We've got to talk about the most incredulous irony of the universe.
All things were created by God. He is the King of the universe, and Father of the spirits of every human ever born on this earth. "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:3)
Though He has allowed what sometimes seems like a never-ending tether to the rebellious one who now wreaks such havoc in the world, that tether is still decreed finitely by Him. The destroyer can only do so much damage, and no more.
This vexes many prone to disbelief as proof there must be no God - finding it easier to not believe in a Being who would allow such mischief and mayhem wherever you look. But here comes the great irony - because of eternal laws, God must allow us to choose His ways without a show of force on His part. How can we ever be tempered and trained to prefer light over darkness in a world with only light?
God planned from the very beginning to send a Rescuer, a Healer, a Cleaner-Upper-of-Every-Mess. A Savior. He paid such a high price to send His beloved, perfect Son to clean up every mess we make, to make every single thing right that has gone wrong, to wipe all the tears that have been shed over all the messes. He watched that perfectly obedient Son suffer indescribably to allow us the gift of the right to choose.
Mortality is our time to learn and develop preferences: to prefer light to darkness, freedom to force, work to indolence, to prefer kindness over cruelty. To prefer generosity over stinginess, magnanimity over pettiness. All life's experiences are for this one purpose - which do you prefer - God's ways, or Satan's?
And through it all, the scriptures are replete with the polite suggestion that we will do best if we learn sooner than later that God's ways are the path to ultimate freedom, and Satan's ways are the path to bondage.
King Limhi taught his people:
"O how marvelous are the works of the Lord, and how long doth he suffer with his people; yea, and how blind and impenetrable are the understandings of the children of men; for they will not seek wisdom, neither do they desire that she should rule over them." (Mosiah 8:20)
In light of the omniscience, power, and glory, from Him who made all things, it's fascinating that the typical natural human, untouched by spiritual things, has the tendency to not want to be bossed around At. All. By anyone really, but according to Limhi, the characteristic of God that makes Him so utterly trustworthy to be listened to and obeyed is His infinite wisdom. Which means natural humans don't want to be bossed around by their very Creator.
So, why?
Humans want what they want, as much as they want, whenever they want. Any restraints are most onerous to a typical natural human. Isaiah poetically observes:
"Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself, as if it were no wood." (Isaiah 10:15)
Isaiah recognizes how ridiculous it is that the created thing imagines it is greater than its creator by using the poetic images of inanimate objects to make his point, but it holds true of God's children, also created for Him - for His delight, His use, and His glory: "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth,... all things were created by him and for him." (Colossians 1:16, emphasis added)
This is the great danger of the world's religion - secular humanism - which asserts that the highest moral authority is a person's own self and what he feels is right and moral. That makes for some sticky business, as this means there is no universal standard for everyone to refer to.
Secular humanism teaches a doctrine which doesn't assert all humans are created in the image of one universal Creator. It assumes innumerous little gods - those gods created in the images of their flawed, fickle human creators.
This turning upside down of the natural order of things is also described by Isaiah:
"Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?" (Isaiah 29:16)
So back to the irony. It boggles my mind that God gave all His fickle children this magnificent gift of choice - for the very reason to learn to prefer Him over all else. That's what the agency is for - to allow our experiences to teach us to prefer Him over all else.
And yet, with all His power, and brilliance, and might, and glory - this mighty Being who is our Creator, Father, and God - does not force. Not only does He not, neither can He, nor will He. The choice is entirely up to us. What's not up to us is the attending consequences - the "affixed", inescapable consequences of those choices. (2 Nephi 2:10)
The great irony is that the only one with authority to boss us around - the Author of the universe - refuses to boss us around. He waits, He allows, He loves. He waits, and then He waits some more. And when He's finished, He keeps waiting, watching from "yet a great way off" (Luke 15:20), and hopes that in the end, we will ask Him to boss us around - to take the rudder and captain our ship - to give Him, as Neal Maxwell taught, the only thing that is uniquely ours to give - our very selves.
Humans can never do God's work if they don't learn this, if they attempt to force God's ways. God. Never. Forces. In fact, He has something pretty strong to say about those who try to force His ways:
"...men... do not learn this one lesson -
"That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled or handled only upon the principles of righteousness....
"...but when we undertake to... exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man." (D&C 121:35-37)
God will do everything in His power to bring us to the choice of choosing Him, but He will not take it from us or make it for us. And He doesn't want us to force each other, either, in any way. God is all about choice. Because of His infinite courtesy, He lets us choose.
But oh, those consequences. We'd better be quite certain we want the consequences we've chosen as well.
Know this, that ev’ry soul is free
To choose his life and what he’ll be;
For this eternal truth is giv’n:
That God will force no man to heav’n.
He’ll call, persuade, direct aright,
And bless with wisdom, love, and light,
In nameless ways be good and kind,
But never force the human mind.
Freedom and reason make us men;
Take these away, what are we then?
Mere animals, and just as well
The beasts may think of heav’n or hell.
May we no more our pow’rs abuse,
But ways of truth and goodness choose;
Our God is pleased when we improve
His grace and seek his perfect love.
(Know This, That Every Soul is Free, LDS Hymns #240, emphasis added)
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