You Have The Freedom To Choose – So Choose Wisely

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(16) And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; (17) but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”’ (Genesis 2:16-17)

Having had the privilege to serve as an Elder, even now as an ‘Elder Emeritus’ in providing these ‘Word-of-the-Day’ posts on the MBC blog page, I am always pleased to see those who want to step up and help within the church.  Not everyone can be an Elder, understandably, and not everyone has the intestinal fortitude to clean the bathrooms after a Sunday, either. 

Some have the personality to be great greeters and ushers, others have the gift of hospitality.  Many in MBC should be thankful that I do not try to cook food (though I can serve it if need be) as I have the uncanny ability to make the best of ready-made dishes inedible.  (OK, I’m not that bad, though I’ve had several attempts turn out that way, all unintentionally).

We are given various gifts to serve the Lord and our church.  I am blessed to have the gift of ‘gab’ and an ability and joy to write (many may believe I enjoy it a bit too much based on the length of my e-mails and diatribes).  I am also blessed to teach His Word through our Life Group, and though it is out of my comfort zone, I also am blessed with the gift to fill in for the Pastor when necessary and provide a (hopefully thoughtful) sermon.  (Fortunately for me and you, he doesn’t take too many breaks, and there are others who can also cover for him.) 

Thankfully, like the food preparation, I have not been asked (nor would I volunteer) to play drums, sing, or otherwise do anything musical as it would be out of rhythm and distracting in its screeching.  The Lord does say make a joyful noise which I can do, but it would not be conducive to a pleasant experience for the congregation, as many would be writhing in the piercing of their eardrums. 

Fortunately, we have people with the talent and gift of music, who makes the musical worship of MBC uplifting, comfortable, and meaningful.  We all have specific functions that we can fill within the church, to do what the Lord needs from us to ensure His message is provided in a meaningful, purposeful manner that all can receive in understanding, and without distraction.

At some point in time, perhaps before Creation, God created the angelic hosts to include the archangels; those angels with apparent specific functions to serve God and to do His bidding as required.  We have Gabriel (Daniel 8 & 9, Luke 1) who is a messenger or herald.  Michael (Jude 1, Revelation 12) is a defender or warrior. 

Other attributed archangels in Catholic doctrine (the Protestant ‘Apocrypha’, or extra-canonical books – books that are not considered canon or directly of God in the Protestant faiths but are in Catholicism) are Raphael, a singer/poet (Tobit 12, particularly verse 15), Jeremiel, a caretaker of Sheol or ‘Abraham’s Bosom’ (2 Esdras 4:36) and Uriel, a teacher (2 Esdras 4:1). 

Tobit 12 also provides Raphael telling Tobit there are seven ‘holy (arch) angels’ in all, though two are not mentioned in either the Bible or the extra-canonical Apocrypha.  In other Christian doctrines (Coptic, Orthodox among others), there are more mentioned or considered.  Of course, there may be many more that God has for His purposes that are not known by us, yet.

One former archangel in particular was Satan, also known as Lucifer, meaning ‘the bright Morning Star’ (Isaiah 14:12).  It’s unclear what Satan’s role was, but he was considered a peer with the other archangels. Unfortunately, Satan believed he was equal or perhaps superior to God and chose to oppose God.  Thus, the first sin is the ‘Unforgivable Sin’, the one that many people and one-third of the angelic host (the fallen angels, including Satan) will fall into eternal damnation for. 

The Unforgivable Sin is rejection of God and His Will; the rejection of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior as the Son of God.  We don’t know why God allowed Satan to exist after this; we do know God will take care of Satan for good (Revelation 20:10).  But why did God allow Satan to continue after his rebellion?  God is perfect and doesn’t make mistakes; His purpose in allowing Satan to live and tempt us must then follow His Ways, even if we can’t comprehend a reason for it.

A couple of items to ponder; first, God’s ways are not our ways.  God is also omniscient and without time.  To God, He has already taken care of Satan as he is taking care of Creation.  We can’t fathom or comprehend this as we are linear in thought and in time.  God also created us with free will; He could have given us the predisposition to accept Jesus as Lord as easily as giving us the ability to breathe. 

Instead, He gave us the freedom to choose.  But choose what?  God knew what would happen before we were created, He was not surprised when Adam and Eve chose sin (what they felt was good but actually wasn’t good for them) over God’s Holiness (what God says is Good, and His expectation for us to be obedient and follow His guidance). 

God even gave them the first Law, ‘Don’t eat from the tree of knowledge’ and the first punishment under judgement, ‘or you’ll die’.  But God did not invoke this on Adam and Eve as an involuntary law of physics, like the inability to walk through a solid wall, but allowed Adam & Eve the freedom to eat of the tree, if they chose to do so, while giving them knowledge that there was a penalty to do so. 

Likewise, Satan did not force the apple (or kiwifruit, or pomegranate) into the mouths of Adam or Eve, either.  Satan encouraged them to eat the fruit, but Adam and Eve both had the ability to say no, or at least tell Satan ‘Let’s discuss this with God first before we commit to this’.  They didn’t of course, and used their free will to eat the fruit and thus break God’s first (and at that time only) Law. 

But that same free will can be used today, for both good and bad decisions on our part.  We can be tempted (never forced) to sin, and do so in our free will.  We can also choose not to sin as well.  The greatest gift of free will is knowing we can choose to reject the Unforgiveable Sin, and accept Jesus as our Lord and allow Him to be our lawyer and intercessory in Judgement. 

We know, per Romans 6, the wages of sin is death, but accepting Jesus means we hand that bill to Him as He’s already paid it, and He exchanges it with the wages of Salvation, eternal life with Him in Heaven.

That free will is best used when we make the decision to use our gifts and talents to fulfill God’s Will and promote the Gospel of Jesus, especially the Great Commission.  We have the free will to use our talents for ourselves to fulfill our own desires, but – as with Adam & Eve – our desires without the overlay of God’s Will always lead to disappointment. 

But to serve the Lord is a choice we make in free will; you don’t have to serve Him but it is always better in the long run if you do.  Pray for the Lord to reveal His gifts He blesses you with, and be fulfilled with Him and not disappointed without Him!