I'd like to introduce you to Toygar. Toygar is a factious character in the latest post apocalyptic zombie video game, Dying Light. Toygar is one of the animated side-characters who you can approach as the main and only playable character in the game Kyle Crane to get some of the side missions. This game of course has many side-characters, and like Toygar every character was designed by their creators, Warner Brothers and Techland to be stationed in one or two or three places in the factitious city of Harran. As such Toygar is pretty easy to find because he is always in the one place, that he was designed to be in: the main hideout called, The Tower. One popular place you can find him in The Tower is standing by a pin-board where other characters have posted requests which are several of the side-missions in the game. Essentially for most of the game Warner Brothers and Techland designed Toygar to stand by the pin-board and encourage me to help the other characters; in sum do the side-missions. The way video-game developers like Techland design their games is very similar in intent to how God designed this universe and everything that resides within, (cf. Exodus 20:11). They design their characters to perform a single function or several specific functions. God has designed this universe and each life of every person, Christian and non-Christian alike for a very general purpose. One of the biggest endeavours and struggles that have burdened Christians throughout the centuries is finding that purpose for them as Christians and as people. "What is God's will for my life?" or simply, "What is God's 'Will'?" is the question that many Christians ask. This is a hard question to answer for many reasons, of which one is simply due to it being such a vast topic because it covers virtually every area in ones life: relationships, vocation, eduction, place of residence, Christian ministerial calling and so forth.
"What do I want to be when I grow up?" is a question that we all have wondered about throughout our childhood. From a Christian's viewpoint however the question could read like this: "Where do I feel called to?" We ask: "Does God want me to be a missionary? Or should I pull 9-5 desk job?" This question invades our relationships:"Is it God's will for my life, to be married or stay single?" It invades our para-ministerial goals: "Does God want me to get involved in children's ministry, homeless-ministry, prison-ministry or sing in the choir? It even causes many Christians to wonder about God's will for where on this earth they will live, work, eat and sleep: "Does God want me to move to this city or that country or stay where I am now?" These questions are a real burden for many Christians because the true Christian will truly want to ensure that they are fulfilling the will of God and not running off doing their own thing. Conversely however they are also human beings with desires, passions and personal ambitions. It should be a given that all Christians will gladly sacrifice sinful desires for the devotion to God and His Will; but what about those permissible desires? One burdening fear that many Christian's have is that their perfectly acceptable and non-sinful desires won't fit into God's 'Will' for their life. For example, what if I want to move to China but God wants me to stay in Canada? What if I long to get married, but it is God's will for me to stay single? What if my heart bleeds for children but I have this feeling God wants me to work in an adult's prison-ministry? And so on.
Before anyone can tackle such questions one has to ask the general question of God's will: "What is God's will - period?" This doesn't ask the question, "what is God's will for me? that is Ian Murray." But rather: "What is God's 'Will'?" Once the answer to this question comes to light personalizing God's 'Will' should become much easier to do.
There is an overarching theme in God's 'Will' for his creation. It is to glorify Him. Techland and Warner Brothers, designed Toygar for one meaning in life: to stay by the pin-board encouraging the player to help other characters in the game. And in the same way we exist to do one thing: glorify God.* The Apostle Paul highlights that the Christian has freedom in Christ. That is the Christian is not bound by the Mosaic Law. To the Christians in Corinth he explains the relationship between their freedom to do things and the rationality to do those things and the focus by which they should have so to make Godly decisions.
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. - 1 Corinthians 10:23
He indicates that even though they have freedom to do many things, many of those things may not be beneficial for themselves or be a benefit to others. He then asserts that "[no] one should seek their own good, but the good of others." - 1 Corinthians 10:24. What did Jesus say, was the first and second greatest commandments? To love God and to love one's neighbour (cf. Matthew 22:37-39). Paul's focus is to have them be God centred and represent God by showing His love to their proverbial neighbours. So even though one has the freedom to do many things, one's Christian mandate may functionally take that freedom away. Paul uses the analogy that even though all foods are no longer contraband for the Jew, the Jewish-Christian should not eat any food sacrificed to false gods, solely base on how doing so may offend unbelievers (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:27-30). The spirit of this lesson is, if doing something is going to have a negative effect on an immature believer or an unbeliever (or even cause distress to mature and immature believers [cf. Romans 14:15]) then it is right to think of them first and sacrifice your freedom in Christ to do the "offensive" thing. Paul summarizes his point with:
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. - 1 Corinthians 10:31
There is a necessary connection between loving one's neighbour and bringing glory to God. Paul is saying that, in everything we do, we aught to honour the two greatest commandments that is to love God first and do so by loving one's neighbour (cf. Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37-39). And we aught to do this not for our neighbour's sake, but for the sake of bringing glory to God. So every action the Christian takes, every word the Christian speaks, every thought the Christian thinks - every ounce of the Christian's being is mandated to glorify God; the Christian exists to glorify God.* This greatly frees-up the Christian to make choices in their lives (move here, do this, do that, etc.) just as long as whatever choices they make are God-focused and ones that can bring Glory to God.
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* The mandate of this creation being designed to bring Glory to God is one reason that sin has separated his creation from him. Sin entered the scene (cf. Romans 5:12) disabling his creation from glorifying Him (cf. Romans 1:21). Since this universe and all that dwells within has been corrupted it no longer can glorify God (cf. Romans 8:6-7, 22). So God has solved this problem with sending Jesus to pay the consequences for sin, (cf. Romans 5:8). As such there will come a time when God will officially fix his creation en-toto (cf. 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 21:1-4) to the way it was supposed to be (cf. Genesis 1:31) thus restoring its original purpose, to glorifying God.
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