By Larry Young 

God created man and woman perfect. But why did God create us at all? It was because He would prove to the universe that the devil had it wrong about God, that it was indeed possible for human beings created in God’s own image to love Him and keep all His commandments while having free will. Although Adam and Eve had the awesome gift of free will, there was always the possibility that they could choose not to love God nor keep all His commandments… and that’s exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The devil was jubilant; he successfully deceived Adam and Eve, and brought them both…and ultimately us… under the devil’s power, condemning them and all future generations to a slow but assured death. The only logical remedy was for God Himself (in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s only son) to prove to the universe that it was indeed possible for a human being to love God (the Father) and keep all His commandments while still having free will. Long story short, Jesus met that challenge and passed all those tests stated by the devil… at the cross. 

Not only was God vindicated of the devil’s accusations, but the absolute value of free will was put on full display. If there was no actual free will to begin with, all of God’s creation could only love Him because they had been programmed to do so… which is not love at all; it’s robotics! Why would God want to create a bunch of “yes men” by creating man…if there was no free will? Reconsider the fate of all the angels that God created: They too were ALL created with free will and the power of choice. Long before man was even created here on earth, the war for the allegiance of God’s own angels had already been settled. Two thirds of the angels ultimately chose to love God and to keep His commandments and stay with Him, but one third ultimately chose to hate God and follow Lucifer, the arch angel, who then became the devil and Satan. So the creation of man and woman was certainly no afterthought or accident; the future of Heaven and God Himself was at stake. 

Even though the answer to the question regards free will and power of choice had been settled at the cross, the ultimate outcome of sin and death and the cost of following God under free will still faces closure. So how does all this history impact you and me right now today?… It affects us in every way! There’s still only two sides in the war for the allegiance of the heart: Either we are following God and Jesus, or we are following the devil and Satan. Do you use your free will to choose to love and follow God?… or do you use your free will to hate and to follow Satan? If you claim to love God, is there someone out there you genuinely hate? Keep in mind that it is acceptable to hate evil, but it’s up to God to judge the evil doer. If you claim to follow God, do you follow without question and repeat the mantras of evil men like a robot? Those were the very same choices made by Satan’s fallen angels, and the fate of one third of the angels in Heaven was sealed, even before man’s creation. Use your power of choice to love God and Jesus, but also use your power of choice to love others. Hate only sin, but not the sinner. God created you to love Him freely, because He gave everything at the cross to prove how much He loves you freely. No robots allowed.