As simple as it sounds, one of the greatest proofs of God’s existence is the ability to choose. Materialistic God-deniers hypothesize that all of our actions can be attributed to random interactions of the chemicals, atoms, and molecules that make up our physical bodies. However, they are unable to explain how such random interactions lead to our ability to make all kinds of decisions in life.
Little wonder why when God created man in His image, He put Adam and Eve in a position where they, like God who chose to become flesh in the form of Jesus Christ, had the ability to choose. We are all familiar with the story of how they made a poor choice in eating the forbidden fruit for which God held them both accountable. Think about it! Would God have held Adam and Eve accountable for their poor choice if their actions were the result of random chemical interactions!
Personally, I believe that a desire to avoid accountability is a major reason many people are drawn to a materialistic-atheistic world view. Furthermore, they don’t understand that God created and designed us to make choices.
In the Bible, there are more than 200 references to the word “choose” or one of its variations. This makes it possible for God to fulfill His role as the Supreme Judge of the universe as illustrated in Deuteronomy 30:19 and yet give us freedom to make decisions: “I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live…”
Later, in a New Testament passage, the author of Hebrews warns: “Make sure that you do not reject the One who speaks. For if they did not escape when they rejected Him who warned them on earth, even less will we if we turn away from Him who warns us from heaven” (Hebrews 12:25).
We must also remember that because we have the ability and freedom to choose, our actions have consequences. In my commentary in Principle #21, page 1724 in my Life Essentials Study Bible, I establish a bridge between the Old and New Testament applications of this truth:
The author then reminded them of God’s holy presence at Mount Sinai when the old covenant was revealed. It was a terrifying experience (Exodus 19:9-16; 20:18). How much more dreadful the situation for all unbelievers who someday will be judged severely for rejecting the Messiah… However, the good news is that we can spend eternity with God, not because of our good works but because we have received God’s free gift of salvation.
Truly, the choices we make-especially those that are spiritual and moral in nature — serve as reminders that we are made in God’s image.
Saul, Hebrew Shaʾul, (flourished 11th century bc, Israel), first king of Israel (c. 1021–1000 bc). According to the biblical account found mainly in I Samuel, Saul was chosen king both by the judge Samuel and by public acclamation. Was he ‘Chosen’ by God?
Important to note why the people of Israel wanted a king, when they had direction from above!
Essentially a form of rebellion against God. Firstly the Israelites had rebelled against God’s authority by demanding that they have a king – like the nations around them. God warned them through Samuel what having a king would be like, but the people insisted. Isreal faced many threats. To be as the people that surrounded them, they desired a leader. The son of Kish, a well-to-do member of the tribe of Benjamin, Saul was made king by the league of 12 Israelite tribes in a desperate effort to strengthen Hebrew resistance to the growing Philistine threat. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Saul-king-of-Israel
History summation: Saul’s death was known and spoken of by a deceased Samuel: https://www.crossway.org/articles/what-does-it-mean-that-samuel-was-brought-up-from-the-dead-1-samuel-28/
Key notes:
1. Saul had time to repent.
2. All things are Known before they occur.
https://www.gotquestions.org/God-know-future.html
“So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.”1 Samuel 31:6
Obedience is key!
Saul disobeyed God by failing to completely destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions, as God had commanded. A key part of the conditional covenant between God and Israel was obedience.
https://missionbibleclass.org/old-testament/part2/united-kingdom/king-saul-disobeys-god/
We are given chances by Love to be whom we are Created to be. https://faithinthenews.com/5-powerful-bible-verses-about-second-chances/
God is patient in giving us second chances—and not just one, but continual second chances.
GOD DELIGHTS IN GIVING SECOND CHANCES
When Moses wanted to understand more about God so that he could speak with authority to the people of Israel, God passed by him and proclaimed He is, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6).
God is patient in giving us second chances—and not just one, but continual second chances. Micah 7:18 says, “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy.” God savors opportunities to offer second chances and is eager not to punish us when we truly seek forgiveness for our sin (Joel 2:13).
We see this most vividly in God’s offering up His only Son—Jesus Christ—for the forgiveness of our sins. As the Apostle Peter explained, “‘[Christ] himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed'” (1 Peter 2:24). Jesus lived the sinless life we couldn’t live and died the gruesome death we should have received, to offer us a second chance at life with God.
Both the Old and New Testaments bear witness to a forgiving God. Think of Moses, who murdered a man (Exodus 2:11-15); Jonah, who fled from God’s command (Jonah 1); David, who committed adultery and had a man murdered (2 Samuel 11:14-17); Rahab, who was a prostitute in Jericho (Joshua 2); and Peter, who denied even knowing Jesus after spending three years with Him (Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:55-62, John 18:15-17 and 25-27). Each of these—and dozens of other men and women like them in Scripture—stand as monuments of God’s grace (Hebrews 11).
None stands taller than Jesus, of course, who said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18–19). His ministry, he said, would be marked by fresh starts and second chances for those whom many view as outcasts.
And that’s exactly what we see when we examine Jesus’ life. We see how He redeemed and elevated people others convicted and condemned. We see that He professed the unfaltering power of redemption in their lives.
Zacchaeus the tax collector, for example, was considered a sinner by his neighbors (Luke 19:1–10). When Zacchaeus shows he has changed and is making amends by giving possessions to the poor, Christ responds by saying, “Today salvation has come to this house.” When the criminal dying on the cross next to Jesus asks for Him to remember him, Christ responds by saying He will see him in paradise (Luke 23:32–43).