Mensa Otabil - Choose God's Will
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This week we look at the life of Jesus Christ in his last 24 hours up to his crucifixion and then we will celebrate uh on Easter Sunday his resurrection. And our reading starts from Luke 22:41-42. And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw. And he knelt down and prayed, saying, "Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done".
The choice that ended up in the fall of man and the separation of man from God took place in a garden, the first garden, the garden of Eden. And the choice led to our salvation and restoration of mankind to God also took place in a garden, the garden of Gethsemane. In the garden of Eden, Adam used his will to go against God's will. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus Christ, the last Adam, used his will to side with God's will. And in those two decisions, in those two gardens, one bringing fall to mankind and the other bringing restoration to mankind, we see the power of the will at work.
In the garden of Gethsemane, uh, where today's passage comes from, we see the epic battle for the soul of the human race. The battle is not between God and Satan. It's not even between man and Satan. It is between God and man, the will of man and the will of God. That has always been the problem. Right from the Garden of Eden, it's not been about man and Satan. It's about whether man who has an independent will will choose God's will because God created man with an independent will and uh and gave us the option to either serve him or not serve him. Unfortunately, in the Garden of Eden, the will of man turned against God and Jesus Christ came to correct that.
And so, this was a battle of wills. And if you look at the uh prayer, Jesus says uh father, if it is your will, he's not even say take this cup away from me, but he says if it is your will, take this cup from me. But nevertheless, I surrender to your will. And in that Jesus Christ uh who was standing as a representative of the human race, brought us under the will of God. He reconciled uh as to God because in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus did not choose his own will. He chose the will of God and he was committed to the will of God. And he knew the implication of that choice that it was a choice for suffering and for separation and for death. But he chose it.
You know, Adam and Eve made a choice because they wanted to be wiser. Jesus made a choice because he wanted to die. And and those are two very different choices. One took us into death. The one who was trying to choose life took us to death. And the one who chose death gave us life. And in Christ Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, we see what the power of a human will submitted to God is able to achieve. And so Jesus Christ prayed with intensity even after he had submitted his will to God. And and and later on the passage would say that the sweat from his face were like drops of blood.
It was intensity and agonizing to surrender to God's will. And that is the struggle all of us have. Doing God's will can be like drawing blood from us because our will is to satisfy ourselves to be happy to enjoy life. And many times uh even if it offends God, we still do our own will. But from Jesus, we learn not my will but yours be done. Will you choose God's will?
Let's pray. Say with me, "Heavenly Father, I surrender my will to you. I am totally yours. Do with me as you desire in Jesus name". Amen. And amen.