DEPRAVED WILL

DEPRAVED WILL

In the realm of the WILL as to its governing principle, and activity, man has become utterly unlike God. The motive power behind the action of human will, apart from its relation to the Divine will, is that of desire for mastery. The motive power behind the will of God, dominating its action, is always that of a love which is set upon the well-being of others, and which urges God Himself towards such ministry as shall encompass that well-being. A strong-willed man, as the phrase goes, is one who means to have his own way, whether he is a saint or a sinner that is equally true. He is masterful, and is determined that the wills of others shall yield to his. This, apart from the operation of the grace of God, tends to tyranny. The highest exercises of human will, those which have lifted certain men above the plane of their fellows, have made them conspicuous in human history, and have created the reason why vast multitudes of their fellows have done them homage, have been those of determination to drive a highway through opposing difficulties, in order that men and movements may submit to the dominating desire of such men; how utterly and absolutely unlike the action of the will of God. His will is simple and beneficent, and its very strength lies in the fact that it is set determinately upon the well-being of others. The will of God for man is that he should be the best, and have the best; and that determination creates the mighty force thereof, and yet how little this is really understood. Here again man libels God, by thinking of His will in its mindset and actions, as an enlargement of the will of man. How constantly men think and speak of the will of God as being the determination of an Autocrat, Who insists upon the keeping of His laws. That is perfectly true, but the reason behind the insistence is the reason which creates the will, that namely, of His infinite and never-ending love. The force behind man's will is the passion for mastery. The force behind God's will is the passion of an Infinite Love which impels to service.

In the story of the fall there is the account of the genesis of that which is evil in the will of man. When the enemy said, "Ye shall be as God," (Gen 3:5) he suggested a false conception of God with a selfish outcome, which is the exact opposite of God’s will. There for the first time there was held before man the possibility of being master, and therein lay a scandal upon God with an untrue motive. In effect the enemy said, God has His way and masters you. Take the mastery out of His hands, and be masters yourselves. When Jesus came He said, "the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many." (Matt 20:28) In that great statement is a revelation of the truth concerning God. God's mastery is the channel of His service. By insistence on authority He serves all highest interests in human life. Of this man has lost all consciousness. He has but one conception of greatness, that of authority over others, one understanding of the operation of the human will; that of determination to be obeyed.

All this, however, men of darkened intelligence, and prostituted emotion will not believe. There can be no acceptance of such teaching as this, except by those who are restored to relationship with God, and see things from the standpoint of the spiritual.