Monday: Free Will
Embedded in the Creation account is the warning God gave about not eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil
(Gen. 2:9). So, right from the start, we can see the moral element granted humanity, something not seen in any of the other living creatures.
Image © Justinen Creative from GoodSalt.com
As we said yesterday, the capacity for moral judgment is one way that humans reveal the image and likeness of God.
What does Genesis 2:15-17 say about the reality of free will in humanity?
God could have created humans so that they automatically did His will. That is the way the other created things, such as light, sun, moon, and stars were made. They obey God without any element of choice. They fulfill the will of God automatically through the natural laws that guide their actions.
But the creation of man and woman was special. God created them for Himself. God wanted them to make their own choices, to choose to worship Him voluntarily without being forced to. Otherwise they could not love Him, because love, to be true love, must be freely given.
Because of its divine origin, human free will is protected and respected by God. The Creator does not interfere with the deepest, persistent choices of men and women. Wrong choices have consequences, sometimes very terrible ones, too, but it is against the character of our sovereign Lord to force compliance or obedience.
The principle of human free will has three important implications:
- For religion: an omnipotent God does not unilaterally direct individual will and choices.
- For ethics: individuals will be held morally accountable for their actions.
- For science: the actions of body and brain are not wholly determined by cause and effect. Physical laws are involved in our actions, but free will means that we do have a choice regarding our actions, especially moral ones.
What are some of the free moral choices you have to make in the next few hours, days, or weeks? How can you be sure you are using this sacred gift in the right way? Think through the consequences of the wrong use of it.
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Out of all the gifts that God gave to Adam and Eve, I would prefer that this is one of the most unique of all for God showed that He respects us and treats us as equal if we choose to choose for Good and Yahweh alone out of Love and Loyalty. That is one of the attributes of Yahweh and Elohim that will always be praised throughout Eternity by the Angels and Sinners Saved By Grace, to nullify and negate the Devil's insinuation that we serve an Arbitrary and Unfair God. Praise God for this gift but a very stable but dangerous gift ever given to humans for the person's choice to serve Yahweh/Elohim or the Devil determines life or death, Everlasting Life or Utter Annihilation from existence.
Adam and Eve possessed a faultless nature. So when the perfect pair partook of the forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:16, 17) did they not love God? The Eden dwellers who were on probation did not consciously decide to love God less than at first, but self-will rose to a level above their regard for the Creator and they failed God’s intentional loyalty test (Genesis 3:6).
Jehovah placed the tree of knowledge close to the tree of life purposefully to test the moral freedom with which mankind was invested (Genesis 2:9). It was not so that God would find out something; for He already knew the outcome, but the test was in part to reveal to the human race that perfection itself was not a safeguard against sin or a guarantee of purity.
It is only through retaining God as supreme in the life, and therefore drawing on His power that a sinless condition is preserved in Heaven and on Earth. One way the Great Controversy may be viewed is as a contest of wills. Self-will freely exercised must be subordinated to the Creator’s will in a pure universe (Matthew 6:10).
God apparently shows more respect for human free will than the human race shows for His will and authority. In the final test the Sabbath Law at the center of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11) plays a similar role to the tree of knowledge at the center of the Garden of Eden.
The human race now on its second probation will be called upon to answer the loyalty question again (Revelation 14:9-11). Only those who overcome self, including among those who currently observe the Fourth commandment, will respond rightly (Revelation 14:12).
If free will ever existed, Adam chose to lose it ! It does not exist within the fallen human race - or if it is, it only leads to sin and selfishness continually.
Isn't it wonderful that we were created uniquely for a special purpose, to love and worship God in spirit and in truth? Every where we look, people are giving up on staying on this path and choosing the "easier" path towards destruction. In these times we all need to be vigilant. Pray for someone you know who needs your prayers. God bless!
from creation until now God gave mankind freedom of worship hence in josh24:26 joshua ask his people to choose who the will worship because him and his family are for God,jesus said in matt6:24 we cannot serve two master we must choose,God full of love for human ask us to choose life.deut 30:18- 19
Free Will:
This term can be confusing to some. Does it mean I am free to do whatever I think is best? Or does it mean I am free to choose whether I will obey God or Satan?
Or is it the LORD courting us, wooing us, drawing us, saying to us I love you so very much, I want to spend eternity with you, please come and get to know me and please love me back because that is my desire for us to be one?
Free Will ,God is giving us all free will to make a choice,to choose our path,what is right from wrong ? We have to make the right choices in life ,yes a lot of times we choose not to and take as we think the easy way out.This is way the world is in the state it is in today.People make the wrong choices.However Good shall overcome evil,right from wrong we need to choose today ,not tomorrow,tomorrow may be to late ,spend time with God ,with family and friends ,call the ones you Love ,Forgive,we have the will to do this ,It is better to Forgive than hold Anger in your Heart it will destroy your Life.God Bless you my friend .
Free will is an individual choice to love the LORD, each man and woman makes it for themselves. No one can make the choice for us, not our church, our pastor, our parents not even our spouse.
Even though God gave us the free will, to show His mercy and compassionate He still calls us when we go astray. However, man takes this for granted and continue entertaining sin, ignoring the gentle still voice of the Holy Spirit in our hearts that always comes just before we commit sin. Man is busy with things of the world to the point that we can’t even hear this voice. But the end of the world is near, all the signs of His coming, according to the Holy Bible are already manifesting. Am bemoaning my fellow young people today, our life styles, and most of what we are doing is displeasing God. But He is calling us to be like him, our thoughts, walk and actions. Yes God gave us the free will, but how are we using this free will.
Friends
This is it, we are at the end, lets get on our knees, Jesus is on his way...
Freewill is made up of two words; Free and Will. Free means not under the control of someone/able to act as one wishes. Will on the other side is the mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses/decides upon a course of action. Loosely put, WILL means to make a choice. But remember it is 'will' that is being described as free here. The implication is that we have the power of making choices that are neither determined by natural causality nor predestined by fate or divine will. The question then to ask ourselves is 'who gave us this will that is free? Does He care about how we exercise that will power? Are there any consequences to those choices? Yesterday's lesson taught us that we were created by a loving father. He is our source, therefore He is the source of our will power. He could have made us like robots. But had that been done what would have been our understanding of love. God does not take pleasure in force allegiance. To all He grants the freedom of will so that we can worship Him readily or voluntarily. As Adventists, let us subject our will to the supreme will of the Almighty. Because God has respect for our will, Our daily choices should also revere His will.
If Yahuveh did not give us the freedom of free will, how else could our Creator know who truly loved him and who didn't. If he made us ALL to be obedient from the day we were born God would never know who Truly Truly loved him. Each individual here on Earth since the day they were born have all been tested on how loyal and obedient we are to our Creator and how much we Truly LOVE him hence the freedom of freewill. He loves each and everyone of us equally and created us all in our unique way the question each and everyone of us should ask ourselves is which path do you want to follow in life. The broad path to destruction or the narrow path to Eternal Life and Paradise with our Creator. God bless everyone and may the Holy Spirit (RUACH ha Kodesh) guide you All to the TRUTH.
Death by Disobedience
Our freedom of choice is rooted in our ability to recognize and adhere to rules, processes, regulations - all built into our moral compass and covered by The Obedience Clause. Free to obey the rules or suffer the consequences.
“Do Not Touch The Hot Stove my child. Because when you do you will be burned and be in pain.” What does the disobedient child do? Touch the hot stove and get burned. The child had another choice - obey, do not touch the hot stove, no painful burn! Simple or is it really that simple! We were born in sin and shaped in iniquity (Psalm 51:5), so the child in this scenario would be wondering 'why' he/she should not touch the hot stove and be tempted to disobey. Curiosity or the knowledge that touching the hot stove is an order (or is forbidden), recommends that the child be defiant to prove a point. Nowhere in the recommendation is there a disclaimer that helps that child understand the consequences of his/her actions. For clarity - there are God's Rules and satan's recommendations. When our obedience is being tested, when we are confronted by the recommendations of the devil, the only way to life eternal, is by reverting to the Rule, the Guide (and in this case there is no small print) - you will surely die! Yes, death and destruction because we are free to choose to disobey. I pray today that God helps each of us, especially me to choose to exercise my free will and obey.
This lesson makes me understand that we serve a loving father who will not impose his laws on his followers as satan wants us to see God but rather he has given us our free will to choose whom we will serve either love or destruction.