All-Knowing?

[OnceUponATime]

If God is all-knowing, why do we live? Doesn’t He already know where we will end up in the end, whether it be heaven or hell? I’m not sure I understand the whole idea of free-will and everything except that it’s for our own amusement, almost like a really cruel game, or one of those childrens books. The books where you read the page and then make a choice except, in the books there are different outcomes. Are there really different outcomes in our lives if God already knows where we end up? Or has He just put us on this earth to watch us, see what we do and how we react to the stuff that the universe dishes out?

 

[Trevelyan]

God created us because out of His goodnes He wanted to share His life and love with others - so he made us to know love and serve him in this life, and to then enjoy eternal happiness with Him in the next.

Because God is all-knowing, it means He knows everything we’ll do and where we will end up. But that is because He knows what we will freely chose to do, it doesn’t mean he makes us do it.

(A very imperfect analogy is this: if I look down from a tall city building and see two cars speeding towards each other on the narrow street below, I can see that they will crash - but I didn’t make them crash. Now God knows everything - including everythin we will do in future etc - but he doesn’t make us do anything, He simply knows every free choice we will ever make.)

God gives us this life to
*know, love and serve him
*share eternal life - within us by grace - in this life
*to bring others to know and love Him too
*as the angels decided (with their perfect knowledge) for or against God in an instant, so God gives us a life time to decide for or against him.

Just a few thoughts of the top of my head. God bless.

 

[PraRFLEsEkHm]

I shortened up your question

Peace to you,

OnceUponATime:

If God is all-knowing, why do we live? Doesn’t He already know where we will end up in the end, whether it be heaven or hell?I’m not sure I understand the whole idea of free-will and everything except that it’s for our own amusement, almost like a really cruel game, or one of those childrens books…

We live to get to know God, on His terms. We will never fully know Him here, in exile…but when (If) we get to heaven, there we will know fully - as we are fully known (I Cor 13:12). While our view of God will never be perfect (Complete), what is important is that we have the correct view of what we CAN know of Him - to that end, and our conversion into living that knowlege, is what our lives are all about.

We wanted to know good and evil (Garden of Eden) - now we are learning. How well we learn, (If) determines heaven or hell - and if heaven, how long we stay in purgatory learning the rest, and purging ourselves of the sins for what we didn’t learn here, is what free will is all about.

Peace

John

 

[JimG]

Children can be difficult and even rebellious at times. But would you really want children who are pre-programmed to robotically follow your orders invariably? For that matter, would you want a spouse who was not free to choose you freely?