...God is sovereign over the ifs. He is never taken by surprise, never perplexed, never faced by circumstances out of His control. He is not only the main character in the drama of redemption. He is the author. He is not responsible for sin, yet He orchestrated a perfect plan, to His glory, in which sin had a part as the dark backdrop of His everlasting light. Could He have prevented sin? Of course. Can He prevent murders and rapes? Of course—and I’m confident He does so every day. But for those that do happen, they do not sneak by Him while He watches helplessly (as Rabbi Kushner suggests in Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? Better question: why do good things happen to bad people?)God’s sovereignty reigns without Him being held accountable to us. He stands before no one’s judgment seat—we stand before His. As Lewis put it, He is not a tame lion. (From time to time I read the last five chapters of Job. This is a great cure to the disease of thinking God owes me an explanation for what He does and doesn’t do.)
This doesn’t mean we don’t have free will, but it certainly means the free will of finite created beings isn’t anything near absolute like the free will of Creator God. It means that the will, decree, and glory of God are the life-breath of the universe. Everything—including the real choices made by Satan, the angels, and every person who’s ever lived—is subordinate to and secondary to the providence and glory of the one and only God. In other words, it’s not about us, it’s about Him. We’re not the point—He’s the point.
These are the concluding paragraphs of Randy Alcorn's article, "Do Human Beings Really Have Free Will?" printed in the fall issue of the Eternal Perspectives Ministries newsletter. The article deals effectively with several issues facing the Christian, including the goodness and power of God and the definite realities of man's free will. In fact, it is excellent reading for the non-Christian who wants an honest, concise description of the Bible's teachings in these matters.
Here is the newsletter in a PDF file. I think you'll find all of it engaging and helpful. Also, as I've mentioned before, be sure and check out Randy Alcorn's new blog. There this best-selling author lets you in on his up-to-date observations of a whole host of relevant issues.
