by Wez Hitzke
A Powerful Force: Free Will
There’s a force far greater than nuclear bombs, tsunamis and earthquakes combined. I
t is responsible for 9-11, the genocide in Sudan and Rwanda (hundreds of thousands killed), the killing fields of Cambodia (some 2 million murdered), Stalin’s blood-stained rule (50 million people killed), Hitler’s ‘Final Solution’ (6 million Jews murdered), Chairman Mao’s cultural revolution, and every murder, rape and child abuse case … What is the common thread in all of these horrors? They are the direct result of the human will.
People get angry at God for events like September 11, but they are really getting mad at someone else’s power to make a terrible decision.
If God denies hijackers the right to choose, then He also must deny everyone else the same privilege. He either gives humans free-will or He doesn’t; there is no halfway. The glaring question now is: why did God give us free-will if it has caused so much pain, suffering and anguish?
February 14 is a special day. Women of all ages love to receive flowers from their man on Valentine’s Day. But if I knew a man who was planning to do nothing and I forced him to give his girlfriend a bunch of roses, as much as girls love to receive flowers, she will reject them outright if she finds out his will is not involved. Free-will authenticates a love relationship and, deep down, we all know it, no matter how reformed our thinking. God did not design or create the will to empower evil, pain and suffering; will was designed to empower an authentic relationship.
It’s Your Choice
Free-will is powerful and necessary for a love relationship. It’s not truly free until there is more than one option. Having the ability to choose, but having nothing to choose between is pointless, like building a train without tracks for it to run on. In Genesis, we read that God gave Adam and Eve a choice, and it wasn’t a foolish self-preservation choice either. God didn’t say, ‘Do you want things to remain pristine, good and perfect or do you want pain, suffering and evil?’ Who in their right mind would pick the latter? Instead, God asked them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He gave them the option: to obey or not to obey.
To obey or not to obey is a clear-cut relational choice. It will determine your allegiance and whether your love is committed. Ultimately, it determines who your god is. If I were to walk into a business not knowing who the boss is I could easily work it out. I would simply observe whose orders are being followed. Whoever people obey is the boss. God couldn’t have presented the human race with a more straight-forward choice – to obey or not to obey.
In Genesis chapter three, Satan tempts Eve. But it is important to realise that everything was still perfect even though Satan was in the Garden of Eden. He was unable to corrupt anything. At this point he had no authority to steal, kill and destroy. So Satan offered Adam and Eve a relational choice (the same as God) but with a cunning twist. His temptation was: you will be like God if you obey me and eat the fruit. Verse six tells us they gave in and chose to disobey their Creator. By making themselves god they also made Satan the new boss by their obedience to him. Satan now had authority and by default became the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). John 10:10 tells us that Satan is a thief who has come only to steal, kill and destroy. Looking at the condition of the world around us confirms he has lived up to his reputation.
Our ability to choose is not the problem; the problem is whom we have chosen to obey. No wonder the world is full of evil, murder, rape, terrorism, genocide, pain and suffering. With so many people making themselves god I’m surprised things aren’t far worse. God has had great mercy on the human race. He has restrained Satan from doing completely what he has a right to do as the master people have chosen to obey.
Who is God?
The decision of who is god is a continuous choice we are all making. Right now, someone is occupying the position of god in your life. And that position is determined by whom you choose to obey (including yourself). We are in a cosmic struggle between good and evil so the choice is simple: to obey your loving Creator and make Jesus your God; or obey Satan and make anything other than Jesus your god. If you are leaning towards the latter, you need to know that firstly, you didn’t create yourself and neither did your parents. Our biological parents didn’t invent DNA, nor were they responsible for the miracle of cell division (science still can’t explain it). The point is that only your Creator has the power to save you. You cannot save yourself. And realise that your decision has eternal consequences.
Ultimately, it all comes down to this choice: In your life, who is God?
Posted Comments
Comment Filter: Positive Rated Negative Rated Neutral Rated