Free Will and the Reason for Christmas By CHENYUAN SNIDER for The Stream
A friend commented on my fear of dogs recently. She thinks we shouldn’t be afraid of dogs, the most loyal and loving creatures, but rather of humans who can be cruel and brutal. I pondered her remark. Why did God create humans? Why didn’t He make us loving and obedient like dogs? Has He made a terrible mistake?
God is Love
We know God is love. Love is never an abstract concept. Love longs to love and to be loved. God created heaven and earth, and they are marvelous. But they cannot love Him and fellowship with Him. He made human beings in His image and likeness who can love Him and fellowship with Him.
God could have made us amazing architects like birds who can build the most intricate nests without learning the trade. He could have given us super strength to carry weights a hundred times heavier than ourselves like ants. He could have made us loving and lovable like dogs. He could have put any kind of magnificent traits in us.
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Free Will
But by the very nature of love, it must be voluntary and cannot be coerced. Neither can it be manipulated. Love is love only when the option “not to love” is also available. Thus, in His sovereignty, God withholds His omnipotent power and grants us free will so that we can choose either to love Him or reject Him. Consequently, free will is granted with the intention that we be given the opportunity to love Him in the truest sense.
In the Hebrew Scripture, God’s relationship with Israel is often depicted as a romantic love. God loves Israel with unquenchable thirst, and He yearns for Israel to love Him back with unwavering fidelity and faith. That fidelity and faith require that we be given free will. Otherwise, God’s demands on Israel would have been absurd, making no sense.
God’s Grand Purpose
Therefore, free will first and foremost demonstrates God’s grand purpose in creating humans. He loves us passionately and longs for us to love Him back. For that reason I think the expression, “It’s not about you; it’s all about God,” seems to miss a crucial point. I understand its intent: to combat our narcissistic self-centeredness that fails terribly to render God His due. I think this expression may unwittingly downplay our role in our relationship with God, however. We matter greatly in it. This position falls short: It fails to recognize that loving relationships are always reciprocal. God’s love towards us and our love of Him are the two indispensable components in the relationship.
