Why would God create a people He knew would rebel against Him?

 Those of us who contemplate the creation and fall of man often wonder why God would create man when He knew in advance he would rebel and hurl the human race into ruin. The writer consistently wonders the rationale behind the Lord’s thinking regarding this matter. Surely God could have prevented the world from falling since He is all powerful right? So why didn’t He? Why did He allow all this pain suffering and death to overtake His perfect creation? Why even bother? To most when considered carefully, it does not make any sense. 

Humanly, it does not make sense at all. But, in the mind of God, it makes perfect sense. What we must do for this drama to make sense to the human mind is we must look at this problem through God’s eyes. That is the only way we are going to get some peace of mind in our souls.  

As strange as it sounds to our ears, evil serves a profound purpose in God’s universe. Keep in mind evil is the unwilling servant of the Lord. Human evil exists because of the ungodly choices man makes every second of the day. And since God has decided to fulfill His will in the earth through what we do good or bad, He invisibly and providentially navigates all our choices to work out for good (Romans 8:28). What this tells me is that despite all the mayhem in our world, God is in complete control even when all hell is breaking loose around us. Make no mistake the evil that men do saddens and angers God, but for the time being He will allow the pain and suffering the world is writhing from to continue. Although humanly speaking the evil is too unbearable to endure, God gives us strength to press on with joy knowing that one day all of this will be no more. 

This world is a mess. Is this the best that God could do? 

God created a perfect universe. You cannot improve upon perfection. Understand it fell into ruin because of the sins of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God commanded them not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They did and so here we are. God warned them ahead of time. They chose to disobey. The trillion-dollar question is why God did not prevent them from falling? God was proving or testing them to see if they would love Him with all their heart and soul. Also, God ordained the fall – that is right you heard me correctly, God ordained the fall. Will we learn anything if we are bailed out every time we are faced with a test or trial?  

No. 

There is no way God could display His mercy grace love and forgiveness in the way He has had man not fallen into sin. You see it was in the plan of God to permit (not approve) the fall of man so that He could display the wonders of His grace by sending the perfect God-Man the Lord Jesus Christ – the Lamb of God that came to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). 

 

Sending Christ into the world to redeem mankind magnifies the Father in a way that could never be displayed had man never sinned. Sinless people do not need a redeemer, but sinners do – like you and me. For the writer it reveals God’s love for man. How? God has chosen to demonstrate His power in sending His only unique Son to die for the ungodly (Romans 5:8). 

I want to make clear that God hates sin. Just because God turns evil into good, does not mean man is off the hook for his rebellion. What we are witnessing is the power of God to take sinful choices and use them for good. This way everyone gets what they deserve; man receives punishment, and God receives glory. 

Mankind hates God because they do not understand why God has allowed all this pain and suffering. If we are going hate someone, we should hate ourselves. Man is blaming God for something He never did. The wonderful gift God gave us – free will has ruined us. Why? Because we have abused it for evil purposes and God has become the world’s scapegoat – the fall guy. Man is angry because he has ruined everything, and he cannot fix it. He is only making it worse. Yes, things are terrible in our world. We do not want to imagine how much worse it could be if God was not holding it all together.  

Here is the sum of the matter of life.  

God has done all of this to magnify His name throughout the earth (Romans 9:17). What irritates us is that if God is so good could He have done it another way – a way that was not so painful? God is sovereign. He does whatever pleases Him (Psalm 115;3, Eph 1:11). He is calling all the shots. The problem with man is he wants to call the shots. Man wants to be God. Man wants the God of the universe to surrender and worship him, not the other way around.  

Since when does the pot (humans) think it has the right to tell the Potter (God) what to do (Romans 9:20-21)? 

Isaiah the prophet by inspiration of the Holy Spirit provides us with extraordinary revelation regarding the mind and intentions of God. He said this, “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose”’ (Italics and bold print added for emphasis; Isaiah 46:9-10). 

Can you feel the depth of insight you just read? If not, please meditate on those two verses – for the rest of your life! Let them sink deep into your spirit. God is speaking to you, clearly. 

Nothing and no one will stop the plan of God. That is why God can predict the future; because He has already determined what will happen before it actually occurs.  

God is in control despite what we see around us. None of this has taken Him by surprise. Why? Because He ordained it. God allowed for the rebellion and fall of man. Man could not commit evil unless it was allowed by God. Understand He is not morally responsible for man’s sins, but man’s evil has and does serve a purpose in His universe. God allowed for evil1 to exist so that He could abolish it forever. He is the only one that can overpower evil. Again, God must demonstrate His power in the earth so that all will know He is the one true God and give Him the glory He deserves. He displayed His power perfectly when He sent His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior and pain killer.  

So, in the overall, this is the best of all possible worlds God could create. For those that believe a world without pain in suffering now would have been better are in disagreement with the God of creation. His perfect wisdom determined it would be the way it is now. In the future, when the world is re-created, it will once again be the Eden paradise it was in the beginning – free from all pain, suffering and evil (Revelation 21:1-5). 

Trust in the Lord. He will make it so (Proverbs 3:5-6). 

1 God allowing evil to exist is an act of mercy because evil is in man. When God destroys evil, He is executing His justice which is fair. God’s mercy toward man is not fair. Why? Mercy means God is withholding His punishment against us – He is not giving us what we deserve.