What Does God Want?
January 31, 2016
Baked Ham Recipe
 Cut ham in two. Bake on 325 degrees for 20 minutes per pound.
 This recipe was passed down for four generations until a great-granddaughter asked her great
grandmother why the ham was cut in two.
 Grandma replied, “We didn’t have a pot big enough to hold the whole ham. So we cut it and put it into
2 pots.”
 Whenever you don’t understand the purpose behind whatever you are doing (or ever question it), your
ignorance can cause you to fall into a rut so deep that you might never escape.
 And remember: A rut is simply a grave open at both ends.
What Does God Want?
 What did God have in mind when He created the universe?
 What we are going to talk about today may be totally different than what you have always believed.
 A.W. Tozer: “What comes to mind whenever you think about God is the most important thing about
you.”
Genesis 1:26 AMP--- God said, Let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our
likeness, and let THEM have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts,
and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth.
 If you want to know God’s purpose in the creation, look at the first 2 chapters and the last 2 chapters
of the Bible.
 Before there was sin… the Fall… and after sin has been removed… where sin is not an issue.
 Here we see the ETERNAL PURPOSE of God before sin entered and after sin was removed.
Genesis 2:21-25 NLT--- So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the
LORD God took out one of the man's ribs* and closed up the opening.
22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.
23 "At last!" the man exclaimed. "This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called
'woman,' because she was taken from 'man.'"
24 This
explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into
one.
25 Now
the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
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 The two became ONE.
 Look how Jesus prayed to His Father in His High Priestly prayer in John 17…
John 17:21-23 NLT--- I pray that they will all be ONE, just as You and I are ONE—as You are in Me, Father, and I
am in You. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe You sent Me.
22 "I have given them the glory You gave Me, so they may be ONE as we are ONE.
23 I
am in them and You are in Me.
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Adam… Mankind… was naked and not ashamed. No sin.
This was God’s purpose.
For mankind to become ONE with Him and enjoy the creation with Him.
That was His purpose in the first 2 chapters of the Bible.
Then we find His purpose completely restored in the last 2 chapters of the Bible.
Revelation 21:1-4 NLT--- Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had
disappeared. And the sea was also gone.
2 And I saw the holy city, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a BRIDE beautifully
dressed for her husband.
3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, "Look, God's home is now among His people! He will live with
them, and they will be His people. God Himself will be with them.
4 He
will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All
these things are gone forever."
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The Old has gone that was corrupted by SIN.
The New has come like a BRIDE adorned for her husband.
God was with them in the Garden, but man chose to leave Him.
God is back with His children again by the atoning work of Christ.
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SALVATION of mankind was NEVER God’s eternal purpose although it was a means to an end.
No, God has always had a plan.
He wants something.
Let’s see what it is.
God Has a Purpose and a Plan
 The PURPOSE is His goal.
 The PLAN is the way to achieve His goal.
 Paul describes the PLAN…
Ephesians 1:10-11 NLT--- And this is the plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the
authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.
11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us
in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan.
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 The PURPOSE is “to bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and
on earth.”
Colossians 1:19-20 NCV--- God was pleased for ALL OF HIMSELF to live in Christ. 20 And through Christ, God has
brought ALL THINGS back to himself again — things on earth and things in heaven.
John 14:8-11 NCV--- Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father. That is all we need."
9 Jesus answered, "I have been with you a long time now. Do you still not know Me, Philip? Whoever has seen
Me has seen the Father. So why do you say, 'Show us the Father'?
10 Don't you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I say to you don't come from
Me, but the Father lives in me and does his own work.
11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.
John 5:19 & 30 NCV--- But Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing alone. The Son does only
what He sees the Father doing, because the Son does whatever the Father does.”
 God’s goal is to “have ALL THINGS centered in Christ.”
 What are the ALL THINGS?
 All of the UNIVERSE!!!!
o The fullness of the GODHEAD (Father, Son and Holy Spirit)
o The fullness of CREATION (visible and invisible)
o The fullness of TIME
o The fullness of the KINGDOM
o The fullness of ETERNITY past
o The fullness of ETERNITY future
o The fullness of the CHURCH
Ephesians 1:22-23 NCV--- God put everything under His power and made Him the head over everything for
the church, which is Christ's body. The church is filled with Christ, and Christ fills everything in every way.
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The Greek word for “fill” is PLEROMA.
It means, “that which fills that which is lacking.”
What is lacking in the world since Jesus ascended back to Heaven after His resurrection?
His PHYSICAL PRESENCE!
The Church IS the PHYSICAL PRESENCE of Jesus in the world today.
John 14:12 NCV--- I tell you the truth, whoever believes in Me will do the same things that I do. Those who
believe will do even GREATER THINGS than these, because I am going to the Father.
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How can we do GREATER works than raising someone from the dead?
GREATER means MORE, not in degree.
When Jesus was on earth, He could be only one place at time.
After He went Home, He can be everywhere all the time thru the CHURCH… His Body.
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The God Who Is Community
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With the FALL came a distorted perception of God.
We must renew our minds about how we see God.
FIRST and foremost… GOD IS NOT AN INDIVIDUAL!!!!
Never has been. Never will be.
He is a fellowship of THREE PERSONS… Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
He does not think or act as an INDIVIDUAL.
God thinks in terms of COMMUNITY.
 For Example: the Earthly Life of Jesus
o He never worked alone.
o He spoke the words of the Father.
o He cast out demons by the Spirit.
 He had the power to choose, but He chose to live and work in the communal life of God.
 He never acted INDEPENDENTLY.
Kevin Giles, author of The Trinity and Subordinationism, had this to say:
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The oneness of God is not the oneness of a distinct, self-contained individual;
It is the unity of a community of persons who love each other and live together in harmony.
They are what they are only in relationship with one another.
There is no solitary person separated from the others.
There is no above and below.
No first, second, third in importance.
No ruling and controlling and being ruled and controlled.
No position of privilege to be maintained over against others.
No question of conflict concerning who is in charge.
No need to assert independence and authority at the expense of the others.
Now there is only fellowship and communion of equals who share all that they are and have in
their communion with each other.
o Each lives with and for the others in mutual openness, self-giving love, and support.
o Each free, not from but for the others.
o That is how the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are related in the inner circle of the Godhead.
 If this is how the Godhead relates to one another, shouldn’t the CHURCH, the Body of Christ, of which
He is the Head, function the same way?
 If not, then why not?
 That’s a discussion for next week.
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