Sunday, July 4, 2010

God-Given Freedom

Every single person wants to be good, to at least feel like they are good. But we are only as “good” as our Creator says that we are. He is the manufacturer, and so we have to live according to His instructions or else our warranty will run out and we will be, literally, “good for nothing.”

Yet you placed humans just under the gods and gave him your glory and ruling power!
You established humans to rule over your creatures and everything is under their feet—
The living creatures, the animals, the swimming things and the flying things.
Yahweh, our Lord—Your name is ruling throughout the earth!

Psalm 8

One of the first thing God did right after humans were created was to give them sovereignty. Sovereignty can be one of those tricky theological words until we realize that it just means “rule” or “kingship.” God put humanity in charge of the earth. Specifically humanity is in charge of every creature on the earth. Every animal, even fish, is under the rule of humanity as a whole.

But if we are in charge of every single animal, this means that we are in charge of ourselves as well. Humanity is in charge of itself. This implies a certain amount of rule. Parents are in charge of children. And governments are in charge of larger groups of humans in certain places.

But the basic rule of God is freedom with some exceptions. We are to live in freedom with one another.

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