Titus 2:12-14
(The grace of God) teaches us to say “no” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for…Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
The Will of a Two-Year Old
Anyone who has spent time with a two-year old knows that they have a “mind of their own.” From the youngest age they have very strong opinions about the color of socks they want to wear, whether the cup they drink out of is a princesses cup or lego Batman; whether they want to spend the afternoon playing with cars, coloring, or dressing and undressing dolls for three hours. These impulses can go off the rails quickly. Nuclear level meltdowns happen in department stores when you tell them they can’t have what they want, or at the family reunion when you’re trying to impress your relatives.
The truth is, adults have just as much “will” as the two-year old. We usually know how to blend it into the social tapestry just a little better. No one had to tell you what TV show you should like to watch; which shoes you think compliment your style; how hot you like your tea; or whether you get your thrills watching songbirds, or by training for MMA fighting? But you had to learn how to curb your will—how to deny your desire to cut ahead of five people in line, or suppress your desire to speak whatever acidic remarks popped into your head at the company meeting. Each of us has a “will” of our own, but it needs to be adjusted to the community.
So, what is the human “will,” and how is it important to our faith?
Your “will” is quite simply your drive to want something, and the freedom to express what you want. Your will is not necessarily evil. The first birthday present God gifted to you was the treasure of your soul—your unique bouquet of personality, ideas, dreams, self-expression, interests, and contributions to the world. This soul of yours is an iteration of the divine. “Made in God’s image” means we are made of God-stuff. Psalms 8:5 says we are “crowned with glory and honor.” If this sounds mystical and profound, that’s because it is.
The Untamed Will
There is a dark side to the will. The untamed “will” that spills over the banks of God’s appropriate boundaries, leads to evil. Notice the three things God is doing with the untamed “will” in Titus 2:12-14. He is “redeeming us from all wickedness; ” he purchased the right to govern our lives so that we are no longer mastered by wickedness. He wants us to be governed by goodness, not evil. Secondly, within God’s government, he doesn’t want to crush our “will” entirely. He wants to channel it when it is misdirected; he is “purify(ing) for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” He wants to transform what we desire so that we are “eager to do what is good; ” in brief, he wants to transform the “will” to desire the right things and not the wrong things.
Finally, God’s grace is a teacher. It “teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions; ” we learn to live “self-controlled.” Grace gives us the ability to live under “self-control.” That is true freedom. Our heavenly father teaches us self-control, so we don’t have to be controlled by others. Our culture needs to hear this: we can control our will, by the grace of the Holy Spirit. We are not slaves to our instincts or desires.
Heaven or Hell on Earth
The will of man is the most powerful and productive force on the planet. Yes, we can use our freedoms to carpet bomb anything we want, devour anyone we want, and climb the greasy poll of suppressing others to our single-minded interests. In contrast, when our appetites and dreams are prioritized by God’s government, purified by God’s goodness, and set free under our self-control, then there’s no problem we can’t solve, no garden we can’t grow, no community we can’t help, no moon we can’t land on. Earth will become everything it is capable of becoming, a garden in which mankind communes with God in perfect love.
The architect will ever be designing. The painter will ever be tinkering with colors and arrangements. The business leader will ever be improving products of dignity provided by people with dignity. The carpenter will ever be building and shaping. The homemaker will ever be hosting friends and neighbors. And each express the creativity of man for the glory of God. I loved the phrase Pastor Brian quoted on Sunday, “Love God, and do as you please.” Those who are “eager to do good” are never short of creative ideas to glorify God and bless others.
What does it mean for everything in my life to revolve around God’s interests, and not my own? Within that question the world can be renewed? Colossians 3:10 says, “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” God doesn’t want to destroy your freedom, he wants to purify it from the bondage of self. If the cross teaches us to die to our selfish “will”, the resurrection teaches us that life on the other side is more fruitful, more joyful, more liberating, more purposeful, more creative, and more Divine than we could have ever imagined.
Tags: kingdom, desire, god's will, resurrection life, purified, soul, wants, new self, man's will
