Genesis Vol 3.pdf - College Press

HISTORY’S MESSAGE TO MAN
At the same time, however, God has chosen to recog-
nize man’s freedom of will with which he has been en-
dowed from the beginning and without which he would
not be man. God chooses to allow man to exercise this
freedom of choice. Men are predestined to be free, and
their free choices constitute God’s foreknowledge. God
does not rule His inoral world by coercion.. He does not
burglarize our wills. He surrounds us with the necessary
means to physical and spiritual life and growth and then
looks to us to work out our own salvation within the
framework of His Providence, holding us accountable in
the long run for the deeds we have done in the flesh.
(John 5:29, Rom. 2:6, Phil. 2:12, Acts 17:31, Rom. 14:10,
2 Cor. S:10, Rev. 20:13).
The same is true of nations as of individuals. God does
not rule the affairs of nations by force. He allows them
to work out their own history and destiny under the aegis
of His Providence. At the same time, however, he ouer-
rules (overthrows, Ezek. 2 1 : 27) peoples and their rulers
when pride, ambition, greed, and arrogance may impel
them into schemes of world conquest. For the simple
fact is that God has reserved universal sovereignty for the
only One worthy of it, His Only Begotten (Phil. 2:9-10,
1 Cor. 15 :20-28, Rev. 11 : 1 5 ) , In every great conflict in
which the forces of righteousness haue been challenged by
the combined powers of evil, the evil powers haue always
gone down to defeat. 1 know of no exceptiolz to this
Principle in all human history. Free men will never be
enslaved for any great length of time by would-be empire
builders.
2. Nations fall when they igizore and violate the moral
law and t h s make themselves vessels fit only for destruc-
tion.
(1) No better example of this fact can be cited than
that of the text before us. Abraham made his pilgrimage
of faith to the Land of Promise, lived there throughout