*Life in Christ.. free will.* by Pastor Kester

 *Life in Christ.. free will.* 

Romans 5:17-18 (KJV)  For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

 Do you ever wonder what the world would have been like without Adam? Personally, I think that if it hadn't been Adam, it would have been someone else. Maybe me or you! Once God decided to give human beings free will, it was only a matter of time that someone decided to put himself first! Have I sinned? Have you? I'm sure the answer to both is yes, so we would have to have been redeemed. It's kind of easy to blame Adam, but let's be real; God knew we would fall. But the thing is, if we didn't have the free will that gets us into trouble, we wouldn't be able to love either because love is a choice more than a feeling. We wouldn't be able to love God or anyone else. God gave us free will so that we could choose the good, could choose God. Sin enters in when we choose our own needs before those of others. In a marriage, love means we choose to love even when we're unhappy with our spouse. We love our children through the terrible twos and the terrible teens. Without the free will that enables sin, we wouldn't be able to do this. We would be more like robots, going through the motions of living. But Jesus came and wiped away the punishment due all of us for our sins through his sacrifice on the cross. Not only did he save us from the punishment we deserve, he showed us how to live in order to be happy, and he let us know of this great gift. People sometimes ask if God could have chosen another way to redeem us, and the answer is yes, but would we have known about it? Would we have the hope of salvation we now live with?

 Pray.. oh Lord thank you for your gracious act of redemption which not only saves us from our sins but also enables us to live in hope in Jesus..amen.