Reaching Our (Pre) Destination (Conclusion) - Keith Hall

To wrap up this thread I want to return for a moment to the difference between God's omniscience, His precognition, and what is considered to be predestination. Since God knows everything (omniscience) and knows about it before it occurs (precognition) it may appear that individuals are predestined to heaven or hell in many instances. As stated in the earlier post, I totally reject this opinion based on the belief that we all exercise our free will to serve or not serve God. When Lucifer was created God did not want him to be the originator of sin. It was not His intention to have to cast Lucifer out of heaven or for one third of the angelic host to follow. He did not intend for man to fall in the Garden Of Eden. He did not intend for Israel to keep knowledge of their God under a bushel and exclude everyone else. He did not want His son to suffer an agonizing death on the cross and have to be the burden carrier for all of mankind's sins to the extent that He was forced to turn His back on Him ever so briefly. He knew these things were to come but that does not mean he desired them to be so or that all these events were predestined. As Lori pointed out in last week's Sunday school lesson, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus as, of course, God knew he would and prophesies had indicated but Judas was not predestined to go to hell for his horrible act of betrayal. Had he truly repented with a repentance to salvation (the word "metanoia" in the Greek) rather than only repenting within himself ("metamelomai" in the Greek meaning "to regret")he could have and would have been saved. His returning of the silver and his admission of having sinned was not a confession of faith. Since he could not live with what he had done he then ended his own life and doomed himself to hell. He faced the same choice as you or I and chose the wrong path. It was not predestination. When we struggle and make the wrong choices, succumb to temptation and sin, or even backslide God does not look on these events saying "That is what I intended for him/her to do." He knows if you are going to fail but it still breaks His heart because He loves you and wants nothing but the best for you. A very high price was paid for you. It cost Him the best He had. He loves you far too much to have created beings with a predestined path for he knows all too well that only love that is freely given is worth receiving. Think about your relationship with your spouse. It is the love he or she freely gives to you that you treasure above all. For God so loved the world ................ Sadly, still no feedback on the blogs.