john3610
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Did you choose to read this article?: Thoughts on God's Sovereignty vs. Free-will
by Michael Ramsden
The issue of free-will and predestination is one that has raised its head in every generation of Christians. Do we exercise choice, or has everything already been decided? The resultant mental gymnastics leave many feeling confused, and others feeling disappointed. Did you choose to read this article, or has God already determined that you will... or won't? Maybe if you get halfway through, put down the article, and then pick it up again, you might think that you have double-bluffed God. Yet we know that nothing takes Him by surprise. On the other hand, Christians throughout the ages reject the kind of fatalism that is seen in some parts of the world.
The problem with the question as it is presented is that it is not nearly difficult enough. In order to truly appreciate the magnitude of what we are discussing, we must first deal with an even greater question. And it is this: Imagine if I were able to stop time right now. What would you be thinking? What would you be feeling? The answer is nothing.
In the absence of time, we cannot think or feel or do. Everything is frozen. People sometimes complain that I speak too quickly--the problem being that there is not sufficient time for them to think about what has been said. I always try to cheer myself by saying that at least something has been said for them to think about! But it is a fair criticism because in the absence of sufficient time we cannot think things through. In the absence of time altogether, however, we cannot even begin to think, as there is literally no time to think in.
We live and have our existence in a space-time continuum. We "belong to eternity stranded in time," observes Michael Card.(1) This also means that before God created there was no time. Time is not co-eternal with God. But we also know that God was a thinking, feeling, doing Being even before He created. Can you imagine a Being who is able to think in the absence of time? Of course not, but the God we worship not only exists outside of time, He can think and act in the absence of time.
Just reading about this is enough to make us feel overwhelmed. And so it should. Whenever we think about the person of God, we should rightly feel that we have come across something truly awesome. And maybe this is part of the problem. We are not faced with a logical contradiction here. Rather, we are faced with the reality of what it means for God to exist, for God to be God. You and I are only able to think in time, and thus, God confronts us with choice: "Choose this day whom you will serve," "choose life" and so on (Joshua 24:15; Deuteronomy 30:19). But God, outside of time, sees all of history stretched out before Him. The problem comes, therefore, when we confine the God we worship within time. But this needn't be the case. A proper understanding of the tension drives us back both to God's divine nature and to our knees, acknowledging how wonderful He is.
This understanding also helps us with the issue of eternal life. Many people find the idea of eternity frightening. What will we be doing for all of that time? Once again, our dilemma arises because we are captive both to the passage of time and too small a view of who God actually is. People also then ask: if God truly knows all things, then why did He create knowing that we would experience pain in a fallen world? But we know that God did not create the world and then think of a plan to rescue it. In the book of Revelation, we are told that the Lamb was slain before the foundations of the world were laid. This does not mean that the crucifixion took place in our space-time history before creation (there was no space-history for it to take place in). What it does mean is that even before God created, God also knew the price it would cost Him--the suffering of his own Son--to redeem his creation and save us. God didn't count that cost too great--and hence we sing of God's amazing grace.
Let me conclude with the following. People who assert that everything comes down to choice and that the future is full of possibilities believe that they have a basis for hope, but acknowledge that the future is unknown. The French existentialists were famous for this, and miserable because of it. For all their desire for hope, when their open future was realized, it always disappointed. In this sense, hope becomes wishful thinking when it has no secure future. On the other hand, fatalists believe they have a future, but no hope. Nothing is or can be done, for all has been determined.
But on the contrary, God is big enough to be able to say, "I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). There is no hope without a secure future, and the future is frightening in the absence of hope. Only God is big enough to bring these two things together--hope and a future--and this is what He has done for us.
by Michael Ramsden
The issue of free-will and predestination is one that has raised its head in every generation of Christians. Do we exercise choice, or has everything already been decided? The resultant mental gymnastics leave many feeling confused, and others feeling disappointed. Did you choose to read this article, or has God already determined that you will... or won't? Maybe if you get halfway through, put down the article, and then pick it up again, you might think that you have double-bluffed God. Yet we know that nothing takes Him by surprise. On the other hand, Christians throughout the ages reject the kind of fatalism that is seen in some parts of the world.
The problem with the question as it is presented is that it is not nearly difficult enough. In order to truly appreciate the magnitude of what we are discussing, we must first deal with an even greater question. And it is this: Imagine if I were able to stop time right now. What would you be thinking? What would you be feeling? The answer is nothing.
In the absence of time, we cannot think or feel or do. Everything is frozen. People sometimes complain that I speak too quickly--the problem being that there is not sufficient time for them to think about what has been said. I always try to cheer myself by saying that at least something has been said for them to think about! But it is a fair criticism because in the absence of sufficient time we cannot think things through. In the absence of time altogether, however, we cannot even begin to think, as there is literally no time to think in.
We live and have our existence in a space-time continuum. We "belong to eternity stranded in time," observes Michael Card.(1) This also means that before God created there was no time. Time is not co-eternal with God. But we also know that God was a thinking, feeling, doing Being even before He created. Can you imagine a Being who is able to think in the absence of time? Of course not, but the God we worship not only exists outside of time, He can think and act in the absence of time.
Just reading about this is enough to make us feel overwhelmed. And so it should. Whenever we think about the person of God, we should rightly feel that we have come across something truly awesome. And maybe this is part of the problem. We are not faced with a logical contradiction here. Rather, we are faced with the reality of what it means for God to exist, for God to be God. You and I are only able to think in time, and thus, God confronts us with choice: "Choose this day whom you will serve," "choose life" and so on (Joshua 24:15; Deuteronomy 30:19). But God, outside of time, sees all of history stretched out before Him. The problem comes, therefore, when we confine the God we worship within time. But this needn't be the case. A proper understanding of the tension drives us back both to God's divine nature and to our knees, acknowledging how wonderful He is.
This understanding also helps us with the issue of eternal life. Many people find the idea of eternity frightening. What will we be doing for all of that time? Once again, our dilemma arises because we are captive both to the passage of time and too small a view of who God actually is. People also then ask: if God truly knows all things, then why did He create knowing that we would experience pain in a fallen world? But we know that God did not create the world and then think of a plan to rescue it. In the book of Revelation, we are told that the Lamb was slain before the foundations of the world were laid. This does not mean that the crucifixion took place in our space-time history before creation (there was no space-history for it to take place in). What it does mean is that even before God created, God also knew the price it would cost Him--the suffering of his own Son--to redeem his creation and save us. God didn't count that cost too great--and hence we sing of God's amazing grace.
Let me conclude with the following. People who assert that everything comes down to choice and that the future is full of possibilities believe that they have a basis for hope, but acknowledge that the future is unknown. The French existentialists were famous for this, and miserable because of it. For all their desire for hope, when their open future was realized, it always disappointed. In this sense, hope becomes wishful thinking when it has no secure future. On the other hand, fatalists believe they have a future, but no hope. Nothing is or can be done, for all has been determined.
But on the contrary, God is big enough to be able to say, "I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11). There is no hope without a secure future, and the future is frightening in the absence of hope. Only God is big enough to bring these two things together--hope and a future--and this is what He has done for us.
