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About Jesus Steve Sweetman God's
Five "I Wills" In my last article I spoke of the five "I
wills" proudly proclaimed by satan (Isaiah 14:12 to 14).
I said that man has bought into these "I wills" as seen
in the "religion of
self." Did you know
that God has His five "I wills too?
Here's the story of God's five "I wills.
In Genesis 11 we see men building a city, and a tower
that they hoped would reach to the heavens.
As a child in Sunday school I was taught that these men were
building a tower that would reach up to God in heaven.
We were told that God wasn't very happy with this tower.
He put mankind on earth, and on earth He wanted them to stay.
If I recall my Sunday school teaching correctly, then what I was
taught was wrong. In Genesis 11:4 the NIV says that man wanted to build
a tower that would "reach to the heavens." Note
the plural word "heavens," not the singular word
"heaven", as in the place where God is.
The tower was built to rise into the skies, not heaven.
I think the men of I don't think God's biggest problem was with the
tower. If the tower was His
main problem, He must be very frustrated when He gazes across our
skyline today. No, there was
a more fundamental issue that disturbed Him.
The reason why these men wanted to build the tower,
and the reason why God was so upset, was a matter of self indulgence on
the part of the builders. These
men wanted to make a name for themselves (Genesis 11:4).
The almighty "I" and the "religion of
self" was rising again, and that disturbed God. It's no coincidence that the event of Genesis 12
comes right after the events of Genesis 11.
In chapter 11 we see mankind attempting to build a distinct
community of people that would make a name for himself.
In chapter 12 we see God implementing plans to build His distinct
community of people that would make a name for Himself. I
think God wanted man to see what a distinct people should look like, and
it had nothing to do with making a name for mankind.
The Tower
of Did you count them?
There are five "I wills".
Lucifer's "I wills" are all about Lucifer.
When we adopt Lucifer's "I wills" they're all about us.
God's "I wills" are all about God, but His "I
wills" aren't selfish. If you look closely at the verse above, you
will see that God's "I wills" are meant to bless us, not Him.
I understand God's "I wills", and how they
relate to Israel
in this passage. I'd like to
comment on that, but I won't here. My
point is this. God said that
He'd make His own community of distinct people, He'd bless them, He'd
curse the enemies of His people, He'd make His people's name great, and
He'd bless those who bless His people.
It appears to me that if we understand God's "I wills",
we don't have to bother with our own "I wills". Abram understood the message of God's five "I
wills". Unlike Abram's
contemporaries, he did not build a city for his own name's sake.
Hebrews 11:10 says that he was waiting for God to build His city,
which reminds me of Psalm
127:1. It says, "unless
the Lord builds the house, the builder
labours in vain." Abram
didn't take time to build his own community that would make his name
great. He waited for God to
build His community. That's
where he wanted to live. Abram
didn't have to worry about making a name for himself. God did that as
promised. He became one of
the most important men in human history.
Church history is much like the history of God's
people This community of distinct people belongs to Jesus. He
said "I will build this community (Mathew 16:18). I guess Jesus has
His "I wills" too. That
sounds like the New Testament version of what God told Abram.
It's up to us what set of "I wills" we want to adhere
to. Will we say, "I
will build", or will we let Jesus say, "I will build."
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