According to the will of God

Therefore those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. 1 Peter 4:19.

When you are raised through baptism to walk in newness of life and you participate in the sufferings of Christ, the Lord is able to do a miraculous work in you and in the lives of others. You receive strength to endure in the trial so that the Spirit and power of God can be given to another. Your life is hidden with Christ in God, so any suffering you experience is now reckoned to be according to the will of God. Col 3:3.

Your sufferings are not a punishment for sinful actions, nor are they the result of your own actions done outside of the will of God. You are ceasing from sin, so your suffering should not be because of sin. John 9:1-3. Suffering is now according to the will of God as you accept that all things are from His hand. 2 Cor 4:15, Rom 8:28. In this, you continue to learn obedience so that you can be made perfect, like Christ. Heb 5:9, Php 3:15. As such, you resist the urge to defend yourself, to define yourself, to excuse yourself and to accuse yourself. All of this is dealt with in the daily application of your baptism. 1 Pet 3:21.

At times you will face fearful situations and you will look to the Lord for direction and help. When He says ‘Fear not, I am with you’, then your obedience is to walk without fear, knowing that He is with you, even though there is the threat that something might cause you pain. You can trust, knowing that, as you obey Christ’s command and are delivered from fear and anxiety, you will demonstrate the surpassing greatness of His power. 2 Cor 4:7. It is at these times that the principle of new creation life is most powerfully demonstrated.

It will be just as the prophet Isaiah prophesied. When you pass through the waters, you will not drown or be swept away. When you walk through the fire, its flame and its heat will not touch you. You have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and are precious in His sight. Is 43:1-4.

United with Christ in His Baptism

“For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.” – Romans 6:5

James and John, the two sons of Zebedee and disciples of Jesus, came to Him with an interesting request. They asked that Jesus would grant them ‘the place of sitting, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory’. Jesus does not immediately answer them according to their request but asks them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” To which they reply, “We are able.” Jesus then says to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” (Mark 10:35-40, Matt 20:20-23)

We are reminded of the words of Paul in Romans 6:3 where he states, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Jesus Christ have been baptized into His death?” Paul then goes onto say in Romans 6:10, “For the death he died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that he lives, He lives to God.” Our baptism not only unites us with Him in His sufferings and death to sin, but it also unites us in our living as He lived. Jesus lived to do the will of His Father. He was enabled to do this by the power of Eternal Spirit. (Heb 9:14)

As it was God’s will that James and John be united with Jesus in His baptism so it is His will for every believer. Unity with Christ and each other is not possible without joining Him in His baptism. Being united with Him in His baptism is not just taking a position or ticking a box but is a daily walk of applying and living in our baptism.

As to the request of James and John concerning the place they would occupy in Christ’s body this was not Christ’s to give. This is the prerogative and work of the Father. “But now God (The Father) has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.” However our being united with Christ in His baptism is key to our being placed by the Father in the body of Christ.

United with Christ in His Baptism

“For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.” – Romans 6:5

James and John, the two sons of Zebedee and disciples of Jesus, came to Him with an interesting request. They asked that Jesus would grant them ‘the place of sitting, one on Your right and one on Your left, in Your glory’. Jesus does not immediately answer them according to their request but asks them, “Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” To which they reply, “We are able.” Jesus then says to them, “The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.” (Mark 10:35-40, Matt 20:20-23)

We are reminded of the words of Paul in Romans 6:3 where he states, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Jesus Christ have been baptized into His death?” Paul then goes onto say in Romans 6:10, “For the death he died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that he lives, He lives to God.” Our baptism not only unites us with Him in His sufferings and death to sin, but it also unites us in our living as He lived. Jesus lived to do the will of His Father. He was enabled to do this by the power of Eternal Spirit. (Heb 9:14)

As it was God’s will that James and John be united with Jesus in His baptism so it is His will for every believer. Unity with Christ and each other is not possible without joining Him in His baptism. Being united with Him in His baptism is not just taking a position or ticking a box but is a daily walk of applying and living in our baptism.

As to the request of James and John concerning the place they would occupy in Christ’s body this was not Christ’s to give. This is the prerogative and work of the Father. “But now God (The Father) has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He desired.” However our being united with Christ in His baptism is key to our being placed by the Father in the body of Christ.

The Obedience of Christ

For as through the one man’s disobedience [Adam] the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of One [Christ] the many will be made righteous. Romans 5:19

Contrary to the disobedience of Adam, by which all were made sinners, is the obedience of Christ, by which all can be made righteous. When Jesus Christ laid down His life in complete obedience to the Father’s will He pioneered for us the pathway of sonship. [Heb 5:8-9]

When speaking to His disciples just prior to His crucifixion, the apostle John records the words of Jesus, “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me.” [John 14:30-31] Satan could find no foothold of offence or disobedience in Jesus. His love for the Father and His word did not grow cold, even in the fiercest trial and temptation.

Paul calls the way of Christ’s obedience to the Father’s will the wisdom and power of God. [1Cor 1:18-25] The cross is not just a shocking form of torture forced on Jesus by His perpetrators. The cross reveals the power of Christ’s obedience to do the Father’s will, even unto death. [Php 2:8.] It is the demonstration of God’s wisdom that comes from above and it is the only wisdom that can produce the righteousness of our sonship. [James 3:17-18] Through baptism into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ the way of the cross puts to death the wisdom of the father of lies and raises the believer to walk in the wisdom and power of Christ’s obedience. Baptism into Christ’s death, burial and resurrection is an ongoing lifestyle that enables the believer to live to God. [Rom Chp 6]

We recall the words of Paul in 1Corinthians 10:16, “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing [participation] in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing [participation] in the body of Christ? In making this statement to the Corinthians Paul was urging the church to be sanctified to their participation in the culture of the blood of Christ and the body of Christ as the total provision of God’s wisdom for their lives. To participate in this manner is to participate both individually and corporately in the obedience of Christ as the one culture of the body of Christ.

Participation in the Wisdom of Christ’s Obedience

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. 1 Corinthians 10:21

In the garden of Eden the Lord commanded Adam saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” (Gen 2:16-17) Of course we know that Satan came with another word that Adam and Eve believed and consequently they fell from the way of simple obedience to the word of God as their source of life.

This other word that Satan, the father of lies, presented to Adam was indeed another wisdom.(John 8:44) In his letter James says, “This wisdom is not that which comes from above, but is earthly, natural, (unspiritual) and demonic.” And we need to see it for what it is; it is demonic. James goes on to say that where this exists you have disorder and every evil thing. (James 3:15-16) Disorder is when we are not living in God’s order of headship for our lives. After the fall, life became very complicated and messy as man began to pursue and be persuaded by another wisdom contrary to obedience to God’s word.

When Jesus Christ laid down His life in complete obedience to the Father’s word He presented to us the way of obedience. (Heb 5:8-9) Paul calls this way of obedience to the Father’s will the wisdom and power of the cross. (1Cor 1:18-25) The cross is the wisdom that comes from above and it is the only wisdom that can produce the righteousness of our sonship. (James 3:17-18) Through baptism into the death, burial and resurrection of Christ the cross puts to death the wisdom of the father of lies and raises the believer to walk in the wisdom and power of Christ’s obedience. Baptism is an ongoing lifestyle that, like Christ, enables a believer to live for God (Rom Chp 6)

We recall the words of Paul in 1Corinthians 10:16, “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing (participation) in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ? In making this statement to the Corinthians Paul was urging the church to be sanctified to their participation in the culture of the blood of Christ and the body of Christ as the total provision of God’s wisdom for their lives.