But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Thrice in this passage Jesus speaks of the will of the Father. First he says that his whole mission on earth is to do that will. He then speaks of holding on to all that the Father has given him. Lastly he speaks to us of our part in looking to Jesus and believing in him. What strikes me in this is how intentionally aggressive God's will is. It speaks to me of the way that God's kingdom works on planet earth. He actively initiates his will and requires us to actively, not passively, respond. It is why Jesus tells us to pray for his will to be done.
These three aspects of God's will are in harmony with each other. Without Jesus coming we would not have the message to believe in. Without his power to keep us our believing would be tenuous. And if no one believed in Jesus his coming would have been in vain. But, and this is a huge but, God's will has been, is being, and will be done. Jesus came on a rescue mission for all humanity. Millions, perhaps billions, of people throughout time have believed in Him and he has not lost one of them. This has always been God's will.
All I can say is thank you Lord for the gift of your son and his power to keep me.
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