GOD IS LOVE 3

– According to the Bible, God loves humans so much that He gave Adam the freedom of choice and also to all mankind.

– He did not create humans like robots that only obeyed and followed orders.

– God could make humans to obediently love Him and did whatever He told them to do. But God wanted humans to love Him and to obey Him freely as their choice, not being forced to.

– That was the first human right that mankind received from God and it’s so precious that people rather died than live without freedom.

– When we see people around the world fighting dictators and dying for freedom, we are reminded of the love of God when He gave the first human freedom to choose what he liked to do.

– That was one of the reasons that God planted the tree of knowledge of good and bad in the middle of Eden. The freedom of choice would be useless if God did not give Adam any choice to exercise his freedom.

– God gave humans freedom from the beginning but throughout human history many political leaders never want to give freedom to their populace. They promised to give it to them but it never come, or just some illusion of it. That is one of the reasons that Christians love God so much.

– No human wants to live without freedom, except when they are in love, as it was written in the book of Exodus:

EXODUS 21: 5 – But if the servant declares: I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free.

XUẤT Ê-DÍP-TÔ KÝ 21: 5 – Nếu kẻ tôi mọi nói rằng: Tôi thương chủ, vợ và con tôi, không muốn ra được tự do.

– That was the case of some slaves who were going to be freed, but knew their wives and children were not and they were willing to abandon their freedom in order to be with them.

– Love is more powerfull than the desire for freedom and we will learn about it at another time.

– The love of God for humans so tremendous that, with the freedom of choice, God also gave humans the ability to exercise our freedom. Animals do not have this kind of ability.

– For example, polar bears cannot live in tropical regions. Their thick furs will make them suffocated to dead under the hot weather.

– Crocodiles cannot live far away from water for too long. Their skin will dry and crack open without water. African hippos and Asian buffaloes are the same.

– Animals are restricted in their own habitats and cannot adapt very well to new and different ones, but humans can move freely to anywhere we like.

– God had given freedom to both angels and humans because He does not change. God is the same forever:

MALACHI 3: 6 – I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

MA-LA-CHI 3: 6 – Vì ta là Đức Giê-hô-va, ta không hề thay đổi; bởi cớ đó, các ngươi là con trai Gia-cốp, chẳng bị diệt vong.

HEBREWS 13: 8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

HÊ-BƠ-RƠ 13: 8 – Đức Chúa Jêsus Christ hôm qua, ngày nay, và cho đến đời đời không hề thay đổi.

– God created both angels and humans so He was like Father to them, the heavenly Father as the Scripture has indicated:

JOB 1: 6 – One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.

GIÓP 1: 6 – Vả, một ngày kia các con trai của Đức Chúa Trời đến ra mắt Đức Giê-hô-va, và Sa-tan cũng đến trong vòng chúng.

LUKE 3: 38 – The son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

LU-CA 3: 38 – Cai-nam con Ê-nót, Ê-nót con Sết, Sết con A-đam, A-đam con Đức Chúa Trời.

– But, instead of worshipping and serving God, as a son should respect his father, some angels and humans had used the freedom of choice God had given to them to rebel against Him.

– It was not because God had done anything wrong to them (He is always the Perfect One without falseness) but because some angels and humans were arrogant and wanted to elevate themselves to be equal to God:

ISAIAH 14: 13-14 – You said in your heart: I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.

Ê-SAI 14: 13-14 – Ngươi vẫn bụng bảo dạ rằng: Ta sẽ lên trời, sẽ nhắc ngai ta lên trên các ngôi sao Đức Chúa Trời. Ta sẽ ngồi trên núi hội về cuối cùng phương Bắc. Ta sẽ lên trên cao những đám mây, làm ra mình bằng Đấng Rất Cao.

GENESIS 3: 4-6 – “You will not certainly die” the serpent said to the woman “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil”. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

SÁNG THẾ KÝ 3: 4-6 – Rắn bèn nói với người nữ rằng: Hai ngươi chẳng chết đâu; nhưng Đức Chúa Trời biết rằng hễ ngày nào hai ngươi ăn trái cây đó, mắt mình mở ra, sẽ như Đức Chúa Trời, biết điều thiện và điều ác. Người nữ thấy trái của cây đó bộ ăn ngon, lại đẹp mắt và quí vì để mở trí khôn, bèn hái ăn, rồi trao cho chồng đứng gần mình, chồng cũng ăn nữa.

– Because of this kind of arrogance and actions afterward, some angels became demons. Their leader was Satan. And humans sinned against God ever since.

– That happened because they used their freedom wrongly. From that time to this day, humans continue to abuse their gift of freedom and they have sinned, have committed all kind of evil things against God. That’s why human life is so miserable and full of sorrows.

– That’s why there is no true happiness in human life and mankind continues to suffer terribly because of it.

– God understood the risk of giving freedom to angels and humans, but He was willing to do that because God loved them so much.

– Some unbelievers argued that if God knew that humans would use their freedom to sin, it would be better He should never give them the freedom of choice. But that kind of argument was not right.

– Because of love, God and parents are willing to take risk for their children’ sake. For example, many parents knew that when their children grew up and achieved higher learning, they would not obey them like when they were babies, but most parents were willing to risk that to send their children to schools anyway.

– When we understand of this kind of love human parents have toward their children, we will somehow understand the love of God for angels and mankind when He blessed them with the freedom of choice.

– And we should also understand that coming along with the freedom of choice is the consequences when people exercise that right.

– We cannot say that we have freedom to do whatever we like but never suffer any consequences of it. On the contrary, humans will certainly bear all of the fruits, good or bad, of their action.

– For example, a worker could not expect the paycheck when he decided to stay home instead of going to work. A student could not expect to have the credential certificate when he decided to stay home instead of going to school. A person could not expect to be loved when he was selfish and only loved himself. A driver could not expect to be safe when he refused to obey traffic law.

– And mankind could not expect to be blessed by God when they kept ignore or refuse Him and did whatever they like against His commands. And Christians could not expect to be allowed to live in Heaven when we kept on living our ways of life instead of God’s way.

– This kind of action and consequences have been called the law of given freedom:

JAMES 2: 12 – Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom.

GIA-CƠ 2: 12 – Hãy nói và làm dường như phải chịu luật pháp tự do đoán xét mình.

– Therefore, the Bible warns that people must accept the consequences of their action when they exercise their freedom of choice. Because God has given angels and mankind freedom so He will also be the One Who judges the whole world at the end:

EZEKIEL 18: 30 – Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.

Ê-XÊ-CHI-ÊN 18: 30 – Vậy nên Chúa Giê-hô-va phán rằng: Hỡi nhà Y-sơ-ra-ên, ta sẽ đoán xét các ngươi, mỗi người theo việc làm của nó. Hãy trở lại và xây bỏ mọi sự phạm pháp của các ngươi; vậy thì sự gian ác không trở nên cớ hư nát cho các ngươi.

– Humans have the freedom to do whatever their hearts desire but they also must pay the consequences because God will judge everyone according to their action:

ECCLESIATES 11: 9 – You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.

TRUYỀN ĐẠO 11: 9 – Hỡi kẻ trẻ kia, hãy vui mừng trong buổi thiếu niên, khá đem lòng hớn hở trong khi còn thơ ấu, hãy đi theo đường lối lòng mình muốn, và nhìn xem sự mắt mình ưa thích, nhưng phải biết rằng vì mọi việc ấy, Đức Chúa Trời sẽ đòi ngươi đến mà đoán xét.

– In other words, God has given mankind the freedom to sow whatever we want, but then we must reap the fruits of it, either good or bad:

GALATIANS 6: 7 – Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

GA-LA-TI 6: 7 – Chớ hề dối mình; Đức Chúa Trời không chịu khinh dể đâu; vì ai gieo giống chi, lại gặt giống ấy.

– Thus, as mankind has the freedom of choice, we cannot blame God for the bad world that we have now. God created everything in beauty and perfection, but humans have destroyed them when we use our freedom wrongly. The miserable life that humans have suffered is our own product and we have to bear it to the end.

– Only returning to God will give us a chance to be happy and satisfy in this life and for eternity. Without making peace to God, mankind has no chance to fix the mess that we have created.

DEUTERONOMY 30: 9-10 – Then the Lord your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The Lord will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors, if you obey the Lord your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

PHỤC TRUYỀN 30: 9 – Khi ngươi nghe theo tiếng phán của Giê-hô-va Đức Chúa Trời ngươi, gìn giữ các điều răn và luật lệ của Ngài đã ghi trong sách luật pháp nầy, hết lòng hết ý trở lại cùng Giê-hô-va Đức Chúa Trời ngươi, thì Ngài sẽ ban phước đầy-lấp.

ISAIAH 55: 7 – Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Ê-SAI 55: 7 – Kẻ ác khá bỏ đường mình, người bất nghĩa khá bỏ các ý tưởng; hãy trở lại cùng Đức Giê-hô-va, Ngài sẽ thương xót cho, hãy đến cùng Đức Chúa Trời chúng ta, vì Ngài tha thứ dồi dào.

– To summarize, we have to understand this: For God so loved humans that He gave mankind the freedom of choice, but we have disobeyed Him, disrespected Him by using the freedom wrongly, by following our own way instead God’s way, and because of that all mankind has suffered the consequences of it.

– In order to save mankind, God had taken human form and came into the world to pay for our sins on the cross. By returning to Him and follow the Bible’s instructions carefully, we will rid ourselves the consequences of sins and will certainly find peace, satisfactory in Him for this life and for eternity.

– May God help us to understand His wonderful love for us and to learn how to live God’s way instead of ours so that we can enjoy this life in Him and to be in Heaven with Him forever. Amen.