One of the most powerful proofs that man was created in the image of God, that we are all formed after His likeness, is the fact that we possess the gift of free will. We are volitional beings, and we excercise our ability to choose in our thoughts, our words and our actions all the time. Just as God manifests and exerts His will over His creation, so we are free to make decisions that impact our environment, our well being and our relationships.

But just as the attribute of free will shows that we are fashioned after our Creator, so one of the strongest pieces of evidence that we are the fallen sons of Adam, that we are members of a corrupted, sinful race, is how we use our power of choice. More often than not, in things that really matter, we make wrong decisions; we choose poorly. That is one of the primary ways our sin nature expresses itself. Paul put it this way: There is none righteous, no not one; there is none that does good, or seeks God (on his own). God has given us over to a reprobate mind; He has given us over to vile affections, because that is what we choose. We use our free will to enslave ourselves to sin, to choose wrong over right and evil over righteousness.

Virtually all the history of mankind can be framed within the context of bad choices. Adam and Eve chose the forbidden fruit over having all their needs met by all the other things God provided for them in the Garden. Through a series of bad choices, they succumbed to the lust of the eye, the lust of flesh, and the pride of life, and as their offspring, we have been doing the same ever since. Their firstborn son Cain chose to worship God in an improper manner, and it cost him dearly. Abraham, in collusion with his own wife, chose to have relations with a concubine, and the world has borne witness to the fruit of that bad decision ever since. Every hostile act against Jews, every inflamed word out of the Middle East today is the result of Abraham’s poor choice. The children of Israel chose to listen to the report of the ten cowardly spies, and it kept them out of the Promised Land for forty years. Following the death of Joshua, Israel suffered through a period of some 400 years of virtual chaos, known as the time of the Judges, because every man chose to do that which was right in his own eyes. Solomon, the wisest man in the world, was not immune from making bad choices. In his latter years, Solomon chose to let his heart stray after the gods of his wives, and it ultimately cost him his kingdom.

Praise God that the other Son of David, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, made better use of volition.
He chose, before the foundation of the world, that He would shed His life’s blood for the sins of the world. Three days after choosing the Father’s will over His own, to drink the bitter cup of Calvary, He chose to lead captivity captive, to take the sting out of death, and to rob the grave of its victory. Through the glorious Gospel of His Son, God expressed what in Ephesians is described as the good pleasure of his will, the kind intention of the Creator toward His fallen creation. In 2 Peter 3.9, the Bible declares “that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and faith in Christ“. The question is, are we willing to make the decision to accept the gift of eternal life He offers; are we ready to drink of the water of life, freely available to whosoever will?