Our Decision to Make

The very fact that I know some things about the past does not make me responsible for the bad things that I know have happened. 

In the same way, God knows not only the past, but also the future completely.

The very fact that He knows them does not make Him responsible for all the bad things that will happen or have happened.

Before God made creation, He decided in His sovereignty that He would create people like Him with a free will.

Because God knows the future as well as the past, He knew that the very first man and woman would make a bad decision, which would bring death upon all His creation. 

Knowing this, God still decided to create the world with people made with a free will like Him.

Before God created the world, He decided to send His Son into the world to save us because He already knew that we would fail. 

If we will allow God to save us through Jesus' death for us, He will. 

Although God knew before He created the world who would come to Him through Christ and who wouldn't, this does not mean that everyone still does not have a choice to make.

After we come to God through Christ, we belong to Christ. This is commonly known in the Bible as being "In Christ" or "In Him". 

God decided before He made the world that everyone who would be restored to Him through Jesus would be holy and blameless (Eph. 1:3). 

If you are "In Christ", holy and blameless is God's will for you, and God is working to make you like that. (Romans 8:29)

It is still God's will for everyone to be saved from judgment through Christ and to be like Christ(I Tim. 2:4); however, since you are made in God's image, He respects your decision to refuse (John 3:16). 

The decision is still up to you. The Bible teaches that if you ultimately reject Him in your life upon earth God will respect your decision for all eternity. 

The Bible teaches that an eternity without God will be a living hell (Matt. 25:41). 

God does not promise that our lives "In Christ" on earth will be easy (John 16:33) ; however, He does promise to make all the bad stuff to work out for His positive end, which is for us to be like Him (Romans 8:28). 

Think about this love of God that I've described, and ask "How can such a loving God be rejected? Jesus, I surrender to you my everything (I John 3:19).

M. H. Dennis