What was God Thinking?

Most of us are familiar with the story of Adam and Eve and the forbidden fruit (Gen 2:15).  God commanded Adam not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil for in the day that it was eaten, he would surely die. Later (Gen 3: 1-6), Eve is approached by the Serpent, told to the contrary and the rest is history.

Before we begin, let us ask ourselves a couple of basic questions.
Is God all-knowing?  (Omniscient)

The answer is either YES or NO.

Is God all-powerful?  (Omnipotent)

The answer is either YES or NO

If God is omniscient, He would have seen the outcome of Genesis 2.  Likewise, if God is omnipotent, He could have NOT created the Tree of Knowledge or could have prevented Eve from eating it. Even if He couldn't stop or protect Eve, His sight into the future would have been sufficient warning for precautionary measures. Therefore, He could have prevented the Fall of Man and the whole mess that followed. But He didn't.

One might conclude that He didn't see what was coming and is, in fact, partially ignorant. One might also conclude that He couldn't prevent Eve from eating. If either of these are true then He is not worthy of our attention.

Now for the alternative, which isn't very comforting either. If God IS omniscient and omnipotent, then He did it knowing full well Eve would succumb to the serpent's proposition and His inaction to protect Eve was deliberate.

Romans 8:20
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope (expectation)...

God deliberately set Adam and Eve up.  Sounds cruel? God allowed our father and mother to fall and thereby setting our DNA on a self destruct course toward death.  Every loved one who has died, suffered the pains of disease and persecution, has done so because a long time ago God 'subjected' creation to futility.  What God did is like a parent leaving a loaded handgun in the sight and reach of a child telling the child not to play with it knowing full well the child will, does and dies.  At the very least in today's American society we call this child endangerment.

Romans 9:19 - 23 (NASB) ¹⁹You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?”  ²⁰On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it?  ²¹Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?  ²²What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?  ²³And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 

Romans 9 opens up lots of controversy. This controversy is needless as we will soon see. Let me say just briefly, Paul was a vessel of dishonor, prepared for destruction only to become a vessel of mercy prepared beforehand for glory. Putting it another way, the potter makes a spittoon and he makes a chalice. One is a vessel of honor while the other is a vessel of dishonor. Both are useful to the Potter. Furthermore, it does not prevent their roles being exchanged.
As to the matter of the forbidden fruit …
What was God thinking? Well, two things come to mind.

• Free Will

The Sunday school answer is that God wanted man to have free will.  Picture someone standing over you with a sword, forcing you to sign a contract without reading it. He is acting against the free will of the one signing.  God did not coerce Adam and Eve to eat, nor did He act contrary to their choice to disregard His directive. Some argue that because of the Fall we do not have free will any longer.  They use Romans 9 (incorrectly) as proof we are predetermined to be saved or to perish and there is nothing we are able to do about it.  Once a spittoon, always a spittoon. Out destiny has been decided and any change in that destiny dictates that God must intervene. These theologians say we are unable to make a godly decision, because we are totally depraved. Some say that because of this God must first enable us, that Grace is not up to us and is unmerited.  Okay, all this is true. Being born is not our decision and by default we are predestined for either Glory or Perdition. Death is at the end of our lives, a given, plain and simple fact.

By our very DNA, death has entered through “…one man’s sin.”  We have been separated from God, not able to have fellowship with Him without some help from Him. However, FREE WILL is not set aside by this predetermination to defective DNA. It is not complicated, not contradictory to total depravity, not a circumvention of choice but an absolutely brilliant way (Praise God and His Wisdom) of removing personal merit from the equation without rendering humanity to the level of puppet. Imagine we are at sea, shipwrecked, tossed about on the ocean waves, too far from land to swim. We are lost and without hope. Suddenly, a Coast Guard Helicopter circles, drops a line and a voice yells, “Grab the line!”   We have a choice.  We are still completely dependant on being found by another, hoisted by another, carried to safety by another and nursed to health by another. As we are raised we are not deliberating on whether or not I have merited my rescue nor are we measuring the work which aided in my way to rescue. Had it not been there to begin with, my ‘grabbing’ would have been a striving after the wind. All is asked of me is to “Grab the line!” 

Let me say this again.  God is ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!! He gets the glory for the rescue and we can express our trust in Him by ‘grabbing the line.' We can take credit for nothing other than declaring He is trustworthy.  He is still the focus in the declaration. 

I’ll come back to this in later studies.  Right now, it is important to understand that 'free will' is not only a given and is part of my design, but it is not isolated. Free will does not stand by itself. Okay, no brainer time … Choice is not choice unless there are choices … dah.  Free will choice is more than choice of ‘this or that’ as in our example. In the salvation choice it must coexist with another factor. Our belief or mental assent is really meaningless.  Demons have a better understanding of God than we do and they are not saved. But the expression of their faith is to shudder. Our expression of faith can be obedience yet this obedience can be deceptive. The age old dilemma of works based salvation slithers into the picture.
Here is how God clarifies this age old dilemma. Using the second part of our contract, God makes belief and obedience secondary by requiring this be without hypocrisy.  My obedience CAN be for show. My belief CAN be based upon deception or error. The only way for me to be absolutely sure is through the heart felt surrender of the things which I have grown to love for the heart felt devotion to Him.

• Full Disclosure

In signing a contract one is faced with the choice of signing or not, but not just the act of signing.  The contract must fully disclose the terms. "If you eat, you will die." “If you sign, this is what you will experience and what you will be RESPONSEable to do.”  When you buy a car, sign up for some sort of media service, or employment agreement, details must be included … dah. 
So where are we going with this?

Mankind was subjected to futility. This is not cruel, but a act of Sovereignty.  God had total sway over His creation.  He set it up exactly the way He wanted it and nothing overruled His plans. He, by an act of choice, released his grip and granted free will to Adam and Eve. God did not want puppets but free will agents.  Furthermore, God did not want mindless flukes of behavior, but informed creatures who would be able to deliberate upon the disclosed terms and intelligently agree or disagree.

Now there is a word of caution. The illusion of choice and linking it to free will can be a mistake.  There are many things in this world that we will experience and will not have a say in it.  Government edicts, sickness, our birth and death are just a few of the many things we honestly have no choice over.  Back to Romans 9 … God made me the way I am, the country I was born in, the parents I was born to, the exposure and influences I have witnessed, my intelligence factor, etc. Whether one would consider me a vessel of honor or dishonor is subjective.  Amos was a farmer while Solomon was a man of means. One had more ‘influence’ and ‘public notoriety’ than the other.   A professor may have more influence (honor) than a janitor. It is not the man that is important, but the message that vessel contains. This is predetermined by many many factors which are out of our control. As to the rest of the verse, let’s go back into the Old Testament and look at Pharaoh of  Egypt. He was born (no choice on his part) into a family of influence ( no choice on his part), allowed to grow up thinking he was a god (his choice to believe the lie – which God allowed to circulate), for the purpose of being humiliated by the Truth of the One True God.  He had every opportunity but the Truth (God) hardened his heart like the sun hardens clay yet melts wax.

Psalms 81:11 - 12 (NASB) ¹¹    “But My people did not listen to My voice,     And Israel did not obey Me. ¹²    “So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart,     To walk in their own devices.

Romans 1:20 - 25 (NASB) ²⁰For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.  ²¹For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  ²²Professing to be wise, they became fools,  ²³and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. ²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.  ²⁵For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

We have always had the ONE CHOICE.  Focus upon God in order to … make further choices … informed choices. God has negated our ‘total depravity’ through that which He created.

Now the rest of the story.  God created man in His image, after His likeness, gave him a free will and subjected him to the lusts and weaknesses of the flesh so that man could completely understand the meaning of sacrificial love.  You see, if God is love, and we are created after His likeness, then we are capable of making a deliberate choice to love from the heart. We must choose to neglect what we have grown to love for the Purity of Him.  Our choice is the focus of our deliberation. The rest is His glory.  We ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ by our choice of focus upon His ‘fireworks’ show, but the SHOW is HIS.  We can not take credit for that which we did not create.

God gets the glory for the very choice of free will HE HAS GIVEN.

ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT.

Challenging the Dream

Since Genesis 3, mankind has been locked in battle against the Great Dreamweaver.  Satan will promise peace and tranquility. His lies do in fact bring a real peace and real tranquility, but it is only temporary. He satisfies the empty stomach and takes away the pain of loneliness, but he does this with a lie. He promises and he delivers, but he does not tell you the price tag attached to its fulfillment. In the Garden of Eden, his dream weaving cost mankind’s physical immortality and through the one man, death entered the world (Romans 5:12).

We find another such incident in Matthew 4. Three times Satan tempted Jesus, yet upon closer examination, the first requests didn’t seem all that big of a deal. 

Matthew 4:3 (NASB) ³And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 

Jesus, in fact, is the Son of God. 

Satan was not asking Him to admit to a bogus identity. 

Jesus could have easily proven Himself, but chose not to make bread out of stones.

Eating was not a matter of gluttony in that Jesus had already fasted for 40 days. Jesus was understandably hungry.

What was the big deal here? 

In verse 1 of Matthew 4, Matthew writes that Jesus was lead up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil. The purpose of this was not fasting, but the tempting.

Jesus replied, "It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’"

Jesus didn't even rely on His own authority, but referred that authority to the Father, siting scripture. He put the Word ahead of wheat.

What does that say about our behavior when asked to prove ourselves?

Matthew 4:5 - 6 (NASB) ⁵Then the devil took^* Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,  ⁶and said^* to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,     ‘He will command His angels concerning You’; and     ‘On their hands they will bear You up,     So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.’”

Satan now uses the scripture in his attempt to get Jesus to admit His identity. If scripture can be used by Satan, then certainly man’s understanding of the scripture (theology) can be used to motivate us to admit our identity. 

What is behind all of Satan’s cloak and dagger?

Matthew 4:8 - 9 (NASB) ⁸Again, the devil took^* Him to a very high mountain and showed^* Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory;  ⁹and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 

Looking at the three in a nutshell, Jesus was going to reveal His identity anyway, why go hungry? What is wrong with taking in  nourishment? 

Secondly, Jesus came on a mission, sent by His Father Who would fulfill His Word prophesied thousands of years ago. Surely, the Father would send angels to guarantee His Son’s safety.

One tangent thought, this is the ONLY Biblical example of 'taking a leap of faith'. I don't want to go into this now, but I will only say that the concept of "Leap of Faith" is satanic ... period.

Finally, Satan’s last temptation was out right desperate. 

True, Satan wants worship, but the glory of this world which could have been immediate does not compare to the glory set before Jesus and is yet to come.  Jesus had to suffer many things before all this could take place. Furthermore, being aware of Who Jesus is, Creator and owner of all of creation, Satan sought to give what wasn’t really his to give. 

One must see his diabolical nature and skill at deception in these verses in order to be on guard against him. I think the answer to this complex interchange between Satan and Jesus can be found in First Peter. Jesus could have eaten, but it was Satan commanding it. Jesus could have been protected, but it was Satan's contrived circumstances. Jesus had the whole world in His hands in the beginning, having created it and held it together by His power. What Satan offered Him ... Jesus already had until a quiet night in Bethlehem when "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." 

1 Peter 5:6 - 9 (NASB) ⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time,  ⁷casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.  ⁸Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  ⁹But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. 

Out of this passage we see elements of a coming series, “Who Am I," with the same elements woven into Matthew 4.  Jesus humbled Himself, allowing His identity and His exaltation revealed by the Father at the proper time. On the more practical note, perhaps we try to prove ourselves before the Father’s time has come. In proving ourselves, are we not putting ourselves in front?  Would defending ourselves fall under this as well? Jesus did say to turn the other cheek. We also fret about our clothing and our sustenance when the Father cloths the lilies of the field and feeds the birds of the air.   

For me, one of the most disturbing passages in the scripture is Matthew 7:21-23 and its connection with the title of this article:
Matthew 7:21 - 23 (NASB) ²¹“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. ²²“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’  ²³“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’
Some will say this verse has to do with those who believe in Salvation through works, that it has nothing to do with Christians. Well, this may be true to a degree, but notice Jesus’ phrase, “…but he who DOES the will of My father who is in heaven will enter.” Hardly restricted to the law keeper, this verse should be disturbing to everyone in the church as well. Note He is including those who call Him LORD, those who prophesy in His name, those who cast out demons and those who, in His Name, performed many miracles. Jesus is NOT exclusive about the Jewish Law keepers. He is NOT exclusive about those who call Him Lord and obey Him.  He is talking about those who are living the dream of salvation and are refusing to admit that their failures and weaknesses are rooted deeply in rebellion.  The Great Dreamweaver has sung these guys to sleep. Cradled in a bed and breakfast of false security, they are surprised to awaken to the words, “I never knew you.” 

What exactly is the Will of My Father?

I would think humility would rank high on the list (see 1 Peter 5:6-9), but first let’s look at the connections.
“…he who does the Will of my Father who is in Heaven will enter.”
“… I never knew you; depart from Me 

Doing the Will of the Father seems to be connected to His statement, “I never knew you…” in that only those who do the will of My Father…may enter. Furthermore, I never knew you is connected to “depart from Me”. At least the result of not knowing and not doing the Will of the Father is the same. So, all things being equal, I think it is fair to assume the connection exists.

Secondly, the word knew or know denotes a relationship beyond the casual knowledge of someone. There are many people we know, but few people we can call close in association, submission or intimacy. By intimacy I do not mean in a sexual context. Although submitting to one another is understood, total strangers can be sexually intimate, submitting to one another and yet remain complete strangers. For this reason, marriage is not a good example, especially in this country’s culture. After years of marriage, couples have found themselves strangers after the kids grow up and move away, spending less time together because their focal point has moved out. 

Better examples of this intimacy is found in an organized group like a football team or a military SF (Special Forces) team.  One must have more than a passing knowledge of the team roster if expected to perform with top efficiency. Top notch performance as a team requires regular and consistent practice (something lacking in the modern church). Each  member must be able to perform their own assignment, but know the other team assignments well enough to adapt given one member is injured or situation takes a radical change. Radical changes can occur quickly, leaving little or no time to reissue detailed directives. The group must act in reflex. Personally, I love the imagery of a law enforcement dynamic entry team (SWAT).  They are so closed-in they can touch one another. When the point man moves, the whole team knows to move without vocal queue.  

But, how does knowing Jesus in this close and intimate way connect to the will of the Father, and what does this have to do with salvation?

The tie between Jesus and the Father is common throughout the New Testament. I can’t KNOW the Father without KNOWING the Son.  I can’t SEE the Father except I go through the Son.

• If you receive me, you receive the Father Who sent Me.  (Mark 9:37)
  
  John 4:34 (NASB) ³⁴Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”
  
  (Does this passage help establish a connection between Matthew 4 and Matthew 7?)

 

• I am the Way…no one can come to the Father except through Me (John 14:1-6). We see Matthew 7 again and a reference to salvation.
• If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father. (Denotes solidarity)
• I and the Father are one. (John 10:25-30)
• I do not act on My Own… (John 5:30) John 5:30 - 32 (NASB) ³⁰“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³¹“If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.  ³²“There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.

(The bold area sheds some light on Matthew 4 I think.)
The whole of John 14 really captures the depth of this whole question.  
Now, reconsider 1 Peter 5:6-9. I think perhaps until we humble ourselves before the Father, thereby doing His Will, we can forget hearing, “Enter into my rest, good and faithful servant.”

Hebrews 3:4 - 15 (NASB) ⁴For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.  ⁵Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later;  ⁶but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end. ⁷Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,     “Today if you hear His voice, ⁸ Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me,     As in the day of trial in the wilderness, ⁹ Where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, And saw My works for forty years. ¹⁰    “Therefore I was angry with this generation,     And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,     And they did not know My ways’; ¹¹ As I swore in My wrath,     ‘They shall not enter My rest.’” ¹²Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.  ¹³But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  ¹⁴For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end,  ¹⁵while it is said,     “Today if you hear His voice,     Do not harden your hearts, as when they provoked Me.”

Knowing someone intimately is found in the heart. Verse 10 connects heart with knowing. Entry is impossible without them (verse 11) If I think I will see God absent a heart submitted to God, void of loving Him without hypocrisy then I am building my salvation upon a dream of human invention.

=========================

One closing thought for those who think I am building a case for salvation through works…think again.

Matthew 7:24 - 26 (NASB) ²⁴“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.  ²⁵“And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.  ²⁶“Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 

Both gentlemen built.  Built works apart from Christ is based upon sand.  Likewise, profession of Christ without obedience is hypocrisy.