Our Rescue

The other day I blogged about "A Faith that Stands." As I was in the car today, I thought about an important detail I left out of the picture. I wrote about Satan falling from Heaven & entering The Garden of Eden. I talked about how God gives us a choice, our love for Him is not robotic or forced.

I am thankful God gives us a choice. Have you ever tried to force anything on anyone?  It usually backfires. As a young child, I realized that I couldn't make someone like me. Growing up, I realized that I couldn't force my values on other teenagers.  As a mother, I experienced the importance of letting my children come to certain conclusions on their own. Even my dog doesn't like to be forced to do something against his will. It just isn't loving to force our wills, our ways, our thinking on other people. The result is resentment.

So what detail did I forget? God's redemptive plan. Yes, God allowed Satan to enter the world because He knows that true love comes from the heart. If we didn't live under this curse that God allowed, if our lives were always peaceful & tidy, then... of course, we'd have little trouble believing that God is good. We would have no roadblocks, no heartache, no suffering,  & ... probably no depth. Our faith would not mean much.

When God allowed Satan to enter our world, He did the most loving thing He could do. He gave us a choice.  He already had a plan from the very beginning (even before His fallen angel was created). His redemptive plan, His son, was with Him from the very beginning. He is for the least of these, for the most powerful,  & for everyone in between.

What is a redemptive plan? It's a rescue, a deliverance, a repurchase (as of something sold). In short, God had a plan from the start, so that every human being had an escape, the ability to find peace in a broken world, a way to spend eternity with Him. He created His only son for that purpose. If that's not love, what is?