@Oceanic,
I want to start off by saying, yes, by the title, I am suggesting we may be living in a simulation- BUT one that is created by God himself. I have seen many Bible verses suggesting we're just acting as he wants us to because everything is simply a story- a meaningful story. So in other words, if we have free will, it's just slight. Our outcomes have already been determined.
Isaiah 45:7 "I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things."
I don't think many people have had this thought pop up in their mind: "If God says he created good, then how would good have the choice to be evil if it was meant to be good?"
Let's put this into perspective: If I make a square cake, it would not have the option to suddenly form into cupcakes.
Well the Bible is clear in all its teachings that we have free will. Since the Bible is God's message to us its also very clear that we are not living in a simulation and there is definitely no script. The square cake is not a living breathing soul and has no free will.
I don't think as mere mortals and created beings who are limited in our knowledge on everything, we can understand how evil came to be. But the Bible is clear that God did not create it.
All of God's intelligent beings (including angels and mankind) were created free to choose between obedience or disobedience to God's principles of truth, righteousness, and love. Lucifer (meaning "light-bearer" and Satan's heavenly name), one of the most exalted cherubim, misused his freedom of choice (
Deuteronomy 30:19; Galatians 6:7-8). This was the beginning of the great rebellion in heaven. Lucifer became Satan (meaning "adversary"). He set aside the law of God through self-exaltation, deception, lying, and murder (
Ezekiel 28:13-15, 17; Isaiah 14:12-14; Revelation 12:7, 8; John 8:44, 1 John 3:15).
We are just a story, everyone, including angels and demons, have been created with a script.
Why does God have a specific chosen people?
I'm not sure what you mean by a chosen people. Do you mean the Jews or a mixture of Jews and Gentiles?
Biblically God chose Israel for a purpose and that purpose was to spread the Gospel to the whole world. God always planned that all people He created would reconcile back with Him. He did not choose Israel because they were more special than others. The Israelites and later the Jews forgot this purpose and became proud. They became an exclusive people and did not let anyone in. They looked down on anyone who wasn't them. When Jesus came to earth He told them that this plan was still going to continue. In the New Covenant, as was supposed to be in the Old Covenant anyone who joined Israel becomes/became a Jew. Paul and other apostles made it clear that Gentiles who join Israel are Jews and are God's people. God's people are those who choose to submit and follow Jesus Christ by choice because they have free will. Being part of Israel is not about genealogy, its about accepting Jesus as one's personal Saviour and doing His will. The Bible teaches plainly that
“in Christ” the division between Jew and Gentile has been done away with. Paul wrote in
Romans 10:11-13, "For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Why did God purposely harden Pharaoh's heart?
Did God did harden Pharaoh's heart or did Pharaoh harden his own heart? Lets compare what some passages say in the Bible.
Exodus 4:21 says,
"And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go."
Exodus 9:12, "But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh; and he did not heed them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses."
Exodus 8:15, "But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he hardened his heart and did not heed them, as the Lord had said."
Pharaoh hardened his own heart against God. God kept asking Pharaoh through Moses to let His people go, He gave Pharaoh signs, worked miracles in his court, and then sent the first nine plagues. And Pharaoh still refused! Pharaoh said:
“Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go” (
Exodus 5:2). When God sent out the plagues, Pharaoh and other pagan Egyptians were challenged in their beliefs. God proved to him and them that He is the real and true God and more powerful than their man-made gods. But with each plague Pharaoh's heart became more hardened. Just as exercise strengthens muscles, repeated rejection of truth strengthens rebellion.
This has happened all throughout man's history. During the flood for example, Noah preached for 120 years the judgement of the flood for sinners and that they should turn to God and repent. He preached while building the Ark. Most people rejected His message. Only his family responded and repented. When the flood did happen those who responded and repented were saved. Did God purposefully harden the hearts of the majority who rejected His message through Noah for all those years? No! Their hearts were hardened by choice. God knew they would but He did not will it to happen. God's foreknowledge does not take away our free will.
So God knew Pharaoh would harden his heart but it was entirely Pharaoh's choice to do so. Pharaoh had plenty of obvious warnings from God, and he chose to ignore every one of them. If he'd backed down after the first plague, the other nine wouldn't have been necessary. Instead, he hardened his own heart even more against God.
Why do the Seraph angels continue to say "Holy Holy Holy" without being able to stop, and have no other purpose but to praise God?
That was the purpose they were created for and they are happy and fulfilled doing it. They would have had a choice to reject what they were created for just as Satan and 1/3 of all the evil angels did and who were eventually thrown out of heaven for rebelling against God.
Why did God say he would put a spirit of anger into the world leaders so they can destroy Babylon?
Where did God say He would put anger into the world leaders? Can you show actual Scripture from the Bible?
Simple. Because he is in control; he is the author writing what he wants to happen.
You're right God is always in control but not of our wills. He could have chosen to control our wills from the get go when He created intelligent beings starting with the angels but that would make us all puppets incapable of thinking on our own and making our own decisions. You are proving that God gave you a choice by posting this thread with these beliefs and opinions. You would not be able to think this let alone be able to post it because God would not allow anyone to say anything negative about Him if He was controlling our wills. God is love, and love does not force. He wants us to come to Him willingly not from fear. He has told us the consequences of what will happen when we choose Him or when we choose Satan. Its up to us who we choose.
There is also the issue of sin. What you're saying is that God is the minister if sin, not Satan. Satan is just a pawn after all and is only doing what he was created to do which is for the benefit of the few chosen ones. He had no say or choice in any of his actions. Why would a loving God create this world, allow sin and all its devastation through the ages take hold of this world the way it has? Does God enjoy seeing people suffer and die? Why would He choose to create people to suffer, to cause them to sin and then cause them to be lost and eventually burned and destroyed in hell? Wouldn't that make God evil and much worse than Satan? That will make the Bible which is God's Word a lie because it says God is
"not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (
2 Peter 3:9).
God also said,
"As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’ " (
Ezekiel 33:11). According to you God created most people to be sinners, lost and destroyed so He was lying when He said He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The whole Bible is one lie after another based on your logic.
There is also Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. Did He not die in our stead so we may not perish but have everlasting life should we choose to submit and follow Him? Is the Bible lying when it says:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (
John 3:16).
“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (
1 John 4:9-10).
“As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (
John 1:12).
And the only ones getting a happy ending
are his chosen ones whom, by the way, HE chooses. I have heard Christians say, "It's your choice if you want to go to heaven or not!" No it's not. It's God's choice. Whoever is fortunate enough will be chosen and if they're chosen that means they have played the role of being a faithful servant because that's what their character was created to do. One cannot send themselves to hell or heaven, did you forget we are mere fragile human beings who can easily get killed by simple weather conditions?
It is our choice if we want to go to heaven. When we submit to God, we are partners with Him and choose to let Him walk by our side in our daily lives. We open our hearts to Him and let Him in by choice. Then He begins the process of destroying our old sinful selves and changing us into a new spiritual creations (
2 Corinthians 5:17). We begin to experience the glorious freedom from guilt and condemnation, and the old life of sin becomes repulsive to us.
So are you saying this is all for entertainment purposes?" You ask? In a way, yes, but that is not the main answer. The main answer is so it can benefit the chosen people of God. God purposely puts obstacles, who are demons and/or life struggles in the way so his chosen ones can learn and grow from these things. Then when all is said and done, evil will forever be destroyed and God's chosen ones get to experience peace for eternity. This world was intended for his chosen people anyway- God even says he created the world for them. If this is the case, this means lucifer was meant to be evil, demons were purposely created as well, and this all goes back to God saying he created both good and evil.
This statement is false and makes God evil as I said before. It would mean God is having fun and does not care about the suffering of billions of people since the beginning and all for the few who are chosen? That would make God worse than Satan who He created as I posted above. It would mean God purposefully created Satan, created sin, started the rebellion in heaven in which Satan managed to lie and manipulate a third of all the angels in heaven and then get thrown out and came o this earth and wreaked havoc for thousands of years until Jesus comes back the second time. It means that God ultimately caused/causes sinners to be lost and eventually destroyed in hell.
Where in the Bible does it say God created the world for the chosen people? Can I see actual scripture to prove that?
Again where in the Bible does it say God created good and evil? Please show actual scripture. What I do know is that God is not responsible for the entrance of sin in heaven and on earth.
This entire earth as we know it is just a battleground for a chosen people, which they will succeed in the end, then this world will be destroyed and God will create another world for them to dwell on for all of eternity. This also suggests everyone else will be damned. Everyone else was also created, just as lucifer and his demons, to bring tribulation to the chosen ones.
Not according to God's Word. A loving God
DID NOT and
WOULD NOT create Satan and most people (most people are going to hell according to the Bible) to sin, suffer and be destroyed in hell eventually just
"to bring tribulation to the chosen ones." He would not send His Son to die the most painful death on the cross to satisfy the death penalty for
only a chosen few. That would be beyond evil. The Bible says Jesus died for ALL not a chosen few (
2 Corinthians 5:15, 1 John 2:2).
We know the world persecutes God's people, that is why they will be erased from existence in the end.
God's people have always been persecuted because of the devil. Satan hates God's people (those who've chosen by their own free will to submit and follow God) because he hates God. Because they chose God over him. The Bible tells us Satan wants to be worshipped like God. The Bible says of Satan,
“You have said in your heart: … ‘I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; … I will be like the Most High’ ” (
Isaiah 14:13-14). Satan is proud and jealous of God. He wants to be like God but he can't be because he is a created being. He also knows his fate. It is hell and losing his life eternally. Jesus said hell was only meant for Satan and his evil angels (
Matthew 25:41) but unfortunately many people will go to hell because they chose not to submit to God. They chose Satan instead. Satan wants as many people as possible to lose their lives eternally because he knows that will hurt God very much because He loves all (not some) the people He created very much. The Bible warns us,
"Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour" (
1 Peter 5:8). Why would God warn anyone to be sober and vigilant if He already knows the chosen who are going to be saved anyway? No matter what Satan did or didn't do they are still going to be saved, they still win.
No one with free will is a pawn. God did not create pawns either.
But either way, God has us all in checkmate. So what say you?
He does not have us in checkmate and that would suggest that God is evil, more evil than Satan because He created all beings in this earth. It means He is in heaven watching people being murdered, starving children and adults, abuse, r*pe, paedophilia, people dying from illness, natural disasters etc and allowing most of mankind to suffer in untold ways just to
"puts obstacles, who are demons and/or life struggles in the way so his chosen ones can learn and grow from these things"? That is beyond disgusting and a horrible thing to say about a loving God who created us out of love and wants to save all of us.
I forgot to mention, this is just how I personally see it; an opinion if you will. You need not heed my words.
This all sounds like the Predestination teaching (also called
“unconditional grace” or
“predestination”) which basically states that God has chosen some people to be saved and the others to be lost. Man's choice have no impact in God's decision. A key passage used to support this view is found in Paul’s writings in
Romans 8:29-30,
"For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified."
Bible passages can be used to support the concept that God knows all things past, present, and future.
“All things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (
Hebrews 4:13). Bible prophecy affirms that God knows the future, but future events do not happen because God “foreknew” them; rather, they are known by God because they will take place. Moreover, because God knows something will happen does not mean He wills it to happen.
Did God predestinate that only some would be saved? Paul writes elsewhere that God
“desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (
1 Timothy 2:4). If only some are predestined to be saved, why would Jesus offer salvation to all? Christ said, in the closing chapter of the Bible,
“Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (
Revelation 22:17).
God has an all-knowing perspective. He knows whether we are going to be saved or lost, but this knowledge does not take away our free choice. We know this because of the many Scripture passages that demonstrate our freedom to choose. Joshua told Israel to
“choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (
Joshua 24:15). The story of the fall of mankind shows the high value (and high price) that God gave to Adam and Eve when He let them choose whether to obey or disobey Him.