 By James H. Cagle |
“O Jerusalem . . . how often would I have gathered thy children (inhabitants of Jerusalem) together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord” (Matthew 23: 37-39 KJV).
Man’s personality consists of self-consciousness, self-determination, and moral consciousness or a sense of right and wrong. With the power of self-determination or will, man can form ideals and direct his energies toward the realization of those ideals. And, he is conscious as to whether his choices are right or wrong.
The word “would” in our text expresses willingness, desire, and a preference. Jesus would have delivered Israel but they would not accept Him as their Messiah so He could not deliver them. He will come to them again at the end of the Tribulation when they have suffered the consequences for their rejecting of Him and they will then accept Him as their Messiah (Zach 14).
Every individual is a sovereign with the right of choice and self-determination, and Jesus honors our choices, and does not usurp our will, even when He knows His will is better than ours. God does not force His way on us.
Our “will” is Self itself exercising Self-determination for a Self-chosen end. A person finds a sufficient reason or motive for action (meta-cognition and cognition) that then is followed by Volition or will, and will is followed by action. A person may have a strong will and not yield when their mind is made up. Other persons have a passive will and give in to everyone else’s will.
As God is with Israel, so He is with every individual. We are God’s workmanship, and part of that workmanship is a free will, and God honors man’s will and the choices he makes.
The wicked who reject Jesus and now glory in their liberty to sin will glorify Jesus when they recognize and bow to His will and Lordship on Judgment Day (Phil. 2: 9, 10; Rev. 20: 11-15), but will forever remain wicked (Rev. 22: 11).
The will is a means to an end. With the will man may express and glorify himself or submit his will to the will of God and glorify Him.
There’s no telling what God would do for and through us if we would willfully choose to obey Him and do His will.
