Page 106 - Sarah's Children

of his own. Man is to be in subjection to Christ in all things. Man is not to will things
of his own initiative. He is not to determine his own course in life.

If a man would be a disciple of Christ then he cannot determine where he will work,
or what his occupation will be. He must allow Christ, his head, to reveal His will and
desire for these things. A man cannot decide whom he will marry, or where he will
live. These decisions too must be surrendered to the will of Christ. If a man would
be Christ’s disciple, he cannot decide how he will spend his money, how he will raise
his children, where he will go to church, or a myriad of other things, for if a man lives
he must live for the Lord, and if he dies he must die for the Lord.

This is the whole meaning of Sabbath rest. In Hebrews chapters 3 and 4, the apostle
Paul states that a rest yet remains for the children of God. He reveals that there is a
great danger of the saints failing to enter into this rest, even as the children of Israel
who left Egypt failed to enter in. He then reveals how one enters the Sabbath rest of
God.

Hebrews 4:10
For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his
works, as God did from His.

Man can have no works of his own. On the seventh day, Yahweh rested from His
work of creation. He ceased initiating new works. Even so, man is to initiate nothing
of his own. He is to find his highest purpose and calling in discerning the will of the
Father and doing His good pleasure.

Does this make man God’s doormat? Does this total subjection to the will of Yahweh
belittle or humiliate man in some sense? Is a man who lives this way somehow
lessened and diminished in his being and character? No! This is the purpose for
which man was created. Man was made to express the character of God and to be an
extension of His divine will. Yahshua was not diminished by laying aside His own
initiative and refusing to be self-directed. He became perfect in obedience, and
because of this the Father has now highly exalted Him and given Him a name above
all other names.

It is evident that the church at large is very shortsighted today. They seek to enjoy life
to the fullest and to gain all the things of this world they can. The church seeks to
fulfill every human ambition and to chase every personal initiative now, during this
physical life. Yet this is not the purpose of this life. The purpose of this life is to
conform us to the image of Christ who never sought His own will or way. For the joy
set before Him He endured the cross.