Usually when people ask the question about what is God’s will for their life, they are asking about the subjective will of God like what career they are called to or who they are supposed to marry. I say these things are subjective because we can’t find a chapter and verse about the specifics for these things in the Bible for any of our lives.
While questions about career and marriage are very important questions we should all ask, I’ve found that when we learn and do what the Bible says about God’s general will for our lives, many of the specifics such as what job to take and who to marry become obvious.
With that said, what is God’s will for our lives? IN CHRIST!
Look at Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Colossians says we died it is talking about the old spiritual nature we had before we were in Christ. When we get born again the Bible teaches we get a brand new spirit that is connected to the Holy Spirit (see 2 Corinthians 6:17). The new spirit has a new nature which is just like Jesus. To learn more about how Christians only have one nature, check out this message.
The Bible teaches the new spiritual nature is hidden in Christ. Our lives are hidden in Christ which means we can’t look on external things like our physical body or our mind, will, and emotions to determine God’s will for our lives. These parts aren’t hidden, they are observable. The spirit man, however, is hidden so the only was to see him is to look in Christ.
Before I share a little about who we are in Christ, I want to illustrate what I mean my by our lives being hidden in Christ. Yesterday I walked up to my mailbox to check and see if we had received any mail. I couldn’t determine what was in the mailbox by looking on the outside of the box so I opened the door to look inside and found a check for $1,000. The check was hidden in the mailbox and not observable until I looked inside.
This is how our lives are. There are great riches hidden in us according to Colossians 2:3, but they don’t become observable until we put forth the effort to look on the inside.
So how do we look on the inside? How do we see who we are in Christ? We look into the word of God! Jesus said in John 6:63 my words are spirit and they are life. Jesus’s word is spirit so when we look into the word of God and see what it says about us we are seeing into the spirit realm. Check out this message to learn more about how God’s word is spirit.
James 1:24-25 compares the word of God to a mirror. Mirror’s show us reflections of what we look like. If you’ll think about it, we’ve technically never actually seen our faces, we’ve only seen its reflection in the mirror. We’ve learned to trust what we see in the mirror. This is how we know what we look like.
The “In Christ” statements in the word of God work the same way. They reveal the truth about who we really are in the spirit. This is the real us deep on the inside whether we feel like it or not. Let’s look a few of these statements and then I’ll explain why knowing who you are is so important if you are going to fulfill God’s specific plan for your life.
Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Colossians 2:9-10 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; 10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.
1 John 4:17 As He is, so are we in this world.
2 Corinthians 5:21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1 Corinthians 2:16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
These are just five of almost 100 “In Christ” statements in the New Testament. This is who were really are once we accept Jesus. Now, let’s look back at Colossians 3:3:
Colossians 3:3 your life is hidden with Christ in God.
God has hidden our life life in Christ. It’s not hidden from us, it is hidden for us. God wants us to seek out the truths that say we are righteous, complete, healed, and can do all things in Christ. Knowing who we are in Christ is God’s will for our life. This is His general will for all believers and it is the key for all of us to unlock His specific will for each of us.
Think about it, before He can tell a person His specific plan for them to start a Fortune 500 company and employ thousands of people, they must first realize they can do all things in Christ. If they don’t realize they can do all things in Christ, they would probably think they were incapable to do such massive exploit for God.
God’s will for our lives is in Christ! I’d encourage you to study these scriptures so you can find out who you really are. Here is a link you can check out that will provide many of these scriptures. Read them, write them down, and pray them out until you find out who you really are. God’s will for your life is for you to know who you are in Christ!
https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-our-identity-in-christ/
If you missed the first blog in the “What Is God’s Will Series” check it out right here.
