What is God’s will for us? Jesus often speaks of the will of God or the Father, but he rarely tells us directly what that will is. While surveying Jesus’ mentions about the will of God, I found two occasions in the gospels where Jesus directly tells us what the will of God is, and these two speeches of Jesus lead us to one conclusion.
First, Matthew records Jesus telling the Parable of the wandering sheep. It is a simple story in Matthew 18. Jesus says here, “What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go to the mountains to seek the one that is straying? And if he should find it, assuredly, I say to you, he rejoices more over that sheep than over the ninety-nine that did not go astray” (vv. 12-13). After that, Jesus mentions the will of the Father in the next verse, “Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish” (v. 14). In other words, according to Jesus, the will of our heavenly Father is not to lose any children of His, even one.
The other direct mention of the will of God by Jesus is found in the Bread of Life Discourse in John 6. During this long speech, Jesus speaks of the will of the Father: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And 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” (vv. 38-40). The will of God revealed here is that Jesus should lose no one given to Him. The Father God is willing to save His people and give them eternal life and never wants to lose any single soul.
A quick reading of these two statements from Jesus helps us determine God’s will is for us. Put simply, we should never lose even a single person from our congregation, and we should bring more people into God’s flock.
In my posting in July, I quoted Ellen G. White’s comment on the value of a single soul: “So if there had been but one lost soul, Christ would have died for that one” (Christ’s Object Lesson, 187). On different occasions, she also states: “One such soul saved is of more value than worlds. Gold and earthly treasure can bear no comparison to the salvation of even one poor soul” (Testimonies for the Church, 1:512). “In the light of the cross alone can the true value of the human soul be estimated” (The Acts of the Apostles, 273).
My dear Willowdale family, what is God’s will for us? He values each soul as He values Jesus, and it is His will that not even a single soul should be lost but that all should come to salvation. Then, are we doing our best to fulfill this will of God? Are there no brothers and sisters among our congregation who were once active church members but have gone astray and been forgotten by us? Are we doing our best to bring them back to our church, help them restore their faith, and be involved in various church ministries? Now that we know God’s will for us let us pray and work together to fulfill it. “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Hebrews 11:24-25).
Pastor Dae-Eun Kim