John 7:17 Knowing
If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it is of God or whether I speak from Myself.
John 7:17 NASB
Knowing something
These are incredible words: my understanding of the Kingdom of God and of His teaching is based on my personal willingness to do. It is a two-part equation: my will and God’s will — aligning. At a most basic level my grasp about the spiritual realm — Jesus, God, heaven, the bible, and life—starts with me.
My Will
My will is the first half of the equation. There are often times when my heart and mind explode with the light shining from his words. Understanding pours into my spirit. I sometimes wonder why others struggle to understand things that make complete sense to me. Then I realize it’s personal. It’s what His Spirit is teaching me at the moment. It is what He is sharing as a friend. The more I press into His kingdom, the more He teaches, unfolds, and reveals Himself. He delights in me knowing all about Him. Asking tough questions, pursuing answers. None are too difficult for Him. As I open myself in vulnerability to Him, He opens himself in vulnerability to me. Yet, I know He went first — for which I’m forever indebted and grateful.
In John’s description of Jesus’ interaction at the Feast of Tabernacles, people had ideas about his identity that were all over the map. Was he the Messiah? a good man? or a deceiver? It’s easy to conclude that it’s impossible to know what is true when I find so many good people have differing opinions on a difficult topic. Sometimes the number of different views seem to give me permission to be lazy — throw up my arms and say, “How could anyone know?” Yet in the very confusion about a topic is God’s invitation to understand, to seek an answer. Jesus taught so that his disciples would know the secrets of the kingdom — while it was obscured from others.
He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.”
Matthew 13:11 NIV
The reason there is a disconnect between people about what is true is because there is a God-created filter on our understanding, allowing only the willing to proceed while others are stopped abruptly. This is true about any topic in which our mind creates distance; buckets of thought that are not me. Until the heart is willing to see, hear, and then do — understanding will be out of reach. There is an old saying: “A man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still.” It takes space in my mind to process a view I don’t hold. Empathy takes energy. It’s also important to note that this willingness doesn’t presuppose change. It simply eliminates the bias and internal distance to the unfamiliar.
As I read the Gospels, it’s clear that there is a qualification between those who believe and those who don’t. When speaking with the Pharisees who were challenging him, Jesus again showed how this kingdom filter worked.
Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word.
John 8:42-43 NASB
You “cannot hear,” meaning, you won’t accept it. The sounds of the words enter your ears, but do not engage your curiosity or understanding. You are not willing to open your heart to the possibility it is true — and because of the impact it may have on your way of life, you reject it. (The vaunted, esteemed, and proud Pharisees had the most to lose if Jesus was the Messiah — their religious exclusivity was supported by laws that they over complicated and required their interpretation to understand, apply, and be worthy of the afterlife.) In another situation a little later, a man who was blind from birth was healed by Jesus. Afterwards, this man with fresh spiritual sight saw the true state of Israel’s leaders who were investigating what happened. They kept asking him the same question, getting the same answer. The man became exasperated and possibly a little amused that those who should see were really the blind ones:
He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?”
John 9:27 NASB
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes more about the filter:
(We) are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:13-14 NASB
Our understanding of the kingdom is unlocked, the veil over our face removed — in Christ. He is the way, truth and life.
All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.
Matthew 11:27 NASB
It is simple to come to him and know the secrets of life, but we must walk through the gate — which is Christ.
I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.
John 10:9 NASB
God’s will
My willingness is not the only qualifier — and this is the second half of the equation — recognizing and accepting God’s will.
I personally believe there are as many versions of God’s will as there are people. This shouldn’t be disheartening but rather encouraging — as long as others stop trying to convince everyone else that their understanding of it should be everyone else’s. It’s not. It’s personal. Sure, the Ten Commandments seem black and white and universally applicable to everyone. And of course, they are much of the time… until they are not. Every law comes with a caveat. Understanding that exception is only possible one understands the Lawmaker’s heart. This can make some people uncomfortable. Yet, it is the same discomfort that Jesus had created for the Pharisees. What did it mean to observe the Sabbath or to not have an idol? These are not so black and white when it came to Jesus’ activities on the Sabbath, such as healing or eating ears of corn, or accepting Caesar’s face on a coin. Ask any believer who has gone to war or become a police officer about how to interpret the commandment to not murdering another. Hearing His words, His will, and knowing His voice is a daily interaction — not a once a week, once a year nod of a head to a good principle.
In the Greek according to Strong, the sense of the word “will” means: his choice or preference. By implication, his wish, with an idea of something in which he delights in. Every person has a wish or preference and something that is intrinsically delightful. When my wife takes time to know me, and I reciprocate, we enjoy deferring to each other’s preferences. This picture of God’s will then is not one of an over-controlling despot willing to subjugate others at any cost, but rather a father or a friend, hoping you value him enough to pay attention to what he values or considers meaningful.
To better understand the distinction Jesus is making between wills, I must travel back to the beginning. God made this world and everything in it so that I may revel in it. Learn about it. Play in it. Joy in the minutia. In the process I learn about God, the artist who created it. He made it for my pleasure. And in this discovery my God enjoys the fellowship of the experience, just like a parent enjoys a child’s first encounter with snow, or a bug. Then came the fateful day when man stepped sideways and did the one thing he was told he shouldn’t: he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The adversary was fishing with doubt and mistrust on his line, and Eve bit. Then Adam. Satan generated enough mistrust that they questioned the very goodness and intent of God. The enlightenment they sought through this act became both a reality (they understood something they had not) and ultimately hidden at the same time. God would have offered them the knowledge they sought — when it was time (and they could have handled it) — just like a parent waits to explain details of adult love when the young adult is ready for it. Instead, they stumbled upon a secret — knowledge they were incapable of handling — about the great tension and conflict happening in the heavens. The wildfire now spread to earth and sabotaged access to the very source which appealed to them in the first place. Could you imagine a child pulling a gun on mom and dad and demanding the inheritance, “now!”?
Is it any wonder that the first and most important commandment that God gave Moses was to “love God first, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength?” Another lover (work) had caught man’s eye. So many loves tug on my heart every day. But the love God wants is singular, jealous. Why? Because there is a snake in the weeds, and without absolute devotion to Him first—to the exclusion of others—man will continue to be beguiled. Just like my eye may only focus on one thing even though I see many, my heart only has capacity to offer unfettered devotion to one, even though I love many. As I love him and follow my gentle Shepherd, he turns me around and leads me away from the path I have travelled where my flesh and desire have run me ragged. There is a curse on my life and the only way to escape it is through death. Denying myself. Picking up my cross daily to follow him. Killing every competing love. The symbolism of baptism releases something very powerful in my life. It marks a new beginning. Only when this death occurs in my heart am I able to hear, know, and follow the chosen voice of my loving Father.
When contrasting God’s will with mine, it is important to know God is not a megalomaniac — He is not pulling my strings as though I am a puppet in order to accomplish a mysterious “will.” He is not mindlessly using me as though I am simply a body available to fulfill a calling which he pulls out of a bag when I sign up. On the contrary, he wants me to be redeemed and fully restored. Only when I am again whole, may I know the richness of life in him and his kingdom and the choices he freely gives to me to make. I’ve been born with God-given gifts and abilities. His plan and “will” is to see me fully living them out, integrated as part of the whole body of Christ, and contributing my unique and important part — not to bury them and instead prefer another man’s or organization’s purpose to the exclusion of mine. When I do, I am allowing the light of God to shine through me and radiate his person in only the way I can. I am a piece of God. Not a puppet.
This Christian walk is similar to children growing up. We all start as babies but in time we mature. We are transformed from one place to another. The dos and don’ts given to children make way for more choices as teenagers, then independence as adults. A child’s relationship with their parent is nothing like a lover’s relationship with their spouse. But one precedes the other. And in His kingdom, it is no different.
Knowing His will is personal. And just as Jesus indicated in this verse, our understanding is based on personal willingness to follow it. No matter how many well-meaning people tell me what God wants for my life, I am the gatekeeper of what that is. No one knows or is responsible for my life but me. In my many years in fellowship with the church, I have seen individuals who have been impacted by their personal calling. Yet, in their enthusiasm, they loudly encourage everyone to follow the same path. Not everyone is called to be God’s salesman—the evangelist. Nor is everyone called to be God’s mouth—the preacher. And for those who are insecure about hearing God’s voice, it’s easy to accept another’s calling instead of hearing what God is speaking to me. There is one voice and it is personal, directed perfectly to my heart—if I’m willing to hear it. A quick scan of the New Testament and we see that God has given many gifts and ministries. Paul uses the analogy of the church being a body with many parts, with vastly different functions. How we fit in, what we do, is highly individual and based on one thing: His word spoken to me, personally.
They were asking Jesus, “How do we know that what you are teaching is from God? How do we know that you are the Messiah? Can we really believe in you?” And Jesus answered, “Yes, you may believe and know if you are willing to accept the truth and will take the needed actions.” There are many examples of those who knew exactly who Jesus was without lots of debate: when he was dedicated in the Temple at eight days old. Who told Simeon (Luke 2:25) or Anna (Luke 2:38) that he was the Messiah? When Jesus called his first disciples, how did they know he was the Messiah (Matthew 4:20-21)? They clearly were willing to follow. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to be baptized and said, “Here is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!” (John 1:35-37) how did he know? They knew when they were full of the Holy Spirit.
Today, regardless of the issue with which I am confronted or how complicated the choices are which perplex me, I may know God’s heart, mind, and direction. My uncertainties are my invitation to know Him and His will. We know, because we hear. And if I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m unwilling to hear. Which brings me to the key to the secrets of the kingdom: I must start at the most basic point of humility, lowliness, picking up my cross with a willingness to love and follow Him. No matter how obscure my way forward, He directs my steps, hears my requests, and is willing to answer.