God had initially created a pure world with the intent that Man would choose good and live a life devoid of pain, suffering, wars, starvation etc. All of this was in God’s mind when He laid out His original plan for the earth and Mankind. Everything existed with an intended purpose in mind; an overall purpose for good and not evil.

Sin existed in this pure world. Its power did not have full reign over the earth and Man’s choices, because Man was busy enjoying the life choice he made in loving and serving God. In fact, righteousness, joy, love and peace ruled because Man was making life choices. However, Man came face to face with a momentous decision in the Garden and Man chose to rebel and not comply with God’s directives. Consequently, Sin entered the realm of the earth’s sphere and the human race.

According to the biblical account, Adam and Eve made their choice and the result is a sin-infested world with their future generations having the propensity to act in opposing ways to God and His original purpose for mankind. And we are still experiencing the effects of this choice billion of years later.

Did God have foreknowledge? Yes He did. Why didn’t he stop it? Because He would not be God if He did. He is Man’s Creator, Not a Puppet Creator. He is a God who adheres to His Spoken Word. Is He still the God of Love? You bet He is. Hard to imagine when you look at the world in such a terrible state and you think of this big powerful Almighty God sitting up in the sky eating pies and milky ways, while such atrocities (911, Darfur Sudan conflict, Rwanda genoicide, African Slave Trade, Holocaust , wars, starvations) are ravaging the earth.

Unfortunately, there are consequences for whatever human choice that’s made. And these consequences are based on eternal and natural principles that He had set in place to maintain order. Need examples?

Let’s look at the heavens: God will not override gravity. In essence, what goes up will ALWAYS come down. God will not override that law even though He created the law of gravity and set it in motion, by His Spoken Word. The moon will ALWAYS shine at night and the sun will ALWAYS shine in the day. That is their eternal purpose and to date, the Sun and Moon are each fulfilling their purpose, are they not? That is the eternal principle that God can override, but He had made that decree in the heavens, and even He will not override the timeless standard of the heavens. God will not break His own laws to satisfy Himself; Even though He is ALL powerful enough to change all that.

Now to earth: If you choose to be lazy, eat junk food 24/7, not brush your teeth, then guess what’s gonna happen to your body? God is not going to stroll down to earth and brush our teeth, put us on a treadmill and force vegetables down our throats. Physical illness and decay are natural consequences to our bodies, if we choose to neglect our bodies. He allows us to do whatever we want to our bodies. Why? Because we can choose to take care our bodies if we want to. God gave us that kind of dominion over our bodies and desires for us to treat our bodies with care. Would He be a loving Father if He did that? Do your earthly parents intervene in your decision making when they know you are capable of making the suitable life decisions? I should hope not. They will guide, but in the end the decision is yours to make. The opposite would be ‘puppet like control’. When you have reached a certain age, it is expected that you are quite capable of making the appropriate decisions for your life. So it is with God. He knows you are capable of making such decisions. Get my drift? God will not override the authority He has given Man over the earth and everything therein, even though He is ALL powerful enough to change all that.

We-as human beings-have an ultimate purpose. God created us human beings with the ultimate purpose in mind to choose to love Him. God did not want to create puppets. We are not puppets and God is not the Great Puppet Master in the sky. There is absolute enjoyment in knowing that something you have created with a mind of its own, and that you love dearly, reciprocates this love of its own freewill. God did not need Man to love Him. He does not have low self esteem, nor is He ‘needy’. God wanted Man to benefit from a relationship in which both parties ‘will’ to love. He is an all encompassing God. He has everything Man needs, not the other way around.

The singular factor that has a special bearing on Man is his will. You know, someone said that sin is not essentially the problem in today’s world, it is our will and I agree with that assertion. We can choose our own destinies in our two existing realities, the natural realm and the spiritual realm. We make ‘life choices’ or ‘death choices’ to our bodies, to others and ultimately to God. We ultimately choose Life or Death. God knows that death is a natural consequence that came with Man’s choice to rebel against His ways. Adam’s ‘death’ choice gave suffering, pain, evil and sin its full reign on earth and unleashes their power to the fullest capacity in the earth. All of creation was affected-and still is-by one man’s choice.

The Good News is that even though suffering and pain is inevitable, somehow suffering and pain have a purpose in his ultimate plan. It is quite reassuring to know-as the child of God-that all things-even ‘death choices’-has a purpose in his ultimate plan of good towards us. We might not see the purpose instantly, but we can be comforted in that knowledge. That knowledge is our hope. If one cannot grasp this knowledge, I believe our present suffering becomes more impossible to bear. Consequently, pills, cigarettes, drugs, illicit sex, alcohol, and for some, suicide, becomes the means by which they cope with the complexities of life. Hope perceived through suffering is like the refreshing cool water in a very dry and parched desert.

There are things I do not pretend to understand, for example-the seemingly perfect family with an only daughter and she dies in an accident; the first born child born with a dreaded disease, the loving, kind mother who is stricken with cancer and dies an early death etc. These are not consequences due to personal choices, but yet they happen. Why? I cannot explain. I know part of the reason is Adam’s choice and the unleashed power of sin and suffering. A few of these occurrences I have lived to see the reasons why after a long, long time, and there are many I still do not know the purpose and cannot figure out why, but it does not negate the fact that God is loving because I know His original plan was to give us life. The Person of God does not change according to earthly circumstances. He still loves, no matter what we do or what comes our way. What we strive to do in these perplexing times is to allow Him to energize His love through us. I believe that’s one of the main reasons Jesus was such an advocate for the poor, sick and helpless. Jesus wanted these destitute individuals to experience God’s love and realize His original purpose and intent for mankind through loving and caring actions. He knew they would not understand the love of an all powerful and all knowing God who would allow these things to happen to them. Jesus, the Son, became the living hope for Mankind. Jesus is God’s manifested Finished Plan for all of Creation. He wants Creation to know that there is ALWAYS hope. For every despair, there is a hope; for every valley, there is a mountain, for every tear, there is a laugh, for every frown, there is a smile, for every hate, there is love, for every depression, there is joy. Herein, lies the realities of our existence.

God’s choices for life are still set before us and he wants us to daily exercise the power of choice He gave us.

Well, that’s what I believe. Anyone has the ‘free’ will to believe otherwise.

Hope will ALWAYS be a choice. Make that ‘life choice’ today.