You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free… Galatians 5:13
When God made man He instilled into man, among other things, the two freedoms of choice and desire. All of mankind was given these two abilities. Each day we are faced with options that require a choice, and many times the choice is driven by our desire or will. From the clothes we wear to the food we eat, from activities to our inactivities, from involvement to our indifference, we all have options which are choices grounded in our will.
Adam was given a command by God not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and Eve’s desire was greater to try something forbidden than their desire to obey. They were enticed, and from their will, they made a choice. Their option was disobedience. Did they know the true consequences of their actions? Did they fully understand that this choice would affect all of mankind with the ugliness of sin and death?
God certainly did know of this temptation, and not only did He know it, He allowed it to happen. God gave us choice. God could have programmed us like robots, but where would be the human interaction of true love? We ourselves would rather have a love of another human being than a stuffed toy. We know full well that a human’s love can be painful, yet we yearn and even have a need for requited love. We know we are better for taking the chance of love not returned, than to have never loved at all.
This is the same love that God wants from the humans He created. God wants us to return at least a small measure of our love for His great love for us. God had a solution from the very beginning. He knew that the tree of knowledge of good and evil would end with a tree at Calvary. He had everything under control from the beginning, although it would come at an extremely high, blood-spilling cost.
If only one human’s action could change all of mankind, we know that God’s one action could also reverse the effects. Hebrews 10:10 says, “ For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.” The serpent enticed Eve, and Eve enticed Adam. They made a choice from their will. The first Adam failed. The second Adam, Jesus Christ, also had these two capabilities: choice and desire. He was tempted in every way, but He chose obedience from His desire of great love for the Father and for the human race. The second Adam was victorious, and He did change all of mankind forever. Praise be to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Help us Father God to choose to love You with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Amen
Comments
Post a Comment