Judgement Day as reasoned from the Scriptures

Eschatology is a Christian term for the study of the end of history from a religious perspective. Probably more obscure theological text has been written on this topic than on any other belief in Christendom.

The Bible contains many prophecies about the future. The Christian Scriptures (New Testament) in particular talks extensively about the return of Jesus Christ to this earth. This is usually called his "second coming," or "parousia." The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 24, is devoted to this topic, as is much of the book of Revelation, and 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

Unfortunately, these and various other Biblical passages predicting the future are ambiguous. The events themselves are open to many interpretations. There is no clear indication of either their timing or sequence. Some Christians believe that "millennium" does not mean a time interval of exactly 1,000 years. Rather it refers to a long interval of time. Some Christians interpret events mentioned in the Christian Scriptures as descriptions of real happenings in our future; others interpret them symbolically and/or as events that have already occurred mostly during the first century. 

A lot of denominational strife has resulted from disagreements about end time prophecy. For example, the Millennium, described in Revelation as an important interval lasting for 1000 years when Christ rules, is fractured into many variations based on who is doing the interpretation.  

You have... Historical Premillennialism; Dispensational Premillennialism; Amillennialism; Postmillennialism; Preterism; No Millennialism; Pre-Tribulation Rapture; Post-tribulation Rapture; Mid-Tribulation Rapture; Pre-wrath Rapture; Partial Rapture; and probably more if you search around.  Are you confused?  Why would God cause such confusion about something so important in the future for His followers?  Seems illogical that God would be the cauee of such disharmony (1 Corinthians 14:33).  However man is very capable of clouding simple truth with complex and convoluted theories based on ideas not even found in Scripture.  Everyone who loves the Lord, is affected by what they are taught to believe about Christ’s second coming.  Maybe life’s most compelling question... What will happen when Christ returns?  You cannot be a Christian, a lover of truth without being concerned about future events surrounding Christ’s return and the ominous period known as Judgement.

Growing up, immersed in the study of God’s Word, I was deeply troubled by the concept of God’s Judgement time.  Fearful to say the least. I felt like the deck was stacked against mankind and every little thing you did, intentional and unintentional sins and one’s faithful living, would be recorded – your life in shades of good, bad and works of faith.  You would be judged accordingly.  Your life poured onto a giant scale and weighed to determine your reward of eternal life or something far less appealing.  I thought for a very long time that even knowing the love and mercy of God would not be enough to outweigh the rules of right and wrong, and His righteousness and justice would prevail, and many would be cast into everlasting punishment.

I also thought as many Christians do today, that one by one, billions of souls will be brought before the throne of God. There, the scales of His righteousness and justice would reveal the judgment to be passed on each individual based on a record of one’s life. 

However, as I matured in my faith, and succeeded in clearing my head of the many interpretations of the End Times,  I realized the Bible paints quite a different picture of this fearful period of time, we know as Judgement Day. I strongly believe God’s Word portrays it, not as a terrifying time, but as a time of extraordinary hope and restoration.  Let me explain, because a comprehensive portrait of what Judgement Day will be, is also a revelation of when it will happen. 

At Revelation 20:11-12 we read the apostle John’s description of Judgment Day:   “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.”  Who the Judge described herein, is an important aspect of framing the Day as one that brings hope and restoration.

Almighty God, The Father,  is the ultimate Judge of mankind. However, he delegates the actual work of judging. According to Acts 17:31, the apostle Paul said that God  “he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.” This appointed Judge is the King Jesus Christ. (John 5:22)  

So to the specific question on every Christians mind... When, does Judgment Day begin? If you ask that question you also need to ask how long will the “Day” lasts?

I see in the book of Revelation, that Judgment Day begins after the war of Armageddon, when Satan’s system on this earth is destroyed and he and his demonic hoards are restrained in an abyss for a thousand years. (Rev.16:14,16; 19:19–20:3)

I do not see Judgment Day as some hurried event lasting say 24 hours, 6 months or even 1 year. I believe it will last a thousand years.

During that thousand-year period, Jesus Christ will “judge the living and the dead.” (2 Tim. 4:1) “The living” will be the survives of the cataclysmic events of His return and the cleansing of earth... Armageddon. (Rev. 7:9-17) The apostle John also saw “the dead . . . standing before the throne” of judgment. As Jesus promised, “those in the memorial tombs will hear [Christ’s] voice and come out” by means of a resurrection. (John 5:28,29; Acts 24:15)  An important question raised earlier... on what basis will everyone be judged?

According to the apostle John’s vision, “scrolls were opened,” and “the dead were judged out of those things written in the scrolls according to their deeds.” (Rev. 20:12) Are these scrolls the record of people’s past deeds? No, I do not believe the past will entangle resurrected people restored to life on the New [cleansed] Earth.  

The judgment will not focus on what people did before they died. Is that a defendable assertion?  I think it is.  The Bible says: “because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.” (Romans 6:7) Those resurrected come to life with a clean slate, so to speak. The scrolls must therefore represent God’s further requirements. 

To live forever, both Armageddon survivors and resurrected ones will have to obey God’s commandments, including whatever new requirements God might reveal during the thousand years. Thus, individuals will be judged on the basis of what they do during the Judgment Day [period].  

We must remember, God never had the opportunity to work with humankind to develop in them the essentials for everlasting eternal life.  I know that sounds a bit odd, but when you build creation with “freedom of choice” you must then offer humanity a sustained period of time to develop the capacity to evaluate situations and determine to make perfect choices.  Adam and Eve cut that process short by their sin.  Therefore, its seems logical and reasonable that during the 1,000 years of earthly peace, without sin and Satan’s influences, all mankind will be able to grow in spiritual strength and fortitude to withstand any threat to their fully developed capacity to make perfect choices.  There is a huge difference between human perfection and making perfect choices that are always in line with God.  Adam and Eve were perfect and never had to die...  but they "skipped class lectures” and didn’t learn the lessons of obedience which always leads to perfect choices. 

If any theological interpretation of God, His Word and His plan to redeem mankind does not recognize the above mentioned necessity, then said theology presents God as a master puppeteer, manipulating mankind into pre-determined and predestined outcomes. 

Judgment Day will give billions of people their first opportunity to learn about God’s will and to conform to it. This means that a large-scale educational work will need to take place. Prophetic of this time period, Isaiah said... ‘the people of the world will learn righteousness.’ (Isaiah 26:9)  However, not everyone will be willing to conform to God’s will. Isaiah 26:10 also says: But when grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil and do not regard the majesty of the LORD. These people who are rightly viewed as “wicked” will be terminated [permanently] during the long Judgment [Day] Time.

By the end of Judgment Day, surviving humans will have “come fully to life” as perfect humans. Judgment Day will see the restoration of mankind to its original perfect state. (1 Corinthians 15:24-28) Then a final test will take place.  Seems unfair that humanity would have to endure another go-round with the Devil. 

Satan will be released from his imprisonment and allowed to try to mislead mankind one last time. It will be the same test set before Adam and Eve… who will be your God… who will you serve?  Unlike Adam and Eve, we will know all there is to know… good and evil…. and know the true power structure of the universe.  It feels like God has set this up so its almost impossible to fail. (Revelation 20:3, 7-10) Yet even then, many will make the wrong choice! In the grand finale... those who resist Satan will enjoy the complete fulfillment of the Bible’s promise: “The righteous will possess the earth, and they will live forever on it.”  (Psalm 37:29) 

The forgoing description of Judgment Day, is what the Bible really does say about life on this earth after the return of Christ.  When it begins [not the day or hour] and how long it lasts and its pure and true purpose... a time to build, restore and develop in each lover of God what you might call “perfect choice resilience.”  Judgement Day is not to be feared for it shall be the greatest of blessings to all faithful mankind.

Defeating the Root of Bitterness

Bitterness starts out small.  An offense burrows its way into our hearts. We replay it in our minds, creating deep ruts that will be hard to build back up. We retell our hurts to any available listener, including each sordid detail. We enlist support, pushing us further into our resentment. We hear the offending person's name and cringe.

We decipher the offense as intentional and our offender as full of spite. We look for other reasons, both real or imagined, to dislike our villain. With each new piece of information, we form another layer of bitterness.  

We fool ourselves into thinking no one will know, but anger and resentment have a way of seeping into everything. Resentment is like a beach ball we try to submerge in the water. No matter how valiant our efforts, it pops up with all its vitality, splashing everyone around.

Romans 12:18 says, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone." So how can we do that? How can we prevent bitterness from moving into our hearts? How can we deal with our feelings instead of letting them grow into bitterness?

Know that God requires forgiveness. God knew it would not always be possible to live at peace with some people. That's why Romans 12:18 says, "If it is possible …" But God does require that we forgive others (Ephesians 4:32).

This is where the rubber meets the road. Our lack of forgiveness is why we choose to hold onto bitterness, letting it ripen into full grown resentment. While it looks like we are unable to forgive, sometimes we need to face that very fact... we are unwilling.

In the parable of the man who was forgiven a great debt (Matthew 18:24-35), we see the forgiven man immediately demands payment from someone who owes him a fraction of what he himself owed. Though he was shown mercy and grace, he was unwilling to extend it even in a small way.

Understand that we are to forgive because we are forgiven. You can discern a person is trapped when their first response is, "You don't understand what they did to me."

We may not understand, but Jesus Christ does. He lived a perfect life, but was beaten, mocked, spit on, and hung on a wooden cross to die a cruel death. Yet, John 3:16 says that he loved the world enough to go through the torture and finally death on the cross. Sometimes we mistakenly think he died only for us, but when he died, he died for the world—including whoever offended you. We are told to forgive others just as Christ forgave us. Do they deserve it? No. Do we deserve it? Again, no. But still, he hung on that cursed cross because of his love for each of us.

When we have an unforgiving spirit, our eyes are not on him; they are fixed on ourselves. Once when I'd been hurt, I told God, "Someone should pay for this." And in his kind, loving, tender way he said to me... "I paid."

Pray for those you can't forgive.  Pray for yourself, that you will forgive. God already knows what's going on inside of you. He knows your thoughts and he knows how the other person hurt you. He is your witness.

We don't have the capability in ourselves to easily forgive others. But God can empower us to forgive those who have hurt us (Philippians 4:13).  Rely on His power, depend on His strength.

With a blank piece of paper before you, ask God to bring to mind anyone you need to forgive. If you recall a name or two or ten, start praying for those on your list. Keep a journal dedicated to this prayerful purpose.  Pray every day until you feel the bitterness and resentment you've been holding onto melt away.  You may even discover that you cannot recall with clarity the wrong that was done to you.

You will find it is impossible to be unforgiving toward those you are praying for. It's not easy to start praying for them; it's one of the hardest things you will ever do. But when you make that person an object of prayer, you open the door of your heart a little wider so that God can come in and begin to soften your hardened heart, melting the icy resentment and roots of bitterness that are there.

God is in control. What does it mean?

“No worries, God is in control.” It’s a phrase we use often, mostly as an easy excuse when something goes wrong. “God is in control,” we say when someone dies; when we lose our job; when our health fails; when something doesn’t workout the way we expected or wanted.

But what does it really mean when we say this?  Do we mean that God controls every decision, every event; every single thing that happens?  Is God a puppeteer, controlling every aspect of our lives? The color of the socks I wear, the speed of the cyclone, the actions of my boss?

That thinking falls inline with Muslim theology. Inshallah. Nothing happens without the direct, intervening hand of Allah, willing it to be as it is.

But Christians don’t believe this, or should not believe such a view of God. We hold firmly to the power of free-will, personal choice. We are free to decide how we spend our money, how we drive our cars, who we marry, what career path we follow, and the everyday choices we make... some good ones and some not so good.

So herein lies the thorny theological paradox. How does God’s sovereignty and human free–will interact? It’s a debate that’s older than time. Paul in his all-over-the-place discussion of this as it applies to salvation of the Jews and Gentiles, declares it a mystery and proclaims: “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and his paths beyond tracing out!!” (Romans 11:33)  So what exactly does this phrase mean? Here’s what we can be sure of:

1. God is not controlling. God does not control us. He does not give us free–will then take it away by predetermining our choices. He offers us blessing and cursing, life and death. He gives us options. He says; ‘Stay faithful to the covenant life’, but doesn’t hit us over the head with a sledgehammer when we don’t.

2. Not everything that happens is God’s will.  If everything that ever happened on earth was God’s will, there would be no reason to pray; “Your will be done on earth as it heaven.” (Matthew 6:10). Much of what we see here on earth are not God’s choices for humanity. Earth is not heaven and is certainly in harmony with God’s plan at this point in time. Sometimes I think using this phrase can be dangerous. It can lead us to blame God and avert taking our own responsibility for the choices and decisions we make.

So,  if I chose to drink and drive a car while intoxicated, and some is seriously injured,  was God in control of that?  If I don’t pay my bills on time, recklessly spending away my money on luxuries and go bankrupt, saddled with crippling debt, was God in control of that?  If I don’t resolve the failings of my relational behaviors, learn to manage my anger, and my marriage falls apart as a consequence, was that God’s doing?

Maybe it would be a good idea to re-work that statement a little. I wonder if we should change the default line from “God is in control” to; “God is always good. He is always able to bring good from any situation as we trust him.”

Yes, his awe-inspiring, miraculous and mysterious, all-knowing sovereignty means while I make my choices and they have consequences, a life consecrated to God means that my not so good choices and unfortunate consequences can bring glory to Him.  

How is that possible?  When we stay faithful to God through our failings in life, not blaming Him, persevering, knowing things will get better because He promises as much, then we can endure our “self-inflicted”  hardships brought on by pride, self-assurance and our fumbling weaknesses, and God, His ways, His promises, are raised up above ourselves and He and His way is glorified. 

It means that when people do wrong to us and the consequences of those decisions fall upon us, we don’t miss out on His favor. We bear no grudge, no root of bitterness forms, and no matter what happens to us that is outside God’s perfect will, he is able make all things work together for those who love him.  

God does not control humans, nor does he manipulate them into doing things that would we counter to His love and desire for us to experience peace.  He persuades us through his Word and Guidance to live and act in ways that protect us from making choices that can be harmful to us. Keep on Keepin’ on... the path to glory.

If God knows our free will choices, do we really have free will?

I've always been puzzled by the notion held by some people that if God knows what we are going to choose in the future, then we really don't have free will.  We are little more than pre-programed robots.

They say that if God knows we are going to make a certain "free will" choice, then when it is time for us to make that choice, God already knows what we are going to choose. Therefore we are not really free to make a different choice, change our minds, and God's foreknowledge of events big and small, means we really don’t have freedom of choice at all. 

Quite honestly, I do not see this as being a legitimate theological issue. Let me explain. Let's work with the basis that we are “free-will creatures” and that God knows all things, even our future choices. Furthermore, let's define free will as the ability to make choices, reverse direction, change our minds, regardless of a person's sinful nature. Given these conditions, is God's omniscience and our free will incompatible, as those who claim God does not know all things before they happen?

By analogy, knowing what will happen does not mean that we are preventing or causing that thing to happen. The sun will rise tomorrow. I am not causing it to rise, nor am I preventing it from rising by knowing that it will happen. Maybe a more human illustration... if I put a bowl of ice-cream and a bowl of cauliflower in front of a child, [they sort of alike] you know without much debate which one is chosen – the ice cream. Knowing an expected outcome ahead of time does not restrict a child from making a free choice when the time comes. 

Logically, God knowing what we are going to do does not mean that we can't do something else. It means that God simply knows what we have chosen to do ahead of time. Our freedom is not restricted by God's foreknowledge. Our freedom of choice is simply realized by God ahead of our action. In this, our natural ability to make another choice has not been removed any more than my choice of what to write and how to write this article is controlled by God, word for word.  Before typing any part of this text, I pondered which words to write. My pondering was my doing, and the choice of words was mine. How then was I somehow restricted in freedom when choosing what to write if God knew what I was going to do? No matter what choice we freely make, it can be known by God, and His knowing it doesn't mean we aren't making a free choice.

Part of the issue here is the nature of time. If the future exists for God even as the present does, then God is consistently in all places at all times and is not restricted by time. This would mean that time (as we know and understand time) was not a part of His nature, to which God is subject and that God is not a linear entity, that is, it would mean that God is not restricted to operating in our time realm and is not restricted to the present only. 

If God is not restricted to existence in the present, our present, then the future is known by God because God indwells the future as well as the present (and the past). This would mean that our future choices, as free as they are, are simply known by God, not pre-programmed choices and outcomes. Again, our ability to choose is not altered or lessened by God existing in the future and knowing what we freely choose. It just means that God can see what we will freely choose, and therefore knows what our choice will be.

Scripturally, God inhabits eternity. Psalm 90:2 says, "Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.  But this verse, and others, do not declare that God lives inside or outside of time. 

Rather, the Bible tells us that God is eternal. The Bible teaches that God has no beginning or end. Nevertheless, the Scriptures are not definitive on this issue, and we can only conclude what they do say, namely, that God is eternal, without beginning, without end and that He can accurately and precisely predict what will happen.  "As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place," (Dan. 2:29).

We can reasonably conclude from our limited understanding of God’s nature that time, as we know it, is not applicable to God's nature. In other words, God has no beginning, and since "beginning" deals with a logical event in time, God is outside of time.  Essentially, time has no relevance to God, while time is man’s enemy, up to the return of Christ when eternal life becomes a reality for the faithful.  So, in relation to our free will and God's predictive ability, there is no Biblical reason to assert that God's foreknowledge negates our freedom of choice.

Furthermore, there is no logical reason to claim that if God knows what choices we are going to make, that it means we are not free. It just means that the free choices we will make are made independent of any cosmic manipulation or coercion... they are just known ahead of time by God. 

If we choose something different, then that choice will have been eternally known by God. Furthermore, this knowledge by God does not alter our nature in that it does not change what we are--free to make choices. God's knowledge is necessarily complete and exhaustive because that is His nature... to know all things. 

Why? Because God always knows all things: " . . . God is greater than our heart, and knows all things," (1 John 3:20).

“Do You Love Me?

Pride is often considered the foremost vice among Christians, since it is contrary to the love of God. As Christian thinker and writer C.S. Lewis stated... "According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind."

Christianity teaches that there are many different manifestations of pride. They include "boasting of men (1 Corinthians 3:21)," doing something "from selfishness or conceit (Philippians 2:3)," and refusing to "be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ (Ephesians 5:21)."

God clearly commands Christians to be humble, not proud and boastful.

Sometimes, we Christians may be tempted to self-righteously look down on unbelievers who lead immoral lives, and even other believers whom we deem “less worthy” but we need to remember that we are saved by grace, not by any good thing we do, and all our blessings come from God, because of His mercy, and love for us.

Every time a Christian is proud of himself or boastful about something he has done, he is sinning and breaking a command of God.  We are told to be humble instead.  Pride and boasting can be problems for Christians and non-christians alike. The Bible warns people about being proud and boastful.

Jesus taught a powerful and valuable lesson, we should all remember, on the last night of his life and ministry, before his destiny with the cross.  He taught the lesson to one of his own... Peter.  The lesson is recorded in the gospel of John and several questions emerge as we read this passage at John 21:15-17...

15 When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 16 Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 17 The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.

There are several things in this passage we do not often consider.  For example... Why did Jesus ask Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Maybe it was because Peter denied him three times, although at this encounter, the last supper, Peter has yet to be confronted with his denials of Jesus.

Why did he make his point publicly? Because Peter denied him publicly. Maybe the other disciples needed to hear Peter openly declare his love for Christ. Without hearing those words, the doubts would linger forever.

The man who had been so boastful, so sure of himself, so confident of his own courage, is now thoroughly humbled by such a simple question. Jesus’ first question – “Do you love me more than these?” (v. 15) – was a subtle reminder of his previous boast to be more loyal than the other disciples (Matthew 26:33). In his reply Peter declares his love for Christ, but he refuses to compare himself with anyone else. As painful as this question was framed by Jesus, it was absolutely necessary to make his point, not only with Peter but all the disciples. It’s as if Jesus is cleaning an open wound so that it might properly heal. He is getting rid of Peter’s guilt and shame by dealing with it openly.

Consider what Christ doesn’t do. He doesn’t try to make Peter feel guilty. He doesn’t humiliate him publicly. He doesn’t ask him, “Are you sorry for what you did?” He doesn’t make him promise to do better. He just asks one question: “Do you love me?”

Once we have hurt someone we love, it is hard to look them in the face and it is harder still to be questioned about our true commitment. “How could you have done that? What were you thinking? Do you even love me at all?” But the questions must be asked and the answers must be given.  And they must be repeated if the truth is to be fully told and understood by all parties.

If you think about what Jesus accomplishes in asking that simple question, he is setting the stage, the criteria for emotional and spiritual growth that enables everyone who professes Christ to really be engaged with Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit.  There are three qualifications for those who would serve the Lord... The first is love.  The second is love.  The third is love.  Anything else needed? Nope.

And, it works out in our lives like this... First we love, then serve.  First we love, then speak.  First we love, then lead.

When Christ asks the question the third time, Peter’s heart is grieved and he blurts out, “Lord, you know all things” (v. 17). With those words Peter renounces all his self-confidence.  He is saying that he cannot do anything with love for Christ.   

On that fateful night in the Upper Room, he thought he knew himself, but he really didn’t. Now he’s not so sure of anything. He doesn’t even trust his own heart; instead he trusts in the Lord who knows all things, especially his heart. This is a mighty step forward in Christian growth. It is a great advance to come to the place where you can say with conviction, “My trust is in the Lord alone.” Sometimes we have to hit bottom and hit it hard before we can say those words.

No doubt Peter loved Jesus more after his fall, his denials, than before.  No one loves like the one who has experienced God’s grace firsthand.

I love you, Lord Jesus, but not as I ought. Purge from my heart all pride and grant me a good memory of my past so that I might love you more when I remember how much you have loved me and forgiven all my sins. Amen. 

Is God in Control of... Everything?

Which way should I go? Maybe left... maybe right?  Could go straight, but how will I know which direction is best?

What about shocking events?  Someone you know, 42 years of age, dies suddenly from a heart attack. Was it in God’s plan? 

I don’t believe that God plans for any life to be cut short. I don’t believe that God wants anything like that to happen to anyone, even bad people. I don’t believe that a premature death is punishment for some sin.  I don’t believe that violent storms, tornados, earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis in southern Asia are by the hand of God to punish people for not believing in Him.  Think about this...

Does God plan that every 4 seconds, a child dies of preventable diseases? Did God plan for half a million people die in an earthquake in Haiti? Did God condemn 400,000 Vietnamese boat people to drown at sea while seeking a new life in a better country?

What kind of God would He be, if He did these kinds of things to innocent and defenseless humanity?

Some might argue that God is sovereign and in control of everything, and therefore everything that happens is all part of God’s master plan. We should all be sickened and frankly terrified by such a thought. The sort of God who could minutely plan bad things for the people he created, simply does not exist!

We all hear platitudes such as... “It was all in God’s plan for our lives.” “God is in control.”  “Everything happens for a reason.” “God wanted another angel when someone dies.”

No argument that for God to be God, he is all-powerful and could do anything, but that doesn’t mean he DOES everything. If he planned out our lives in minute detail, we would be mere robots, puppets at the end of a string being controlled and manipulated, helplessly doing what we were never meant to be doing and having no control over our own lives.

As human beings, we have free will. We can make choices, some small, some big and profound, some not so good that have long lasting consequences.  The power of free will affects every person in the world. We are all affected, not just by ones personal choices, but by other people’s choices as well.

Things which happen to all of us can be a result of choices or random happenings. (Ecclesiastes 9:11-12) Random events of nature which no human can either predict or control.  Choices we make, either consciously or unconsciously, can result in actions which adversely affect ones life.  Choices other people make, can result in actions which affect my life.

Most natural events are random and unpredictable. We do not know when a volcano will erupt.  A family living in a fishing village in Sri Lanka had no way of knowing that a movement in the earth’s crust over a thousand miles away in Indonesia would cause a Tsunami which would destroy their lives, homes and livelihoods.

But we do have some choices to make when it comes to natural events. A volcano eventually produces very productive soil. Living on a volcano’s slopes can be very profitable, or disastrous. If we build our house on a flood plain of a river, we can take advantage of the soils deposited by previous floods, until the next big flood ruins what we have built.

There might be economic choices to make. An earthquake in Japan may not result in great losses because many buildings are earthquake-proof, whereas in Haiti an earthquake caused enormous loss of lives and homes.

We have some control over our own health. A fatal disease might be unpredictable and unavoidable but might have been prevented if we looked after our health and immune-system as a healthy living choice.

When God created all things he gave humankind a special ‘gift’ of free will. In nature, this makes us unique. An animal has some, but very little free will. They are mostly controlled by basic instincts. Material objects have no free will but act according to the laws of physics.

Having “free will” has its costs. If we accept that God gives us free choices, we have to accept that he cannot then interfere with those choices. It also means that he doesn’t interfere with other people’s choices either. That means that if someone drives carelessly, we might be involved in an accident through no fault of our own.  Unforeseen events can and will affect all of us at some point in life.

The choices we make may be good choices, bad choices or neutral. But even a neutral choice can turn out to hurt us. We may decide to take the scenic route home, rather than the fast route. That is not a bad choice, or a good choice – but either could result in disaster or nothing at all.

We make hundreds of tiny choices every day. Most have no noticeable effect, but we have no way of knowing that. If we were to agonize over every tiny decision, then our lives would be unbearable. That is where faith come in. Faith is an assurance that whatever happens in our lives, that God will guide our choices, if we know what He expects of those who love Him and cause all to ‘work together for good’.  All of God’s Word is a guide to living well in a dangerous sin-filled world.  Knowing what we should do, does not guarantee that our choices will always be perfect, but it does assure us that we can cope with whatever comes...  And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)  A person who endures hardship, and bears up under life’s unforeseen events without caving under the pressure, will be a glorious example of faith and trust in God.  

The greatest confidence Christians can have is to know that God is at work within your life and that, no matter what happens, in the end God’s love wins and you will be glorified with eternal life!

God does not control our choices but he can, and does guide us in our choices.  He does not do it by pulling our strings as a cosmic puppeteer.  He does it by engaging us in his Word.  Some choices need little, or no guidance. 

We all know that murder is a bad choice. We should not go through life asking God about every little thing: “Is it your will that I have a cup of tea”. That’s where faith comes in.  Trust that God likes “tea” after all, He made it!

When we give up our lives to follow Jesus, follow His plan for Salvation, the Holy Spirit lives within us and help us in our choices. Making the right choices can benefit us – and those around us whose lives are impacted by our actions.

God does have a plan for the life of every man and women. His plan involves reconciliation, restoration and love. His plan is to make us all complete. He has made us all in His image. That means that HE has a free will too and freely gives of himself to the human race in love.

If we do not have free will, we cannot love. God loves us and we can love Him. He put us in a world which is seemingly random but can be overcome if man’s efforts go into making the world a better place. He gave us free will knowing we would often abuse the power by making wrong choices. But God also revealed himself in Jesus Christ and invites us to:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”  and: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Mark 12:30-31)

So, it is not about God controlling every detail of our lives... IT’S ALL ABOUT LOVE.

Truth, Choices and Consequences

People are defined by the choices they make and the consequences of those choices. In fact, the Bible is a book about people just like us whose choices determined their future. For example Adam and Eve, Cain, and Noah all made choices and lived with the consequences – good or bad.

Whenever the Bible talks about people and their choices, the Holy Spirit faithfully shares with us the negative consequences of their poor choices as well as the positive consequences of their wise choices. The “family portrait” of God’s family which the Bible presents shows the bad as well as the good and makes it clear that God gives us freedom to choose – but we have to live with the consequences of those choices.

So, along with the freedom to choose comes the responsibility for our choices. If we will allow Him, God will help us make wiser choices so that the consequences of our choices will give us a better life in Christ.

However, at times God lets us gain experience and wisdom from the pain of poor decisions we make. So, good decisions are the product of wisdom. Wisdom is the product of experience. And experience is the product of poor decisions.

The choices we make as children shape our future and influence the decisions we will make as adults. It’s like laying bricks for the foundation of a building. You may be only a sixteenth of an inch off when you begin the wall, but if you don’t make some kind of correction, your error will be magnified as the size of the wall grows. This is how some people wreck their lives. They make small decisions that incrementally over time put them on a path of expanding and sometimes tragic consequences.

And being indecisive can produce negative results as well. Look at the man who received one talent in Jesus’ Parable of the Talents. He became frightened that he might lose the one talent he had, so he dug a hole in the ground and hid it. For not investing it wisely he was severely reprimanded (see Matthew 25:14-30).

The passivity that cripples a person’s ability to make decisions often results from being criticized too severely and praised too seldom for the choices they made while growing up. This is what you will find in the history of many adults who shy away from making decisions, and even refuse to face realities and emergencies in their lives that demand choices.

The secret to overcoming your fear of making choices is to realize that everyone’s life is full of risks. Not making choices carries an even greater risk... losing control of your life. 

Like any other skill, your ability to make good and wise decisions improves with practice. You learn from the pain of your poor decisions how to make better ones.

Look on life as an adventure. Face the daily risks. Learn from your right decisions as well as your wrong ones. Reflecting on the consequences of our choices not only helps us not to repeat our mistakes it increases the number of our wise decisions and the good consequences they bring.

The mental process by which we make decisions is spirit-driven... either a good one or a dangerous one. There is a constant spiritual warfare being waged “between our ears” as Satan and the influences of this world try to distract us from making good decisions.

Choices are not made in a moral or spiritual vacuum. If you are “in Christ” the Lord, His Word, fellow believers, and all the positive influences that emanate from fellowship and worship are available to you as you contemplate your next choice.  That said, His enemy Satan and the allures of a wicked self-focused world are bombarding your mind with urges, fantasies, and ideas that will seem good but will take you down a path to sadness and despair.  Knowing which of these comes from whom is essential if you are going to express Christ’s life and deny expression to His enemy. Committing Scripture to memory will help you develop the necessary discernment for this task.  If you are not one who easily memorizes Scripture, then keep a Bible handy at all times, wherever you happen to be.  Fill it full of yellow sticky notes with important passages and refer to them daily!

Jesus Christ has a wonderful future for you that the devil doesn’t want you to discover. Today your life may be a disaster because of the consequences of bad choices. So align your life with Christ and He will help you discover creative ways of dealing with the crises in your life.  Just don’t expect him to solve your problems, or make the consequences of bad choices go away.  He doesn’t work that way.   You did it, you made it... you live with it.  He will however help you learn ways to make better choices and deal with the consequences of the not so good choices you have made.  The best guide for joy-filled living comes from His Word the Bible.  Immerse yourself in its wisdom and you will begin to see the “helps” he offers!

Ever since Adam and Eve, people have tried to make others responsible for their bad choices . . . tried to put the blame on others. Accepting the responsibility for poor choices and their consequences is the only way a person can grow. Look at the life of Moses. Although he made the right choice in identifying with the Hebrew people of his parents, rather than the Egyptians, he didn’t always make wise choices. Remember, he slew an Egyptian who was oppressing the Hebrews (see Exodus 2:11-25). When he was leading God’s people through the desert, Moses chose to disobey God by striking the rock for water when God told him only to speak (see Numbers 20:1-12). And not even Moses was given immunity from the consequences of his bad decisions – the murder of the Egyptian cost him 40 years on the backside of the desert and striking the rock cost him entrance into the Promised Land.

Wrong choices in small things are quite likely to be insignificant, but it’s important to seek God’s help for making the right decisions in the major things, the crossroads decisions of life. It would be wonderful if we always knew when we were making the life-changing, crossroads decisions. Unfortunately, that isn’t always true, but there are decisions we all face in life that we know are these kinds of major crossroads issues.

For example, whom we choose as our friends in junior and senior high is a crossroads decision. In high school our friends wield more influence than parents. This is why parents should monitor their children’s friendships and not fear to direct them away from friends that will have a bad influence on them.

Certainly dating, marriage and career are key crossroads choices. Young people need guidance and courage to keep sex reserved for marriage. Anytime that one engages in sexual behavior outside of marriage he/she is not only disobeying God, but also complicating his/her life. Parents have a responsibility to help their children make godly choices in this crucial area of their lives. And, of course, along with dating and marriage come important choices about having children and raising families.

Making wise choices is not just for young people, it applies to all ages.  Are you facing a major decision in your life right now? Jesus wants to meet you at that “crossroads” and help you look far enough down the road of your future to discover those options that represent His highest and best for your life.  You can discover what he expects of his followers in his Word... The Bible.