We have been made to believe over the years that when the purpose of a thing is not known, the abuse of it is inevitable. So also, when the purpose of a law or a principle is not known, we are not exempted from its consequences.

That is, even if you claim to be an ignoramus to the law of gravity, it still doesn’t nullify the fact that when you fall from a tall building, you won’t land on the ground. So, being ignorant about certain laws and principles that govern this earth realm is really not an escape route and that’s why I want to briefly discuss about the will of man.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defined free will as the ability to make choices that are not controlled by fate or God. We clamour today that man was created with a will and it is what distinguish man from every other being created by God.

But knowing only that man has a free will wouldn’t do much good to you, it is only a part to that statement. In as much as man possess a free will, man is not free from the consequences that accompanies that free will. When we hear the word consequence we first think of a negative outcome. Consequence is a neutral word, it is neither positive nor negative.

God knows about your future because He created you in it, but He doesn’t control your future. He has given you a free will to that effect already. He didn’t create a still life object but He created you with the ability to make choices independent of Him (but how wonderful it is to be led by His Spirit), but bearing in mind that it comes with a consequence.

When God created Adam and Eve, He created in them a will power, which gave them the ability to make decisions. This will power was to enable them make decisions on how to advance the work He committed into their hands in alignment with His original plan and purpose for the earth. But they used their free will contrary to God’s instruction by yielding to the voice of the devil (see Gen.2:16-17 & 3:1-7).

What was the consequence of their free will? They were driven away from the presence of God. But Jesus came on the scene to show us a much better way. He showed us what it means to have a free will and its purpose.

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed. “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken away from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will”.  Matthew 26:39 (NIV, emphasis added)

This was before His arrest. Here He he agonized, seeing what was to come. The will of the Father was that Jesus be crucified on the cross for the sin of humanity that He never committed. Jesus knew this all along, He lived in that consciousness, yet at the garden, he expressed his humanity, just like as he was tired, he was hungry, moved with compassion for the crowd.

Was Jesus afraid to die? No! Because in John 10:17&18, we saw Him taught that He had authority to lay down His life and to take it up, as received from the Father. His main concern was the judgement of sin that was to fall on Him from the Father.

How did Jesus reconcile this conflicting will? He had to first of all get rid of His own will, of not wanting that separation and accept the will of the Father. The consequence of His action was that He rose on the third day, with the sin of mankind fully taken care of! (See Romans 4:25).

How does all these relates to the free will that God has given to man today? The purpose of free will is to use our will to accept the will of the Father. What is the will of God for man today? It is clearly stated in the Book of John.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

It is God’s will that the world believes in Jesus and be saved. But He won’t shove it down their throat. But the only way this will of God can be actualized is through the preaching of the gospel and they use their free will to accept the will of God for them. The apostle Peter also wrote in his letter.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering towards us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV)

But are all coming to repentance? No. God has done His part by coming to die for the sins of mankind and He rose on the third so we can receive salvation. It is now left for you to use your free will to accept that salvation that He has made available.

Having believed, what is now God’s will for my life? Receiving eternal life, the very life and nature of God, doesn’t invalidate your free will as a believer, but rather, that helps you to always and at all times choose to do God’s will.

The will of God for us who have believed is that we act on His word at all times. Even when there seems to be a conflict of will, between ours and His, you should make a decision to always choose to do the will of the Father. We use our free will to choose the will of the Father so that we can, and at all times be in agreement with His plan and purpose for our lives.

This is the purpose of free will, to use our will to choose His will.