| The Land of the Free When God created intelligent beings, he made them with the power to think and to do, otherwise known as free will. Without it, we would be slaves, or worse—robots, “Stepford children” mouthing meaningless and empty appreciation and praise. This wonderful freedom of choice would make it possible for intelligent beings to love and appreciate one another and God himself. Thus we are considered God’s children, created with this likeness to him, this ability to love. But there was also a risk in giving individuals freedom of choice. Because we do not live in a vacuum, their choices would affect others. And they could choose to disregard God’s instructions; they could choose not to love, but to hate and hurt others rather than love. The question “Why did God allow sin?” is intimately linked to the freedom of choice God gave us. “Why does God allow suffering? War? Plagues? What kind of God could just stand by and watch the Holocaust? How could he allow that accident that killed my parents, my husband, my child...” And similar questions reverberate daily as we watch new horrors and tragedies on the six o’clock news. God acknowledges the fact that in a universe of free choice, the eventual eruption of sin was inevitable. Jesus told his disciples, “It is impossible but that offences will come; but woe unto him, through whom they come!”[19] But the ultimate question is, “If God holds infinite power, why didn’t he get rid of Satan? Why does he allow suffering to go on?” God certainly had the power to silence Lucifer immediately. Then, had any friend of Lucifer asked, “Where’s Lucifer?” he would reply, “Well, he was entertaining some evil thoughts, and I couldn’t let them spread.” —”So what did you do?” —”I eliminated him.” —”Is that what you’ll do to me, God, if I had some evil thoughts?” —”Yes, I’d eliminate you.” The word would spread throughout the universe: You’d better do what God says, or he’ll eliminate you. So then God would have to take care of that—he’d have to not only eliminate Lucifer, but then wipe out all memory of Lucifer in the minds of the angels. He could do that each time someone had an evil thought—eliminate him, and then eliminate all memory of him. If God really runs a free universe, he could not violate the free will of his creatures. In order to preserve our freedom, he had to allow Lucifer’s perverse choice. Destroying anyone who chose evil would not really be freedom. Furthermore, since God knows the future, he knew Lucifer would rebel. He could have simply chosen not to create Lucifer at all. No one would have ever known; but he would know. Some have faulted God for creating us so free. Many have complained that he should have restricted our choices to goodness only and limited anyone from choosing evil. People have even said, “I’d be willing to give up some freedom in order to prevent suffering.” But what quality of life would there be? The only life worth living and fulfilling is one where love means something. Men have died for liberty, choosing death rather than bondage. A gilded cage is still a prison; bondage is bondage, no matter what you call it. If you do not have freedom of choice, there is no freedom at all. And it doesn’t matter if you are in a gilded cage; living and merely existing are two different things. If the essence of God’s character is love[20], then the foundation of his government is love. The exercise of force and manipulation are contrary to the principles of God’s government; he desires only the service of love. Not only is obedience based on fear unacceptable to God[21], but God knew that a sullen submission to his will only develops the character of a rebel. While the use of force and fear may seem to work for a while, mere mechanical performance would only foster future murmuring, complaints, and rebellion. And you cannot force someone to love you. |
 |
 |
| 19 Luke 17:1 20 I John 4:16 |
 |
| Page 5 |