Life / Religion / Philosophy / Science / Polictics

Tag: Free Will

  • Are You Too Big to Fail?

    One of the greater mysteries of all of creation is the understanding that God is completely in control and yet at exactly the same time, mankind has free will.  I’ve mentioned this before and called your attention to Louie Giglio who has also referred to it as a great mystery.

    The fact is, God cannot help but be God.  And God sustains everything.  Is there any part of creation, in all of Heaven or Earth, that can wrench itself away from God and stand on its own?  I would suggest that there is not.  Can any part of creation, either in Heaven or Earth, ever surprise God, change the course of God’s great plan, or circumvent the will of God?  Once again, I would come to the conclusion that there is not.  To do otherwise would be to rob God of being God.  Of course God is in control, one hundred percent and at all times.

    And yet we have free will. at exactly the same time.  And how do I know that?  Well one reason might be because none of us is too big to fail.

    Consider the Apostle Peter.  When Christ found Peter fishing on the sea of Galilee, his name was Simon (Matthew 4:18).  But Jesus Christ had great plans for Simon and changed his name to Peter (the Rock) and said he would build His Church upon this Rock and promised him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 16:15-20).  Jesus Christ called Simon The Rock (Peter), said he was going to build His Church upon him (and that the gates of hell would not prevail against it), and said that he would have the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  Obviously Jesus had great plans for Peter.  Obviously Jesus had great trust in Peter.  Has God ever entrusted you (or me) with the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven?  I don’t think so.  In the first place, I tend to believe they are still safely in the hands of Peter.  And no, I don’t think there are any copies.  And secondly, I think that God entrusts whom He will entrust.  And in this case, it was Peter.  Jesus Christ had great plans and great trust in Peter and he placed him in a position of great responsibility because of it.

    So here we have Peter, a greater human than you or I by any spiritual standard, and one who has been entrusted with much.  One would be led to believe at this point that either God would have a close eye upon Peter, lest he stumble and fall, or else that God would closely guard his path, lest the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven fall into the wrong hands.  Consider the fact that we don’t want Satan coming along and duping Peter into handing over the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  You would think that God would have a pretty vested interest in Peter remaining loyal and true to Him at this point.

    And yet consider just how far Peter’s loyalty actually went.  Jesus Christ had already placed great emphasis upon that loyalty.  He had stated that if anyone were to deny Him (Jesus Christ) before men, that person would be denied by Him (Jesus) before the Father in Heaven (Matthew 10:32-34).  Now consider the great consequences of that statement.  If you deny Jesus Christ before men, Jesus Christ will deny you before the Father in Heaven.  Probably not the best way to start eternity.  To be denied before the Father in Heaven is to not secure a place in the Kingdom of God for all of eternity.  Very, very serious consequences indeed.

    But that is exactly what Peter did, AFTER Jesus Christ himself had told him that he would do it (Matthew 26:33-35).  Peter adamantly proclaims his loyalty to Jesus and even goes so far as to say that the whole world could be offended because of Him, yet he would remain loyal to the end (and beyond).  And Jesus said, No, Peter, not even you will remain loyal to me during this time.  Not only will you not remain loyal, you will deny me before men three times in one night.

    And Peter does deny Jesus Christ three times that night (Matthew 26:69-75).  He even denies Jesus Christ with an oath.  And if you think about it carefully, Peter was in the palace of the High Priest, at a trial for Jesus, where witnesses were brought forth, for all intents and purpose, Peter was in a court of law (Matthew 26:58-66).  So you might consider that Peter was willing to take an oath in a court of law, and proclaim before the Judge that he never knew Jesus Christ.  He denied Jesus before men.

    The thing that I would like us to consider here is the very compelling turn of events.  Jesus Christ had called Simon, Peter, The Rock.  Essentially the Firm Foundation upon which He would build His Church.  Jesus Christ had also stated with great certainty that Peter would deny him before men, a most serious charge since Jesus himself had stated that those that denied Him before Men would be denied by Him before the Father in Heaven.  Jesus Christ had placed great trust in Peter, promising him the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven.  You would believe at this point that Jesus Christ had a great deal invested in Peter and would do anything to keep him from failing.

    But he DID NOT.  Jesus Christ knew that Peter was going to fail, and yet he let him go ahead and fail.  Why?  Free Will.  You see I believe that for all of eternity Peter will remember that he failed (Luke 22:60-62).  And that will be a great lesson and testament to the Grace and the Mercy of God.

    So, do you think you are too big to fail?  Because if one in whom so much trust and responsibility had been placed, was allowed to fail, don’t think that God won’t allow you or I to fail as well.  But the great lesson for all of us is, God is a God of Mercy and Grace.  And it is because he has given us Free Will and allows us to fail, that His Mercy and His Grace may be manifest in all the world.  Praise Him!  Oh the Love that drew Salvation’s plan, Oh the Grace that brought it down to man, Oh the mighty gulf that God did span, At Calvary.

  • God is in control …

    There are mysteries that are paradoxes in life.  And that is by design, we are not meant to understand all things.  This is a difficult thing to accept for most people.  We want to believe we can know it all, discover all things, understand the mysteries of the universe.  But the fact is, we will never have infinite knowledge nor infinite wisdom.  We will always be searching to understand, and to make sense of the great paradoxes we experience in life.  The greatest paradox for me in this life is the reality that mankind possesses free will and God is completely in control at exactly the same time.  One of the hardest concepts for people to wrap their thoughts around is that of their own destiny and the meaning of life.

    For the true Atheist, the ones that are completely honest with themselves and others, there can be no meaning to life.  The fact that one could alter one’s own destiny or that one’s life could hold any meaning when the entire Universe is the random product of physical, chemical, and biological laws is completely ludicrous.  Furthermore the idea of karma within the Atheistic model is completely nonsensical.  There is absolutely no foundation for morals, justice, rewards, or punishment.  How can there be?  Everything that is, or is not, is simply a product of the physical and meta-physical laws of the Universe, be they known or unknown.  Everything we encounter is a product of natural occurrences and the ideas of fate, freewill, or a spiritual life are completely foreign.  So the true Atheist really has no ground upon which to argue destiny or the meaning of life.  And by extension, in the Atheistic model there is no concept of fair, there is no right, no wrong, and justice is pure foolishness.  You live, you die, and you have no control over the process while you are a part of it.  Everything is pre-determined so far in the past it can hardly be comprehended and everything will carry so far into the future there is absolutely no hope whatsoever anyone or anything will ever be remembered.

    For the Agnostic, those that are completely neutral on an Atheistic or Theistic foundation, it really doesn’t matter if there is a destiny or any meaning to life.  And why would it?  The Agnostic doesn’t care one way or the other.  They are simply along for the ride and whatever will be, will be.  There may, or may not, be a destiny and meaning to life but the Agnostic will not care one way or the other.  To do so would actually move them out of the Agnostic camp and into either the Atheistic or Theistic viewpoint.

    And that leaves us with the Theists.  For the Theistic viewpoint, the matter of destiny and the meaning of life is extremely important.  Because it is the bigger picture that counts.  Not just what we see in the here and now, but what is to come and what exists within the Spiritual world.  And it is the Theistic viewpoint that has the hardest struggle with destiny and the meaning of life.  But it shouldn’t.

    The Theist really should start with their definition of God.  Consider the base definition for God: as the sole Supreme Being, eternal, spiritual, and transcendent, who is the Creator and ruler of all and is infinite in all attributes; the object of worship in monotheistic religions.  If we were to parse this definition we would quickly realize that God, by definition is the sole – the only one, unique, unsurpassed, matchless, Supreme – highest in rank, authority, paramount, sovereign, chief, foremost, Creator – the one who creates.  And if God is indeed the one and only matchless sovereign Creator, then the Theist is forced to ask the question (as did the Psalmist) who can be compared to God?  Psalm 89:6 “For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?” KJV.  And the only possible answer the Theist is left with is a resounding: “No one can!”  For he is God.  He is the Almighty.  He is the one Supreme Creator who is Infinite in ALL of his Attributes.  The Theist is left with the realization that their God is the one encompassing Deity in all of existence.

    And for the Theist, that means that God is in control.  And how could he not be?  He is God after all.  Let’s try and illustrate the point this way, answer the question “Is there any scenario or outcome in all of creation or the Heavens where God could either lose the battle between good and evil or be surprised by the results?”  Let me ask this question, “Is there anything that God does not know about, is not happy with, or cannot change?”  If there is, then he surly is not God.  Everything that occurs is because it is part of God’s great plan and it is just the way he wants it to be.  If it were not, wouldn’t he change it?  Of course he would.

    But this creates a dilemma.  If God is completely in control, then what about our, mankind’s Free Will?  Do we not have the freedom to choose our own path?  Of course we do.  God himself says we have a choice.  Revelation 3:20 says “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” KJV.   Does this not sound like a choice?  Of course it does.  We do have choices in life.

    But can we ever surprise God with our choices?  No, I don’t think so.  Can we ever make a choice that would alter God’s plan or be a choice that he does not want us to make?  Once again, I would have to say no.

    And yet that makes no sense whatsoever.  It is completely and utterly contradictory and cannot be explained.  So what is the explanation?  For today, there is none.  But wouldn’t you rather be a part of the model where God allows you a choice even though he is in control, instead of the model where there is no hope of a choice because we are all simply random matter bumping into each other and are following a set of described laws?

    I know I would.  And that is why I absolutely assure you these two things are true:  (1) You have free will and you choose your own destiny in the halls of eternity, and (2) God is completely, absolutely, 100% in control and it is his plan that has been executed, is being executed, and will continue to be executed forever and ever.

    Despite your free will and all of the things we see within the world today, GOD IS IN CONTROL …