By the Will of God

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God” – Ephesians 1:1a

Simple, yet profound word choice Paul uses in the greeting of his letter to the church at Ephesus. Paul is an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God.

Paul is who he is, because it is God’s will. How gracious the will of God. How good the will of God. How merciful the will of God. Were it not for God’s will, Paul would’ve still been murdering Christians and would never have wrote so many great books of the Bible. It was not by Paul’s will that he was saved and changed, but by God’s will. Paul’s will hated and opposed Jesus. But, oh, the kindness of God’s will. Oh, the power of God’s will. Powerful enough to love a hater of Jesus and make him a lover of Jesus. Powerful enough to take a murderer of Christians and make him a martyr for Christ. Paul’s will didn’t choose to follow Jesus; God’s will chose Paul.

Our “free will”, will never choose to love the Jesus of the bible. The only thing our “free will” does is send us to hell. Do not trust or bank on your “free will” to choose God and get to heaven. Oh how deceiving and evil our free will is.

But oh how gracious and good the merciful will of God is. That by His will we are saved. By His will we are changed. By the will of God, Jesus was crushed on the cross for our sins. By the will of God, Jesus paid the punishment we deserve. By the will of God we are credited with the righteousness that Christ earned. By the will of God we are chosen, redeemed, loved, and kept in Christ. By the will of God we don’t get what deserve (hell), and by the will of God we get every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3). How merciful the will of God. How gracious the will of God.

And how mighty the will of God. The will of God overrides human will every time. And God’s will, will be done. To think the will of mere human beings made from dust is the ultimate deciding factor in the world is laughable. God does His will (Psalm 115:3) and He will not be slowed or swayed by human will.

Human will chooses sin resulting in death. The will of God takes sinners and makes them saints. The will of God saves sinners who could and would never choose God. The will of God saves those who at one time rejected Christ. The will of God transforms those whom it saves – murderers to martyrs, haters to lovers, pot-heads to pastors, thieves to theologians, promiscuous to pure, . How great the will of God. How merciful, good, wise, just, and gracious the will of God.

If you have been rescued from your sin and from your will, thank God today for His gracious and powerful will.