Free Will, My Will, Thy Will

1-22-19

Free Will, My Will, Thy Will

How you have fallen from heaven, Lucifer, Son of the Dawn!  You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!  You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God…I will make myself like the Most High. (Isaiah 14: 12-14)

 

My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.  (John 4:34)

‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.

(Matthew 26: 39)

 

We’re never told explicitly how Lucifer, Son of the Dawn, came to be satan (the accuser), or simply “the evil one.”  But Isaiah suggests that it may be captured in two simple words:  I will.  Although I don’t remember it I’m pretty sure my first two words were “no” and “mine;” and I’m also pretty sure that I’m not that uncommon.  In his epic poem, Paradise Lost, John Milton puts these words in the mouth of satan:  Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.  Although we’re made in the image of God, it would appear that we’re also, like Milton’s satan, wedded to our own selfish wills, wanting what we want, when we want, and how we want, regardless of the consequences.

 

Contrast the words of the “Son of the Dawn” with the one who called himself “Son of Man.”  Jesus claimed that in all things—what he did, what he said, how he judged—that he was completely surrendered to and dependent on the will of his

 

Father; that his Father’s will was the very stuff of life—even when it led him to his death.  It was not a reluctant submission of his will but a loving trust that in all things his Father’s will was the best thing that could happen—not just for him, but for everyone and all creation.  Ultimately, “I will” leads to humiliation and ruin, while “Thy will” leads through humiliation to exaltation.

 

People talk about Free Will but in at least two senses it’s an oxymoron.  First, Free Will is not free in the sense that it’s without restraint.  Martin Luther wrote a book by the title that describes the state of our wills: Bondage of the Will.  Our wills are bound by our own selfish, self-serving, compromised desires.  They are twisted and cruel task masters compared to the gracious will of God.  Secondly, our wills are not free in the sense that they come at no cost.  Consider the consequences for Lucifer, for ourselves, and for those on whom we try to impose our wills.

 

The best argument for the truth of the Gospel is the life lived in faith, a life lived trusting Jesus. The best way to grow in that life is to obey Jesus in everything he tells us to do—not so much by striving, but by surrendering our wills to his.  For many of us the notion of obedience at all is either foreign or repulsive.  The notion that someone has a right to command our time or talents or money makes us “bow up.”  But consider the alternative.  My own will will always end in death to me and harm to all around me.  Following my will is not free will, it’s only bondage…and it comes at a unthinkable cost.  But the Father’s will—taking on the yoke of Jesus—is to bear a burden that is both easy and light.  So, in the words of Peter, let’s live as free people…live as God’s slaves.  (I Pt 2: 16

 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Don Muncie