FIRST QUARTER 2025
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #8
FEBRUARY 22, 2025
"FREE WILL, LOVE AND DIVINE PROVIDENCE"

            Our lesson this week is entitled, “Free Will, Love, and Divine Providence.” When we think about the 1888 message, we typically think of ideas relating to “righteousness by faith,” the humanity of Jesus, Christ’s work in behalf of the whole world, etc. We rarely consider whether A. T.  Jones and E. J. Waggoner had much to say about, “Free Will, Love, and Divine Providence.” But as we read their writings more broadly we find they had much to say regarding these vital topics, and as Ellen White said, you will find that “every fiber of my heart said Amen.”

            A. T. Jones wrote a powerful and underappreciated tome, Ecclesiastical Empire, which has a wonderful section relating directly to our Sabbath School lesson theme for this quarter, and particularly this week’s lesson. I’ve chosen to share selected excerpts from this book for the Sabbath School Insight this week as it was a blessing worth sharing with all our Sabbath School classes. I would STRONGLY encourage you to read the whole of chapter 21.  I know you will be blessed as I was.

            “Freedom of choice is essential to intelligence. Freedom of thought is essential to freedom of choice. God has made angels and men intelligent. He has made them free to choose and has left them perfectly free to choose. He made them free to think as they choose. God is the author of intelligence, of freedom of choice, and of freedom of thought. And He will forever respect that of which He is the author. He will never invade to a hair’s breadth the freedom of angel or man to choose for himself, nor to think as he chooses. And God is infinitely more honored in making intelligences free to choose such a course, and to think in such a way as to make themselves devils, than He could possibly be in making them so that they could not think nor choose, so that they would be not intelligent, but mere machines.

            “It may be yet further queried: As God made angels and men free to sin if they should choose, did he not then have to provide against this possible choice before they were made—did He not have to provide for the possibility of sin, before ever a single creature was made? —Assuredly He had to make such provision. And He did so. And this provision is an essential part of that eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, which we are now studying.

“Let us go back to the time when there was no created thing, back to the eternal counsels of the Father and the Son. The existence of God is not a self-satisfied existence. His love is not self-love. His joy is not fulfilled in wrapping himself within himself and sitting solitary and self-centered. His love is satisfied only in flowing out to those who will receive and enjoy it to the full. His joy is fulfilled only in carrying to an infinite universe full of blessed intelligences, the very fullness of eternal joy.

“Standing then, in thought, with Him before there was a single intelligent creature created, He desires that the universe shall be full of joyful intelligences enjoying His love to the full. In order to do this, they must be free to choose not to serve Him, to choose not to enjoy His love. They must be free to choose Him or themselves, life or death. But this involves the possibility of the entrance of sin, the possibility that some will choose not to serve Him - will choose the way of sin. Shall He then refuse to create because, if He does, it must be with the possibility that sin may enter? —This would be but eternally to remain self-centered and solitary. More than this, such a shrinking would in itself cause Him to cease to be God. For what is a god, or what is he worth, who cannot do what he desires? Who cannot fulfill his own will? Such a god would be worthless.

“Thank the Lord, such is not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He made all intelligences free to choose, and to think as they choose; and therefore free to sin if they choose. And at the same time, in His infinite love and eternal righteousness, He purposed to give Himself a sacrifice to redeem all who should sin; and give them even a second freedom to choose Him or themselves, to choose life or death. And those who the second time would choose death, let them have what they have chosen. And those who would choose life, —the universe full of them, —let them enjoy to the full that which they have chosen, —even eternal life the fullness of perfect love, and the dear delights of unalloyed joy forever.

“This is God, the living God, the God of love, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is fully able to do whatsoever He will, and yet leave all His creatures free. This is He who from the days of eternity ‘worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.’ And this is 'the mystery of His will, ...which He hath purposed in himself; that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him.’ This is 'the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord.’                           

“The choice of self is sin, bondage, and death. the choice of Christ is righteousness, freedom, and life eternal in the realm and purpose of the eternal God....

“There are some questions that may arise that it would perhaps be well to notice before proceeding farther. First, it may be asked: Why did the Lord not destroy the wicked angels all at once? The answer is: Because He desires the thing and not simply the persons. He desires to blot out the thing that made them what they are, rather than simply to blot out the people who have been made what they are by it. And to have lifted up His righteous hand, or spoken in justice the word that would have smitten into nothingness the whole company of them—this would have gotten rid of the persons who had sinned, it is true; but it would not certainly have gotten rid of the sin, which was the difficulty that had brought things to the point where they now were.

“It was the wisdom and the justice of God’s eternal purpose which had been called in question by one of the principal creatures of his realm. Being an eternal purpose, it will take eternity to reveal it to people whose existence is measured in times. Being a purpose of infinite depth, it will take eternity to make it plain to minds that are only finite. It was the misapprehension of this eternal purpose, on the part of this exalted and anointed cherub, that had sprung the problem and raised the controversy. And although misunderstanding this eternal purpose himself, yet he had such eminence and ability, even in his mistaken course, that he was able to present his views of things in such a way as to excite sympathy, and cause a vast number of the angelic host also to question the wisdom and justice of the eternal purpose of God which He had purposed in Christ.

“He had represented God as stern, harsh, arbitrary, partial, exacting, and unwilling to make any sacrifices for His creatures. From the situation of things as it now was, he had succeeded in making it appear to many that this was so. And for the Lord to have smitten out of existence instantly the whole crew, while being altogether just in itself, would have still left room for the suspicion on the part of finite minds who did not understand the infinite purpose, that perhaps Lucifer and those who were with him did not really deserve such a fate; and from this suspicion the thought, ‘Such treatment looks somewhat as if there were truth in Lucifer’s view that God is arbitrary;’ and from this thought, sympathy for the course of the rebels, and doubts of the goodness and righteousness of God; then discontent in heaven, and a service of fear and bondage instead of love and freedom. But as this is the very thing that Lucifer had charged against God, —that such was the nature of the divine government, —this in itself would be only finally to develop a sinful rebellion again.

“Nor is it to be thought that this result is imaginary. For when this highly exalted one, this anointed cherub, who was so glorious that his very name, expressive only of what he was,—‘light-bearer,’—signified that wherever he went, he bore the light of God, this one who if he had equals had no superiors;                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             among the heavenly hosts—when such a  one so far misapprehended the eternal purpose of God which He purposed in Christ, it is not by any means an imaginary thing that others who were less than he, might possibly also misapprehend this eternal purpose if these had been instantly stricken out of existence in the presence of all; and this especially when the minds of all had been stirred upon this very thing, and had had all manner of insinuations spread before them by this most artful one.

“Therefore, with the situation as it was, and with the eternal principles and purpose of the government of God involved, it was impossible in the nature of things for the Lord to put an end to the evil then, by putting out of existence the evil-doers. The only thing therefore that He could do was to let the whole matter go on and develop as it would, until such time as the whole problem should be thoroughly understood by all in heaven and earth, and even in hell. And then when all evil shall be swept away with the destruction of all evil-doers, every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and every tongue shall confess that in eternal justice and righteousness, Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.                                                               And therefore, it is written that He hath ‘made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.’                            And then, and thus again, with all in the realm of God it will be ALL OF CHRIST AND NONE OF SELF.”

A. T . Jones, Ecclesiastical Empire, pp. 584-588.

~Robert Hunsaker