Dear Fellow Believers in Christ, (Be sure all Sevenfold Area of His Will is Revealed to You)
Why is it important to be sure that we know the sevenfold will of the Father? How does Satan deceive us when the whole sevenfold area is not fully aligned with our Father's will? How and why is the sevenfold will of the Father all focused and aligned with Christ in us as us? Where is the power of God found and resident? What is the living will of the Father? Let us look into the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit show us the sevenfold will of the Father!THE SEVENFOLD WILL OF THE FATHER
"And I, brothers, at intervals coming to you, at intervals came not according to excellency of word or wisdom, ever announcing to you the testimony of God. For I once then decided not to have already known anything within you, except Jesus Christ and Him having already been crucified" (I Cor. 2:1,2, author's translation).
First, The Father's Direction Begins In and Through His Son in Us
A testimony is a will. Christ is the living will and testimony of the Father. There is a lot of talk about the will of God. Most of those conversations revolve around the will of God regarding a lot of temporal things and situations. Let's first look at the will of God from the eternal perspective. Luke records, "And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, 'You are my beloved Son; in You I am well pleased' " (Luke 3:22). I realize that the Father spoke out of heaven and that He is well pleased in His beloved Son. We should note that the Father did not speak out of heaven about His pleasure in us. The Father is well pleased in the Son, and He put His Son in His rebirthed Sons, so they would be well pleasing to Him. The Father put His living will in us, to be expressed through us. The Father has also put the Holy Spirit in us, to teach of the Son in us and renew the mind with spiritual discernment (I Cor. 2:14). Christ will be the Father's direction in us.
Second, The Father's Way is to Hear and See that Christ is the Way in Us
We need to look away unto Jesus as in Hebrews 12:2. The Greek verb aphorontes is used just once here in the New Testament or will. It means to intensely focus and fix one's gaze solely on Jesus with undivided attention, by looking away from every other object. Wow, that is strong! Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up to a high mountain and was literally transfigured before them (Matt. 17:1,2). Moses and Elijah appeared and talked to Jesus (vs.3). Then Peter wanted to improve tradition and build 3 tabernacles for all 3 (vs. 4). While Peter was yet speaking a bright cloud overshadowed them, and the second recorded time the Father spoke out of heaven saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!" (vs.5). When the cloud cleared and they looked up they saw no one but Jesus only (vs. 8). We should heed the Father's voice and look only to His beloved Son Jesus in whom He is well pleased and Hear Him! John recorded Jesus who said, "I ever am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6). Why would we ever seek or believe there is any genuine way, or some truth, or life in anything other than the Son?
Third, The Father's Timing Brings His Eternal Knowledge to Be Revealed
When Jesus was finishing His ministry and headed toward the cross, He knew it was for this hour and purpose that He had come (John 12:27). Timing is important to the Son. The Father speaks the third recorded time out of heaven and lets us know that the Son continues to glorify His name (John 12:28). The Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us (I Cor. 2:10). True eternal knowledge is found in "Jesus Christ and Him Crucified" (I Cor. 2:2), the living will of the Father.
Fourth, The Father's Spirit in Exchange for Our Flesh and Doctrines
Paul said, "For those that are ever being according to the flesh ever mind the things of the flesh, but those according to the spirit mind the things of the spirit" (Rom. 8:5). We have to rightly discern the spirit of the mind in us. Basically, is it flesh or spirit? We have to rightly divide the soul and the spirit (Hebr. 4:12). We should be able to honestly evaluate the results. If you sow to the flesh, you get corruption; but if you sow to the Spirit, you get eternal life (Gal. 6:8). We need to be in tune with the Holy Spirit and Christ within us. Both are in tune with the Father's Spirit. We may have to choose to exchange some of our fleshly doctrines that we hang onto, for His Spirit of life and love in and through us. We either express acting flesh or we express the genuine Christ.
Fifth, The Father's Motivation Is Jesus Christ and Him Crucified
The Father is motivated by His beloved Son. He spoke out of heaven three (3) recorded times to clarify that to us. Why do we intensely try to live like Jesus? After all, the Father has an eternal plan to rebirth us and put His genuine beloved Son inside of us. Why then would we want to be an actor to imitate the life of the Son – when we have the genuine Person, the beloved Son, to live His well pleasing life to the Father in and through us, with His Spirit of love to others? As Paul, my prayer is that we "may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col. 1:9). I have "the head of all principality and power" now living in me (Col. 2:10). I must see that Christ is the wisdom and power of God (I Cor. 1:24), and He is now living in me (Gal. 2:20). Also, "the message of the cross is" the power of God (I Cor. 1:18). "The gospel of Christ is" the power of God (Rom. 1:16). This is the dynamo or the source of motivation of the Father – Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Sixth, The Father's Eternal Purpose Is in Himself and Through Christ
Paul states that the Father, "Already once making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed at intervals in Himself" (Eph. 1:9). The Father has chosen to administer all things in unity through His Son and gather them together "in Christ" (Eph. 1:10). This is the eternal counsel of the Father's will that all things are working and being gathered together in Christ (Eph. 1:11). The Father's accomplishes His eternal purpose in and through Christ Jesus our Lord (Eph. 3:11). It is all about Him!
Seventh, The Father's Glory is Christ Living and Expressing Himself in You
Man falls "short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). However, if we truly let Christ live in us, everything will work in us "for a far more exceeding eternal weight of glory" (II Cor. 4:17). In every circumstance and every situation, it is my choice. Will I be willing to exchange: (1) my religion for the Father's direction?; (2) my traditions for the Father's way?; (3) my knowledge for the Father's timing?; (4) my doctrines for the Father's Spirit?; (5) my will for the Father's motivation?; (6) my selfishness for the Father's purpose?; and (7) my glory for the Father's glory? My choice is to either choose the blindness, darkness, and death of the flesh in all or some areas, or to choose the sight, light, and life of the Spirit in some or all areas of the sevenfold will of the Father. Choose His life and glory. Glory is Christ in you living and expressing the sevenfold will of the Father in and through you to others. This is the eternal living will of the Father.