Proving God's Will

Introduction

Ever since the fall of man the world (humanity) has been divided, is obviously divided today, and will continue to be divided until Jesus returns. Division is a tool or method used a lot by Satan, we see it first in the garden of eden, and at times by God himself, once when he divided tongues of people building the tower of Babel. Probably the biggest issue that we face is not that division exists but the sheer number of divisions that we have to deal with, most of them made problematic by man:

Economic division

Racial division

Political division

Sexual division

(Kingdom Graphic) But there is one division that is the most important, one that people probably don’t consider much each day. That is spiritual division. This is the division of all divisions. This division is the only one that truly matters in the end and the side that you are on will determine how we live this life and where we will spend eternity. No side of any other division justifies us or gets us into heaven but there here is a way that God wants us to think about the issues that cause those division that I mentioned. My hope for today is to help you to understand that being on His side is most important and that there is a way the He is expecting us to think, become, and live. The moment we start to take the sides of man-made factions and give those the priority in our life is the moment that we can begin to lose sight of God’s way and get ourselves into trouble. Why, because in every man made faction, there is an evil that we tend to accept or ignore, or worse, support and defend, and it is likely that God doesn’t want us to do either. We are lamps, lighthouses, and street signs pointing the world to Christ, not protectors of man-made factions and organizations.

Message

The Apostle Paul shares with the Roman church some Godly wisdom when it comes to how we should live. Thank God for preserving it so that in reading it we can be edified.

Romans 12:1 I beseech (beg) you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies (physical and immaterial self) a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Why should we live for God

Paul is saying that because all of God has done for us (what he described in great detail in Ch 1-11) I beg you.....

What do we do to live for God (Worship of God graphic)

Living Sacrifices - Sacrifices in the OT was for sin as well as of gratitude and praise. Since Christ has fulfilled the sacrifice for sin, our living sacrifice of gratitude and praise is the appropriate sacrifice. This is worship.

The Bible tells us that Jesus endured the cross because of the “joy set before Him”.

Holy and Acceptable -

Scripture is chock full of whats Holy and Acceptable to God. The rest of this chapter Paul provides examples of what this Holy and acceptable life looks like:

Chapter 12 v9 - Various way to behave like a christian

Chapter 13 v1- Submitting to government

Chapter 13 v8 - Neighborly love

Chapter 15 v 1 - Bearing others’ burdens

How do we maintain the ability to live for God

Not Conforming to this Age - World System n. — the people constituting the world whose values, beliefs, and morals are in distinction and rebellion to God’s.

(Truth-Reality Graphic) What we first need to understand is that the Bible is truth. If the Bibles is truth then it is reality. If the Bible is reality then every value, belief and moral in distinction and rebellion to God’s is false reality, or in other word, a lie.

Paul calls this age “evil” (Gal. 1:4), and says that “the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers” to the gospel (2 Cor. 4:4).

This age has wise men, scholars, and philosophers who believe that their answers to life are to be preferred over God’s (1 Cor. 1:20), but whose wisdom will lead them to nothing (1 Cor. 2:6).

The whole world (world system) is under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19-20).

Sometimes I think that because we are so compassionate and don’t want to hurt people that we tend to give in to the lie or allow the lie to live and grow unchallenged. Not conforming doesn’t mean that we don’t love people. It means that we don’t accept ones false reality as truth. So in that we don’t support it, protect it, celebrate it.

Transformed by Renewing Our Minds -

But our minds can be renewed through Gods word. Pauls is saying that through Gods word we can be in a state where our feelings, beliefs, values, and morals are aligned with God. Then and only then can we proved that Gods will for humanity is perfect.

Closing

The Goal of all of this:

Prove God’s Good, Acceptable, Perfect Will -

People try to prove that God is true, right, good, and perfect by what we say but God wants us to prove Him by how we live. Jesus in John 13:35 that everyone will know we are His by how we live.

Through our life that God wants us to prove that His will is good.

Through our life that God wants us to prove that His will is acceptable.

Through our life that God wants us to prove that His will is perfect.

Through our life that God wants us to prove that He loves the world, unconditionally.

Through our life that God wants us to prove that there is hope in Him.

Daniel converted a nation because of his commitment to God, even in rebellion to the decrees of the land at that time. He proved God.

Don’t settle for comfort saints because a life with God is not about being comfortable. He will comfort us through the Holy Spirit, but there will be external forces trying to get us to stop. But the Bible says that He will never leave us or forsake us. And if God is for us it’s more than the world against us.

As the world continues to progress in ways that appose God, know He has given us His spirit to to encourage, comfort, and strengthen us so that we can prove His good, acceptable and perfect will in the earth, even in the midst of adversity, pain, and suffering.