Contemplations Before Bed

I tend to get into religious conversation with others quite often. I want to know what others believe, what opinion/objections/questions they may have of the faith I hold on to, and I want to know how others live out what they believe, whether that be belief in a deity or not. Recently, I have come across a few topics that many group together: predestination, free will, and the foreknowledge of God. I thought I knew what I thought about these things, but found I was relatively lost on the matters. Considering the time constraints I am under here, extensive research was rather limited; therefore, I had to resort to using what appears logical to me (though that in itself can be faulty) and looking into God’s Word. Here’s what I came up with.

1. Predestination: We are all predestined for Heaven. That’s why Christ died on the cross for us. We were designed for communion with Yahweh and to be in His presence.

Biblical examples:
• “This is how much God loved the world: He gave His Son, His one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in Him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.” John 3:16 (The Message). – God Himself came down to earth in the flesh and took on all our sins so we could have a way to Him. He chooses all of us.
• “Out of sheer generosity, He put us in right standing with Himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we were in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ.” Romans 3:24 (The Message). – He restored us to where He always wanted us to be, with Him. He gives this gift freely to any and all who will believe. He wants us all, desperately, passionately. He wants us all.

2. Freewill: God is all about love and relationship. He made us because love naturally creates. Since God is love, it is natural He would create us. He then did the loving thing of giving us a way to Him (predestining us to be with Him). However, because He loves, we get to choose how to respond to Him. We can choose a life with Him or a life without Him. That’s the relationship part – a relationship is what He desires of us. He did His part, now we get to choose how to respond to that. We could not truly love Him if we did not have freewill.

Biblical examples:
• A man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good things must I do to get eternal life?” Jesus said, “Why do you question me about what’s good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what He tells you.” The man asked, “what in particular?” Jesus said, “Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your mother and father, and love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said, “I’ve done all that. What’s left?” “If you want to give it all you’ve got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in Heaven. Then come follow me.” That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn’t bear to let go. –Matthew 19: 16-22 (The Message). The young man was invited to follow God fully, but was given the choice to do so or not. He walked away from giving His life to Christ.
• “God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear. God decided on this course of action in full view of the public—to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus, finally taking care of the sins he had so patiently endured. This is not only clear, but it's now—this is current history! God sets things right. He also makes it possible for us to live in his rightness” Romans 3:26 (The Message). This really applies to the last topic and this one. The thing that stands out to me in this verse is the last sentence when it says “He also makes it possible for us to live in His rightness”. It just comes across as our choosing not being forced. It’s a possibility, but we get the choice.
• In Genesis 3:6, Adam and Eve make the detrimental choice to live apart from God by listening to the serpent. They were created whole and pure and in total communion with Yahweh, but still, He wanted them to be able to choose to love Him; He didn’t want robots. So He gave them but one command to obey – do not eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. They chose not to obey, but the point is, they had the choice, the freewill to make that mistake.

3. Foreknowledge: Some people propose that God’s foreknowledge of things takes away from our ability to have freewill. I kind of see it as being likened to a chess match. Just because I know what move you will make does not really change the fact that you are going to make it. My knowledge has no consequence because it is just that – knowledge. This is not to say that God cannot prevent something from happening, or intervene, or cause things to be a certain way, but it is to say that His knowledge does not take away our freedom to choose how things will happen and the way we will live.

Biblical examples:
• “Think about this. Wrap your minds around it. This is serious business, rebels. Take it to heart. Remember your history, your long and rich history.
I am God, the only God you've had or ever will have— incomparable, irreplaceable—
From the very beginning telling you what the ending will be.
 All along letting you in on what is going to happen,
Assuring you, 'I'm in this for the long haul, I'll do exactly what I set out to do,'
Calling that eagle, Cyrus, out of the east, from a far country the man I chose to help me.
I've said it, and I'll most certainly do it. I've planned it, so it's as good as done.” Isaiah 46: 8-11 (The Message). Yahweh is, and has been from the beginning, in the process of making a beautiful story for all of us. A story of love, redemption, and hope. He knows the ending to our stories; to the story of humanity. He will let us make our choices, but He will use them for His glory and bringing about restoration of His creation to Himself.
• “For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.” 1 John 3:20 (The Message). God already knows who we are at our cores. He knows who where we come from, and who we will be.
• “Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you. The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.” Psalm 139:16 (The Message). Abba knows our lives ahead of time.

Each of these topics go far beyond this general outline of thinking, I’m well aware of that. I’m also quite aware that I could be totally wrong, but I’m content with knowing what I know. I trust Yahweh. My knowing the intricate workings of such concepts doesn’t really detract from anything in my life. These are merely ponderings many men have ruminated on long before I was ever born.