| THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD A DIFFERENT VIEW Mike Clegg |
| Our Freedom of Choice |
T or F: God has never learned or discovered anything.
Traditional thoughts regarding the sovereignty of God has made Him to be very
passive to His creation. If He has determined every aspect of our life what is there
to discover and choose? On the other end of the spectrum is the idea of man's free
will in which man can make choices without a cause initiating a choice. Although
man does have the freedom of choice he does not have free will. For man to make
a choice he must decide between two or more options. Free will is an arbitrary
decision without any outside influence or stimulus to make a choice.
Even though God is omniscient, does He limit His knowledge to interact with His
creation? Genesis 2:19 says: “out of the ground the LORD God formed every
beast of the field and every bird of the air, and (He) brought them to Adam to see
what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was
its name.” Did God know what Adam would name them, or did He have a moment
with His son? Remember, we must see God in the face of Christ. Did God choose
not to know something in order to experience relationship with His created?
Can God do that? Can God choose not to know or even forget things? There are
several occasions (Heb 8;12, Isa 43:25) that say God will forget our sins. Actually it
says He chooses not to remember them. The Hebrews account is in light of the
New Covenant when God says He will not remember sin adding He will not allow it
to be brought up in His mind ever again. It is equivalent to forgetting in which a
thought is voluntarily let go from memory.
When God calls Moses to confront Pharaoh, Moses wants a back up plan. God
had it in His will to choose Moses but Moses wanted assurances. God also did not
say I will make them hear you or it will be alright for I know how things will turn out.
God is long-suffering and full of wisdom in dealing with man and provided
possibilities (Ex 4:1-9). He had the resources ensuring Moses that He could
accomplish His purpose over the wills of men. That the elders would believe was
certain but the amount of convincing did not seem to be set in concrete as in how
many miracles would it take. Is it unsettling God seemed sure they would be
convinced but seemed uncertain as to the amount of convincing would be needed?
Or, is there confidence in God's resourcefulness in dealing with man and bringing
about His purpose and plan even in the face of the freedom of choice in the elders
not to be convinced that Moses was the man for the task at hand?
Our freedom of choice is inside the plan of God and in His wisdom He fashions the
result of our choices good or evil to our peace. Even though we may suffer
consequences which at times people assume is evil coming from God it is simply
the result of our own actions.
Traditional thoughts regarding the sovereignty of God has made Him to be very
passive to His creation. If He has determined every aspect of our life what is there
to discover and choose? On the other end of the spectrum is the idea of man's free
will in which man can make choices without a cause initiating a choice. Although
man does have the freedom of choice he does not have free will. For man to make
a choice he must decide between two or more options. Free will is an arbitrary
decision without any outside influence or stimulus to make a choice.
Even though God is omniscient, does He limit His knowledge to interact with His
creation? Genesis 2:19 says: “out of the ground the LORD God formed every
beast of the field and every bird of the air, and (He) brought them to Adam to see
what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was
its name.” Did God know what Adam would name them, or did He have a moment
with His son? Remember, we must see God in the face of Christ. Did God choose
not to know something in order to experience relationship with His created?
Can God do that? Can God choose not to know or even forget things? There are
several occasions (Heb 8;12, Isa 43:25) that say God will forget our sins. Actually it
says He chooses not to remember them. The Hebrews account is in light of the
New Covenant when God says He will not remember sin adding He will not allow it
to be brought up in His mind ever again. It is equivalent to forgetting in which a
thought is voluntarily let go from memory.
When God calls Moses to confront Pharaoh, Moses wants a back up plan. God
had it in His will to choose Moses but Moses wanted assurances. God also did not
say I will make them hear you or it will be alright for I know how things will turn out.
God is long-suffering and full of wisdom in dealing with man and provided
possibilities (Ex 4:1-9). He had the resources ensuring Moses that He could
accomplish His purpose over the wills of men. That the elders would believe was
certain but the amount of convincing did not seem to be set in concrete as in how
many miracles would it take. Is it unsettling God seemed sure they would be
convinced but seemed uncertain as to the amount of convincing would be needed?
Or, is there confidence in God's resourcefulness in dealing with man and bringing
about His purpose and plan even in the face of the freedom of choice in the elders
not to be convinced that Moses was the man for the task at hand?
Our freedom of choice is inside the plan of God and in His wisdom He fashions the
result of our choices good or evil to our peace. Even though we may suffer
consequences which at times people assume is evil coming from God it is simply
the result of our own actions.
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