Isaiah 30:18
What Makes God Tick?
Have you ever wondered what motivates God to do what He does? Have
you ever wondered what God was thinking? Why God let a certain thing
happen or what He did not do something that you felt should have
happened. If so, perhaps this message will help you.
I do not claim to know the mind of God—not in the least, but the
Bible does give us some characteristics about God that will help us
to understand why God does some of the things that God does.
I. Justice motives God.
A. Bible verses
1. \\#Is 30:18\\ God is a God of justice.
2. \\#Is 61:8\\
3. \\#Job 34:12\\
B. What does it mean that God is just?
1. The very simplest definition I can give is that justice
means every wrong must be punished.
2. Every wrong. Someone must pay for every wrong done.
C. For the sake of time, I cannot go too far down this road, but
let me ask and answer some questions that you might have.
1. Who gets to decide what is wrong and what the payment will
be?
a. God does.
b. Why does God get to decide that? Because this is His
galaxy. He made it.
c. Many years ago, I heard Dr. J. Vernon McGee make a
profound statement. He said, "If you don’t like
God’s rules, make your own galaxy and move out."
2. What is the penalty?
a. Death.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death…
b. Someone is going to say, "That’s not fair. Death is
not a fair payment for doing wrong."
c. I would agree except for one thing. That is that God
has paid that penalty for you. You don’t have to
die. You can trust Jesus as your Savior and never
die.
3. We can continue to discuss that forever and some people
will not be satisfied, but that is not what I am
preaching on so let’s go back to the topic.
D. The topic is, "What motivates God?" and the first answer the
Bible gives is justice, every wrong must be punished.
1. Whether you and I agree that God is fair or not, God’s
justice is one of the strongest motivators for God.
2. No matter what, someone will die to pay for every wrong
a human has committed since the world began.
3. However, because God is just, He has disclosed every
thing.
a. God is not tricking or deceiving anyone.
b. He told the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, exactly
what wrong was and told them what He would do if they
did it. (They did and He did.)
c. Since that time, God has sent messengers—both human
and angelic—to tell every generation of man about
His justice.
d. He even wrote it down in a Book and told mankind to
share it and proclaim it.
e. And today, mankind can read to see exactly what God
will do if we do wrong.
f. Don’t get the notion that when you see God you
will reason with Him about your sins.
(1) God is not going to judge sin. He already has.
He did that before He ever created the first
man.
(2) Someone says, "Then God is not reasonable."
(3) If your definition of reasonable is subject to
your puny way of thinking then no, God is not
reasonable.
E. So what does this mean?
1. There is no steadfast rule here, but logic would dictate
that the more wrong we do, the less God will bless us.
a. Bad things happen to good people and good things
happen to bad people, but still the overall way that
God is going to deal with people is the more wrong we
do, the harder our life is going to be.
(1) Lazy people have less.
(2) Drunks lose things (jobs, mates, and children).
(3) Jails have more criminals in them than non-
criminals.
(4) People who abuse their bodies live shorter lives.
b. This is not rocket science. It is the work of God.
If we do wrong things, God blesses us less.
2. But by the same token and I think to a similar degree,
God blesses those whose actions are righteous.
a. People who work hard tend to have more.
b. People who invest love, time, and care into their
home tend to have stronger marriages, better behaved
children, and are happier.
c. People who are not criminals seldom end up
incarcerated.
d. People who do not abuse their bodies tend to live
longer.
3. Why? Because He is just.
F. So far, I have just applied this to man’s everyday life;
however when applied to man’s spiritual life, the results
are amplified.
1. When a person starts to do the righteous works the Bible
commands him to do, God will bless him a LOT.
2. When a person does wicked works that the Bible commands
him not to do, God will make his life a LOT harder.
3. Why? Because God is just.
II. Love motivates God.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
A. A good many people see conflict between God’s love and God’s
justice.
1. There is no conflict between these two.
2. They are perfectly balanced.
3. How so?
B. Each has a rule that keeps them balanced.
1. Justice’s rule - No matter how much God loves, He will
never excuse a wrong.
2. Love’s rule - No matter how just God must be, He will stop
loving you.
1Cor 13:8 Charity never faileth….
a. Charity is a variant of the word love.
b. True love never stops which means God may have to
condemn the unsaved to hell for their sins, but He
will never stop loving them.
c. God may wipe our tears away, but He will always have
a brokenness for the lost.
C. If love cannot cause God to overlook a wrong, how does love
help us?
1. Love allowed God to make another way.
2. Love let God to send Jesus to pay for our sins.
(John 3:16)
3. Now the justice of God can be satisfied; that is, every
wrong can be paid; but you and I do not have to be the
ones who pay for it.
4. Let me tell you how to get this. You must be saved.
a. Believe what the Bible says about Jesus.
b. Surrender yourself to Him the best you know how.
D. Not only so, but God’s love for us motivates God to do many
other things for those who want them.
1. What kind of things?
a. Loving things.
b. I can’t go very far into that, but just to list a few:
heaven, the indwelling Holy Ghost, peace of mind, a
purpose, and a new glorified and ageless body.
2. There is a condition for receiving the love of God.
a. To receive any of the loving things of God, you must
first receive the loving Person of God, Jesus.
(1) If you want the things, you must take the Person.
(2) If you get the Person, you will also get the
things.
b. Why?
(1) This is how God has exalted Jesus.
Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above
every name:
(2) God shows respect to Jesus for what He has done,
dying for us, by making Jesus the condition for
all of the other gifts of love God offers.
III. Prayer motivates God.
John 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name,
I will do it.
John 15:7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide
in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall
be done unto you.
1John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of
him, because we keep his commandments, and do
those things that are pleasing in his sight.
A. There are dozens of promises in the Bible concerning God
answering prayer; yet, not all of our prayers get answered.
B. Why?
1. Because prayer is not the only motivator for God.
2. God has a plan for every human life and sometimes our
prayers are out of sync with that plan.
a. Praying against what God is doing is praying outside
of the will of God.
b. A condition of getting answered prayer is always to
pray in the will of God.
c. Even Jesus prayed, "Nevertheless, not my will, but
thine be done." Luke 22:42
3. However, don’t let that discourage you from praying.
a. Every Christian should pray until one of two things
happens:
(1) They get that for which they prayed.
(2) God gives a clear understanding that the thing
they were praying for was not His will.
b. When Christians pray, they should always receive one
of two things:
(1) An answer prayer
(2) A better understanding of God’s will
C. God does answer prayer. Prayer moves God, motivates God, and
changes circumstances.
IV. Victory over Satan motivates God.
A. I have already mentioned that there can be other factors
involved when we pray.
B. Job is an excellent example of how another factor, victory
over Satan, could be a motivator in what God is doing.
C. If Job prayed for comfort, healing, and restoration, he did
not get it—at least not at the first.
1. The Bible says that Satan is constantly walking to and
for in the earth, and walking up and down in it.
2. Why?
a. He is looking for someone to turn against God.
b. He has an excellent average.
3. God recommended Job and Satan went to work on him.
a. Satan took his possession, his family, and his health.
b. I am sure Job was praying for some help, healing, and
relief; but it did not come.
c. Why?
D. But the book of Job is unusual in that it reveals to us what
at least one factor was.
1. God had determined that Job’s life and suffering would
answer Satan’s challenge.
2. Job’s terrible trials were not going to be averted,
shortened, or lessened until Satan’s soundly defeated.
3. All the other promises in the Bible,
all the prayers the saints might offer,
all the godly service that Job had rendered
would not make any difference until God’s purpose was
fulfilled.
E. I would not dare presume that God would use a trial that I am
going through as a means of defeating Satan, but I should
face every trial as though I know it will.
V. The growth and best interests of the saints motivate God.
A. I often say God does what He does for our good and His glory.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose.
B. All things means everything. Everything that happens in the
life of a believer is in the believer’s best interest.
C. Hence, God moves to make it so.
VI. God’s glory motivates God.
A. I have this listed as a reason to itself because it can be
the only reason for God’s actions.
B. However, it is also the accompanying reason for every other
motivation.
C. God never does anything that will not ultimately bring glory
to Himself.
D. This is THE motive which moves God.
Now, these six things can help you to understand God better; but I
can plainly tell you what the first thing is that God wants every
person to do. He wants you to be saved. Will you trust Jesus today?
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