Every man born on earth arrives with a great responsibility, the ability to choose his own path in life. Our free will is a precious gift from God that is worth protecting at all costs, for there are those who would try to usurp our ability to choose and enforce their own will upon us. Protecting ourselves and our loved ones from enslavement to the will of evil forces is part of the father’s role in family life.
THE POWER OF CHOICE
Back in the Garden of Eden man was given free will as part of his humanity when God breathed life into him. However, man was also presented with the choice of obeying or disobeying God’s will. In the garden there was every kind of tree that was good for food and man could eat from any of them except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God gave man free will and an opportunity to exercise that free will so that man could learn the benefits of obedience to God.
(Genesis 2:15-17)
Then the Lord God took [a]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to [b]tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you[c] shall surely die.
God is a kind and loving creator whose greatest desire is to love and be loved by those He has created.
God had already made the angels previously, but they were not endowed with free will, and therefore could not satisfy God’s yearning for loving children. The ability to choose made man the perfect candidate to enjoy eternity with God, as it enabled him to live in a joyful relationship with his creator.
Lucifer was originally an angel of God, but when he formed sin within himself, he was judged by God and thrown out of heaven and became known as Satan or the Devil. Now Satan hates God and mankind whom God had made in His own image and likeness, and therefore Satan took it upon himself to destroy men as an act of revenge. Satan devised a cunning plan to deceive Adam and Eve into disobeying God’s will by eating from the tree that they were not allowed to partake of.
(Genesis 3:1-7)
Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”
Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
As a result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience, the sinful nature of Satan and the Death that comes with it entered man and they were banished from the Garden of Eden.
Now every child born on earth as descendants of Adam and Eve is born with both free will and a propensity to use it for evil. Therefore, God enacted His great plan of salvation for mankind through Jesus Christ so that He might restore us to a relationship with Himself.
Satan continues to enforce ‘his will’ upon fallen man through the power of our sinful nature, and through it even though man may desire to do good, we all ultimately also do evil. The sinful nature compels man and drives man into evil acts against God and against each other. And yet there is still hope for man as we still retain our free will and can choose another path, God’s path for our lives.
God is a gentleman and would never force Himself upon anyone but offers the gift of salvation to all who believe in His Son Jesus.
Surely if we as men are to exercise our free will in this world it should be a choice that leads us to life and away from the death that the sinful nature brings. As a father we hold great influence over our own family and can lead them forward either towards the light or back into darkness, it’s our choice!
Christian parents have the benefit of the wisdom and strength that comes through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
God Bless
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