Does Man actually have freedom of choice?

The concept of “free choice” was never completely a part of God’s Plan for Man. Whether we realize it or not, God has a very active influence on the nature of our decisions.  Adam and Eve didn’t consciously choose to disobey God and eat of the forbidden fruit. They didn’t yet have the knowledge of good and evil. God told them what would happen if they did, but they didn’t yet have the knowledge of good and evil.

It was impossible for them to perceive that it was wrong. But, it was all a part of the Great Plan for Man. God knew the man that He had created and He also knew that man would break the rules that God created. After that, God revealed to man how his life was going to be. But he didn’t curse man and man didn’t fall since he was only placed into a part that he was destined to play.

Adam and Eve didn’t sin out of their own free choice, it was all a part of the way God created man. God made man the way he was. He knew what Man was capable of and what he would do. There is nothing wrong with eating fruit, in and of itself. But eating that certain fruit was wrong because God commanded them not to do it, while all along knowing what they would do — because that’s the way God planned it in the very beginning.

God created the rules; God made the act forbidden; God created the evil that he let Man commit. God created the tree called the knowledge of good and evil and planned for Man to eat of. If it wasn’t a part of the plan, it would have never happened in the first place.

God even let the serpent be there to tempt Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit. The serpent couldn’t even do anything without God’s permission. If it hadn’t been for the serpent, Adam may never have eaten the forbidden fruit on his own. Since it was all a part of the Great Plan of God so then it was He who put all the pieces in place so it would all happen the way that He planned it. That does sound a a bit unbelieveable, I know, but there is no other way that it could have been.

Then when Man had committed the “sin” that God knew that he would commit, He told the man and the woman how their lives would be from then on. He told them exactly what his plan was for their lives: how the woman would have sorrow in birth and that her conception would be to multiply. He told her that her desire would be to her husband and that he would rule over her. That was all a part of God’s Great Plan for her.

The Bible never says that this was a curse. He does say that because you disobeyed what I said not to do, the ground is cursed and you will eat of in sorrow all the days of your life. But before Adam and Eve ever “disobeyed”, and before he was even created God knew what Adam would do and He also knew the plan he had created for him.

Is it possible that God didn’t know beforehand what Adam would disobey him? Is it possible that God decided after Adam disobeyed that he would put a curse on the ground because of what he did? Or did he already know before He even created Adam what would happen and what He would do?

To the man God revealed His plan of how he would work hard all the days of his life and would have sorrow in his work and that he would work all his life and in the end return to the dust of the ground from where he came. And all of these thousands of years it has happened exactly the way that God had planned it from the very beginning. It has this all been part of the Great Plan of God from the very beginning.

If it didn’t happen the way God planned it, then God isn’t all-knowing and all-powerful. But it did happen that way and it had to be the way God planned it and it couldn’t have been by any accident or something that was unforeseen by God. If not, then God would have made a mistake. Could it be that God did not plan things the way they happened and the so-called “fall of man” took place without God knowing that it would happen?

There is no other way it could have been. Did God make a mistake or was that the way He planned it from the very beginning? It had to be one or the other. I don’t believe that God makes mistakes.

God’s Great Plan was not only for Adam and Eve but for all humanity

Not only was it God’s plan for Adam and Eve, but it was also His plan for all their descendents — every person who has ever been born, lived and died.

We have been taught us from the time that we were old enough to understand that we were given the freedom of choice — our parents, our schools, our religions — but it’s all been untrue.

You were “born in sin”.

If you had your freedom of choice would you chose to be born in sin? Did you chose to be “born in sin“? Wouldn’t you have rather have been born perfect? Did you choose to be born? If you had had the choice would you have chosen to be born, live a life of sorrow, hard work, and after your short life was finally over, death?

If you had known beforehand and had had the freedom to chose, would you have chosen to be born into a world where you would have had sorrow in childbearing or had to have multiple childbirths? Would you (women) have chosen to have to be subject to your husband and have him rule over you?

And what choice have all the billions of decedents of Adam had in the decision of being born into sin? How is it that all of mankind throughout the ages have all had to pay the price for the sins of Adam? Was it all Adam’s fault?

The reality is that though sin did come into the world by one man, but it was all a part of God’s great plan from the very beginning that Man, and not only Man, but all of creation, should be subjected to corruption.

“For the creation was not willingly subjected to vanity (depravity), but because of Him Who subjected it on hope, that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21)

What it is saying here is that God subjected His creation to sin, but He also subjected his creation to the hope in that Man would be liberated from it. And that hope is Jesus and salvation from sin was also a part of the plan from the very beginning. The plan was that man, was to be “bound to corruption” and then eventually liberated from it.

If God hadn’t made the rules, there wouldn’t be sin or evil. And there wouldn’t even be good for that matter, because there is no way that there could be good unless there were evil. God created evil and evil men the way they are. That’s what the Bible says, believe it or not:

“I am the LORD, and there is none else; forming the light and creating darkness; making peace and creating evil. I the LORD do all these things” (Isaiah 45:6-7).

The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. (Pro 16:4)

But the creation was subjected in hope, looking unto the day when we all will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of freedom from sin.

So the fact being that all Men were unwillingly subjected to sin, being born into sin and all Men being a part of the Great Plan, it is only logical that all Men will be delivered from the bondage of sin.

Sin is a necessary part of the experience of life that Man was created to pass through in order that he could learn and grow from. God created the rules and was a very necessary part of the Great Plan that G0d devised to make Man evolve into what He wanted Man to be. The only choice that Man actually has the “freedom”, if you will, to make is between right and wrong and he is constantly learning that there are consequences to any “choice” he may make. Sin would be then, man’s knowingly breaking the rules that God created for Man’s own good.

In this sense he is free to choose. But even in this Man’s choice is strongly influenced by God’s will. This fact is evident throughout the Bible.

God hardened Pharaoh’s heart so the he wouldn’t let the people go:

Exo 4:21  And the LORD said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go.

God put it into their hearts to cause them to do his will. There is no free will in that:

Rev 17:17  For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

This is a hard saying. Jesus hid the truth in parables so that certain people would not hear and be converted and their sins be forgiven:

Mar 4:11  And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
Mar 4:12  That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.

What this means then, is that since Man really never did have the “freedom of choice”. In God’s own time those who are not saved now will eventually be saved. Some are destined to be saved now and others are destined to be saved in ages to come. But eventually all will be saved. It’s all a part of the Great Plan.

The Great Plan: Part 4
The Story of Creation