Knowing God's Nature and Will

Who is God?  What's He like?  What's His nature and character?  Well, I'm no theologian, but the most common answer given is ... love.  According to what I have found by studying the Word of God, everything God has ever done, was and still is based on this one principle ... God's love for us.

His nature is love.  That's who He is.  God loves His creation.  He proved that when He sent Jesus to be our Savior and take our sin upon Himself on the cross.  We know a little bit about Jesus from the writings of those who saw Him and walked with Him while He was on the earth.  But what about God Himself ... the one who sent His Son to die in our place ... what do we know about Him?

God is our maker, redeemer and keeper.  God didn't just lower Himself to our level, although He did just that with Jesus, but rather His goal was and is to raise us up to be with Him.  We can rely on the nature and integrity of His character ... being full of confidence that His love is unchanging. 

When you know that your present, your future, your health, your life, and your destiny, depends totally on God's ability ... not yours ... then you can rest in Him and can willingly place all these things into the hands of a God who loves you and is deeply committed to you.

God is consistent in His nature but He is also unpredictable.  You never know what God is going to do next; but you always know … what He is going to be like.

Did you know that God keeps secrets?  You do know that God doesn't tell you everything, right?

Deuteronomy 29:29 … "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."

When we look at this text we see a distinction is made between the secret things and the revealed things; or one could speak of it as ... the hidden will and the revealed will of God for us. 

God has not revealed everything that could possibly be known about Himself or all His intentions concerning the world.  So those unrevealed hidden things ... those things that He has purposely chosen not to reveal to us, the "secret things" refer to what has been called ... "the hidden will of God."

But at the same time we are not left totally in the dark as though God has not told us anything about Himself or His "will" for our lives.

When most people speak about the will of God they are talking about the "revealed" will of God called the "Decretive" will.  This decretive will of God is that which God Sovereignly brings to pass … He decrees it so.  It has also been called the absolute will of God because it will absolutely come to pass.  When God Sovereignly decrees something … it must come to pass.

There is also what is called the "Preceptive" will of God.  The decretive will of God … cannot be resisted … it must happen.  The preceptive will of God … can be resisted … it's our choice.  It refers to what God wants you to do, the things or lifestyle that is revealed in His Word as to how you should conduct your life.  You perceive God's will, but you don't have to obey; you can resist it if you want.  You shouldn't ... but you can as a free moral agent.

And then there are the secret things of God, spoken of in Deuteronomy 29:29, which are ... "the hidden will of God."

The first thing you must understand about the hidden will of God is that … it is hidden.  Unless you can read God's mind it will stay hidden.  All you can do is read God's word; but even then the Word only gives you God's … "revealed will."

God will not tell us everything or answer every question we have.  Some things remain hidden from us.  God may have a secret plan for your life that's none of your business; but at the same time He may be directing your path step by step.  We all want to know the future, what's ahead for us; but it is best if it's left in God's hands.  Our end is only for God to know; that is His business not ours. 

"The secret things belong unto the LORD …" they are not our possessions, they are not ours; they belong only to God.  This is why the secret things, the hidden things of God, even His unrevealed plans for us, don't belong to us; they are not our property, they are God's.  And so are we.

"… but those things which are revealed belong unto us …" God has taken some of His willed plans for us and revealed them to us through the Word of God.

I've come to the conclusion that God doesn't follow any set rules.  God can and will do whatever He pleases, whenever He pleases.  He may do one thing one time, and something totally different another time.  But know this, it's always done out of His love for us. 

We are within His loving care ... and are now living in the days of grace.  There are no good days or bad days.  There are only days full of grace.  Some days the grace of God allows you to enjoy what is happening.  And some days the grace of God allows you to endure what is happening.

Many times God allows in His wisdom what His power could prevent.  Even so, enjoy the grace that is present with you each day.  The grace of God is going to come to you each day and bring with it … the nature of God … that you might know Him, rest in Him, move in Him, worship Him and represent Him.

You are perfect for God.  He is going to make you … perfect in His nature … stamping the image of Jesus on you.