2Corinthians 5:17 (Amplified) says, "Therefore if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether)."
For many of us, being made "a new creation" means just a one time experience. We've been born-again, our sin was forgiven and heaven was to be our forever home when we die. Although, this is all true, this is not all that our salvation was to be about. We spend the rest of our lives here and living "as best we can" and "holding onto heaven."
According to the revelation Jesus gave the Apostle Paul, this new creation is the beginning of an entire way of living on earth, by God's power. As the new creation people, we were to now live on earth according to the principles of the new Kingdom of the Father. We weren't to be limited by the flesh and satan, but were to actually take dominion over the things of this world and bring them back into the will of our Father.
Jesus taught us to pray in Matthew 6:9-13 (Amplified) saying, "Pray therefore like this, Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed (kept holy) be Your Name. Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Many in today's Church might not wish to know the will of God. 1John 5:14-15 (Amplified) says, "And this is the confidence (the assurance, the privilege of boldness) which we have in Him; (we are sure) that if we ask anything (make our request) according to His will (in agreement with His Own plan) He listens to and hears us. And if (since) we (positively) know that He listens to us in whatever we ask, we also know (with settled and absolute knowledge) that we have (granted us as our present possessions) the requests made of Him."
I'm sure that no person who is born-again, would want to pray for something that wouldn't be God's will in our lives. That kind of praying wouldn't work anyway, because will not bring something into our lives that could destroy us. And, if it's not "His will in heaven," then He is not obligated to fulfill the request. In order for our prayer to work, we must understand or have a working knowledge of His will.
We've been taught to pray like Jesus in the Garden saying, "Not My will, but Yours be done." Jesus didn't pray that prayer because He didn't know God's will. In His humanity, His flesh and Blood Body, Jesus didn't want to go to the cross. He knew it was God's will to do so, but even as He surrendered His will to the Father's will, He knew what God's will was.
We sometimes forget that Jesus was a Man, like we who are born-again are. He was a Man, born of a woman and sired by the Word of God, as His Seed. 1Peter 1:23 (Amplified) says, "You have been regenerated (born again), not from a mortal origin (seed, sperm), but from One that is Immortal by the Ever Living and Lasting Word of God." Just like we are sons of God who live in a natural body, Jesus Himself, the Son of God, had a natural body. His body got tired, hungry, upset, felt compassion and moved in this earthly realm, just like we (the new creation people) move in this earth. He could have refused to go to the Cross in His humanity, but in His Spirit, Jesus yielded His Will to that of the Father.
As new creation people, we have a will of our own, but in order to do the Father's will, we must first know what that is and then be willing (by our own submitted will) to do His will. We rarely think about Jesus having His Own will, but rather think of His being controlled by some "outside" power of its own. Jesus Himself showed us that He had His own will, when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane in Luke 22:42 (Amplified) saying, "Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet Not My will, but (always) Yours be done."
When we, as Christians, become out of fellowship with God, we look for some "sin" that brought it about. Mostly, we get ourselves into certain situations, because of not doing God's will. It's not so much that we don't know His will, but we failed to yield our will over to Him. God never intended for us to be "puppets," that move because He's pulling strings to control us. Instead, He wants us to be His children that make the decision through faith and love, to commit to do what He wants done in love.
I have a God-given life, to do with whatever I choose. God doesn't want me to throw it away, but He loves me enough to honor my choices in life. We see God's will for mankind in 2Peter 3:9 (Amplified) which says, "Concerning salvation, the Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people's conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish but that all should turn to repentance."
What then is God's will for mankind? "That non should perish, but all should come to Him in repentance and salvation." What then is withholding this repentance? Man's own will hasn't been submitted unto God's will. It's not that He doesn't wish to saved them, but that they will not receive His offer and gift of Life.
We aren't conscious of the minutia of daily living, but I believe we actually know when we step our against His will, most of the time. There are certain things that occur in our lives, where we are aware are not God's will, but we still refuse to submit them to His will. God will not violate your own will and make you do things. If He did, then He would simply make us all get saved and go into the millennium tomorrow. You have a will to submit this will to God's will, but we must desire what He wants above our own desires.
Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." If we looked around at the chaos and horrors occurring on earth today, then do we believe this is how heaven will be? That's a foolish belief. Of course, this isn't how God will is being done in heaven. In God's Kingdom, His will is perfect, but on earth however, we have a will of our own. Jesus repeated many times that, "He came only to do the Father's will." It's easy to know what the Father's will is, by watching Jesus. In order to set things right on this earth, the Father needs us to know and walk in His will for not only ourselves, but His will for others.
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