28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
Romans 8: 28, NKJV
Let us digress for a while from the series of what the Seventh-day Adventists believe and somewhat touch on Free Will, Love, and Divine Providence. What are they in terms of what we believe? Therefore, I will be drawing a lot from our quarterly evening Bible lessons, and the lesson for this quarter is, GOD’S LOVE AND JUSTICE.
WHAT IS PROVIDENCE? “Providence is the term used to describe God’s actions in the world. How we think about God makes a huge difference in how we relate to God, how we relate to others, and how we think about the problem of evil.
‘Christians hold various understandings of divine providence. Some believe that God exercises His power in a way that determines all events to happen just as they do. He even chooses who will be saved and who will be lost! In this view, people are not free to choose other than what God decrees. In fact, people who believe this way argue that even human desires are determined by God.
“In contrast, strong Biblical evidence shows that God does not determine everything that happens. Instead, He grants humans free will even to the point where they (and angels) can choose to act directly against His will. The history of the Fall, of sin, and of evil is a dramatic and tragic expression of the results of abusing this free will. The plan of salvation was instituted to remedy the tragedy caused by the misuse of free will.”
We, as Christians, know through our study of the Bible how evil came to be. No less than the highest angel, known as Lucifer, became the author of sin. Ezekiel 28: 11-18 and Isaiah 14: 12-14 give the whole story. God knew he was harboring rebellion in his heart, but, He let him exercise his free will. Lucifer forgot that he is a created being, and up to now is still waging a war against God, while he is confined to earth. He brought evil in this world by lying to Eve just as he lied to his fellow angels. Jesus said that Satan in John 8: 44, 45 is a murderer and the father of lies. Why did God not annihilate him and followers right away since He is God Almighty? What about his character as a loving and merciful God? What would those angels who did not side with Satan or Lucifer think of God? In the book Patriarchs and Prophets, pp.33-43, by Ellen G. White, “Why Was Sin Permitted,” I want to share with you these thoughts.
“Even when he was cast out of heaven (Revelation 12), Infinite Wisdom did not destroy Satan. Since only the service of love can be acceptable to God, the allegiance of His creatures must rest upon a conviction of His justice and benevolence. The inhabitants of heaven and of the worlds, being unprepared to comprehend the nature or consequences of sin, could not have seen the justice of God in the destruction of Satan. Had he been immediately blotted out of existence, some would have served God from fear rather than from love. The influence of the deceiver would not have been fully destroyed, nor would the spirit of rebellion have been utterly eradicated. For the good of the entire universe through ceaseless ages, he must more fully develop his principles, that his charges against the divine government might be seen in their true light by all created beings, and that the justice and mercy of God and the immutability of His law might be forever placed beyond all question.
“Satan’s rebellion was to be a lesson to the universe through all coming ages—a perpetual testimony to the nature of sin and its terrible results. The working out of Satan’s rule, and its effects upon both men and angels, would show what must be the fruit of setting aside divine authority. It would testify that with the existence of God’s government is bound up the well-being of all the creatures He has made. Thus, the history of this terrible experiment of rebellion was to be a perpetual safeguard to all holy beings, to prevent them from being deceived as to the nature of transgression, to save them from committing sin, and suffering its penalty.” What is the penalty of sin? Romans 6: 23 states it bluntly and clearly. “23You get what is coming to you when you sin. It is death! But God’s free gift is life that lasts forever. It is given to us by our Lord Jesus Christ.” NLV, NKJV says, “23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The will of God for man was that he would live eternally, but as we said before, man chose to disobey and disbelieve God and ate the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. God told him that he will die, Satan, the father of lies, told him he will not surely die. `Man exercised his free will and man had been dying ever since. C.S.Lewis, wrote a book called “Mere Christianity”. He said, “Free Will, though it makes evil possible, it is also the only thing that makes any love or goodness, or joy worth having. A world of Automata—of creatures that worked like machines—would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other…And for that they must be free.”
So, friends, our salvation hinges upon our commitment to God. He made provisions for us, that He will help us overcome temptations. We’ll talk about that next issue. God bless us all.
To contact us: Our website is www.abundantlifeadventist.ca. Worship with us every Saturday Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Genesis 2: 2, 3, Exodus 20: 8-10, Isaiah 58: 13, 14; Isaiah 66: 22, 23; Matthew 5: 17-19; Revelation 22: 14, John 14: 1-3, Rev. 6:6-12
By Ben Berto
