“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
Revelation 4:11 (KJV)
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
http://concordances.org/greek/2307.htm
2307 thélēma (from 2309 /thélō, "to desire, wish") – properly, a desire (wish), often referring to God's "preferred-will," i.e. His "best-offer" to people which can be accepted or rejected.
I have trouble answering questions in a bible study often. I don't know the answer and I don't know how people get the answer they get. I picked up a study book by Derek Prince. The very first question says, "For what purpose was the mankind created?" I was supposed to read Revelation 4:11. My Bible says it was His will. I struggle for awhile and I cheated and looked at the answer. The answer is "for His pleasure." Is his will the same as his pleasure? It must be. But how? I am not satisfied. I cannot go on! So I did some research!
Rev.4:11 says we were created for his pleasure in some translations. Others say we were created by His will.
Can we say his will = his pleasure?
I don't get it. I think there is a slight difference. I have difficulty using the word pleasure in this case. I think it is mainly because a lot of translations say "will." According to the link above, the word also means desire. If I were a translator, I might pick the word "desire." It was his desire. The link above explains that the word means His preferred-will to offer to the mankind. We can take it or leave it. My image of the word "pleasure" is like God is sitting on the throne and created people for entertainment. But after knowing that the original word for pleasure also means "His preferred-will to offer to the mankind" I feel very happy and alive.
It was his best offer, and his preferred will, and desire to create our existence for Him. Let's take it! I take it!
