God's Desire
In The Beginning
“God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? ~ Numbers 23:19
In the beginning, God existed as the Trinity, and there was nothing else. God was truth and love, present everywhere and in everything. At that time, before creation, there were no days, hours, or time. God does not need to change His mind, for He exists from beginning to end.
Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,’ ~ Isaiah 46:10
All-Knowing
The truth that God, as the Trinity, knows from beginning to end is beyond our comprehension. How does a God who knows and encompasses all of time operate? God knows who will choose Heaven and who will end up in Hell, which is why He can hate those who ultimately share Satan's fate. We are called to love everyone because we cannot see the beginning from the end as God does. Understanding a God who knows all is challenging; yet, we can trust that He, who holds all things, has orchestrated everything according to His good purposes.
God's Creation
As part of His divine plan, God delighted in creating humans in His own image. Humans, like God, are created to exist eternally. His love flowed abundantly, like a tree naturally producing branches, resulting in the gift of humanity. Ultimately, God sought to establish a family of love, with Himself as the Father and humans as His cherished children.
Free Choice
God desired people to seek Him out of love, not obligation. He did not create us to be His prisoners; rather, He longed for a genuine relationship built on love. As the embodiment of love and truth, God nurtures us as a good Father, guiding us to grow into holy and healthy humans. Through Him, we come to know authentic truth and love.
But love must allow for free choice. Since God did not create robots, He understood that our minds and hearts would lead us to ask essential questions that must be answered for us to make free choice—questions such as why we cannot be our own gods, why only God is truly God, and why we should submit to Him.
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! ~ Psalms 139:7-8
Grace Period - Free Choice
Did you know that everything God created, except for us, exists to help us make a free choice between accepting Him or rejecting Him? Consider this: everything else is temporary and will ultimately pass away. If there were no need for us to choose between Him and rebellion, God would have no reason to create this temporary Earth.
Satan, the Earth, and even those humans who reject God were all created to provide us with the freedom to choose. Satan opened the door to darkness, presenting us with options. The Earth serves as a place of God's grace, allowing us the time to make our choices. Those who reject God illustrate what life apart from Him looks like. Everything that exists is intended to lead us to the realization that true life is found only in God and nowhere else.
In the End
One day, all of this will come to an end—this earth and everything done on it. Ultimately, only Heaven and Hell will remain. Heaven will be the eternal home for those who, during their time on earth, chose to reject the world and embrace life with God. Hell, on the other hand, will be the destination for those who rejected God and chose the fleeting pleasures of this world.
In the end, the lesson will have been learned—that without God, there is no true life. By choosing life in Him, God will have fulfilled His desire to form the family He longed for: a family fully submitted to and united under Him, trusting in His love and embraced by His grace.
