I believe, included Satan, who appeared in the form of a serpent. "Satan" means "adversary". God's enemy was in Eden and God wanted him subdued. We know the sorry tale. Satan turned the tables on Adam and took him captive to do Satan's will, not God's. Mankind is Satan's puppet.

God knew this would happen and already had the plan of salvation in place. Lord Jesus would come to the earth and be the "Last Adam", save mankind and destroy the works of the devil.

In the thousands of years since man fell, Satan had used him to create the world system. The world system is in opposition to the kingdom of God. Right now the world is falling apart socially, environmentally, economically, and governmentally. Satan's system will fail and be replaced by the Kingdom of God.

Lord Jesus did not preach a gospel of personal salvation. He preached the Kingdom of God. The qualification even to see the kingdom of God is to be born again. (John 3:3). The question for the born again believer now is, are you living the kingdom life or still living according to the principles of the world system? The vast majority of Christians start out with worldly attitudes, habits, bondages and notions that hinder their Christian lives. For example, sport. Few people realise that sport is inherently ungodly. "It brings out the best in people", I hear you say. It also brings out the very worst, as countless broken tennis racquets and golf clubs will attest. God does not have winners and losers, the fundamental basis of sport. God wants all people to win!

How does God effect changes in a Christian's heart attitudes? God uses in the inner witness of His Spirit to convict. If that does not work, the written Word will speak to the heart. If that proves ineffective, God will speak through the brethren. And, as a last resort, God will speak through environment.

It's been said that God got His people out of Egypt. He used the wilderness to get Egypt out of His people. Israel saw the glory of God, the power of God, the provision protection and love of God. They also saw God's holy and righteous judgments and anger. Only two of the escapees from Egypt entered the promised land. Only after "Egypt" was removed from the people could Israel flourish in Canaan.

We are entirely responsible for our Christian lives. Yet we do not live in a vacuum. The contest is still for the allegiance of our hearts. Some believe that God just makes everything happen, no matter what we do as Christians. The Israelites had a two week journey from Egypt to Canaan. It took them 40 years. Many Christians take an inordinately long time to grow into "Kingdom" people.

An analogy may help. Tapestry is amazing. The weaver takes threads of many different colours and creates a work of art. God weaves a tapestry of our lives. There are "threads" of gold, silver, red, blue, purple, grey, white, black etc. The "threads" are the result of our responses to God's working in our lives. Gold and silver are the ideal responses, other colours maybe the less than ideal while black is the wrong response. Those who are spiritually inert have nothing for God to work with. They have a small and insignificant "tapestry".

God's amazing love, power, mercy and grace is shown by His ability to weave all the threads, including the dull, dark colours, into something magnificent. It is to His glory and our good. (Romans 8:28).

Please don't be mislead by the fatalistic and deterministic attitude of some. The quality of our lives, our effectiveness as witnesses, our rewards in the next life all hang upon the choices that we make now. That is the reason why the Lord's prayer declares "Your Kingdom come, Your will be done". If was automatic, there would be no need to pray.

We get one shot at this life. Let's make the most of it.
 
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Gr8Grace

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We are entirely responsible for our Christian lives.
Amen. This is what the majority of believers seem to not understand. We are responsible for our Christian lives. John 10:27..........and He is responsible for our eternal life. John 10:28

Acts 16:31, John 3 :16........the moment we believe/trust in Him(freewill/volition). We are saved. Secure. We have eternal life and will never perish. John 10:28.

We are totally responsible for advancing in that ETERNAL life while we are on this earth. We can have an abundance in the eternal state or make it as if through fire.............Depends on how we LIVE IN HIS ETERNAL LIFE.

 
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