What Does God Want?

by Michael S. Heiser

Imaging God also gives us purpose. We have a mission. Every person, no matter how small or weak or short-lived has some role to play in someone else’s life. Every task we set our mind to that honors God and our fellow imagers becomes a spiritual calling.

Without the genuine freedom to make real decisions we simply would not be like God. God is no robot, and we were made to be like him. Without genuine free will, we cannot authentically love God or obey God. If decisions are pre-programmed, they aren’t really decisions. For decisions like love and obedience to be authentic, they must be made against a truly possible alternative.

God can only eliminate evil in our world if he eliminates all the ones who do evil. In other words, God can only end evil if he wipes out all of us. Everyone sins (Rom 3:10-12) and, like the Bible says, “fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). So sure, God could do that. But he doesn’t. He loves humanity too much for that to be an option.

That which cannot be achieved by performance cannot be lost by performance. Salvation has nothing to do with our own worth or merit. It has everything to do with what someone—Jesus—did for us. “For our sake God made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

Salvation doesn’t cost us anything; it’s free for all who believe the gospel. Discipleship, however, does cost us something. Following Jesus is often not easy.