In order for a child to learn, a parent must allow the child to experiment so that the child can discover the consequences of his own actions. By our mistakes, we learn.
When God allowed man to have a free will to make his own choices, man became as the child who learns best by experience.
As we take a fresh look at how God has taught man over the centuries, we see God as the wise Parent who is teaching man who to live. It began in the Garden of Eden where man was allowed to make his first choice (Gen.3), and ends in the Book of Revelation where only "overcomers" will be part of the divine order.
Moses spoke for God when he demanded release for his people from slavery in Egypt: "Let my people go so that they may worship me" (Exod.7:16 NIV). The call has never changed as God still calls for freedom for His own chosen ones that they can love and worship Him.
God dictated to Moses the 10 Commandments--Divine Orders from the holy mountain--for the people to follow. By the time of Jesus, these laws had become more important than love and worship and, as taught by the scribes and Pharisees, were humanly impossible to keep. Jesus added to these laws love for God and for one another. He taught that repentance and forgiveness made it possible for even the vilest sinner to come into the kingdom, and through the shedding of His blood at Calvary, the LAW of Moses was replaced by the GRACE of God. God has given us His Holy Spirit so that those who seek Him might know what is truth and what is error, and to obey the Law by using His love principle.
The disciples were empowered at Pentecost to speak boldly about their Master but, as man began to make his own decisions, the Christian church was split into many denominations. God allowed this so that man could see that his own wisdom and works lead only to disunity. God faithfully loves His church until we learn that we need His help to love one another.
Since man first made the sinful decision to decide, on his own what is good and what is evil, God has allowed man to learn through experience. Today, we are confronted on every side with false and confusing teachings, many of which refer to the Bible. We cry out as did Adam, "Did God really say" (Gen.3:1 NIV)? The temptation to make the decision without God as to what we ought to believe and do persists. Only through prayer and reading God's Word, can we learn God's ways. Satan quotes scripture incorrectly as he did to Jesus (Matt.4:1-10), so we must never isolate one verse to prove a point, but read the verses before and after it.
God has taught us, and we are beginning to understand, that we can be overcomers only by listening to what He has been trying to teach us. He has given us a free will to allow us to learn this great lesson that we, by ourselves, cannot discern good from evil nor can we love one another. We need God!
© 1999, Doreen Palmer