the best possible world

as i was running moderate "middle knowledge" calvinism by dave worsley, he pointed out that if there is an infinite number of possible worlds, then there is at least one possible world in which everyone is saved. to this end, the question is - if there is at least one possible world in which everyone is saved (and if a world in which everyone is saved glorifies God more than a world in which not everyone is saved), then why doesn't God create a world in which everyone is saved?

i don't know. i don't know why God doesn't create a world in which everyone is saved. i don't know why God doesn't create a world in which there is no sin, strife and suffering. i don't know why God doesn't put the world to rights in Genesis 3. instead, He waits until Revelation 21 to make everything new.

but i know that this particular world (ie. the world we live in) is the best possible world - from God's perspective. if it were not so, then God would not have created it.

*****

God is in control of all things. He can take an action that was wrong and intended to do harm, and achieve his own good purpose through it. The story of Joseph is a good example. His brothers did an evil thing in selling Joseph into slavery, 'but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done: the saving of many lives' (Gen 50:19-20). The cross of Jesus is the supreme example of this (see 1 Cor 2:7-8; Acts 2:23; 4:27-28).

God overrules everything - including the hearts and minds of people - to achieve his purposes. We reject God's power (and his guidance) when we act as if this were not true.

There is a strange heresy that has grown out of this rejection of God's power. It is known as God's 'second best'. Some Christians are taught that if God wants them to follow a particular course of action (marry Druscilla or serve on the mission field of Bolivia) and they choose not to do it, then they are committed for the rest of their lives to God's 'second best'. God had something better for them, but they missed out on it and so are required to settle for Plan B, so to speak. Many Christians today live in resentment, disappointment and guilt, believing that they have irrevocably missed out on God's perfect plan for them.

- Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne, Guidance and the Voice of God

history and the will of God are not about "what ifs", but about "what is". as much as i wish with all my heart that i could change the past (or aspects of the past), i know that the best possible world - from God's perspective - consists of all that's happened and not happened, all that God has occasioned (not caused) us to freely bring about.

He sees the masterplan
He holds our future in His hands
So don't live as those who have no hope
All our hope is found in Him

We see the present clearly
But He sees the first and the last
And like a tapestry
He's weaving you and me
To someday be just like Him

God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His heart

In the past, many Christians have thought of God's will for them as like a giant finely-detailed map that plotted the course of the rest of their lives. The whole idea of 'guidance' was to find out which way to turn next so that we stayed on course, and followed the path that had already been mapped out for us.

Perhaps the best way to summarise our alternative to this view is to say that God's guidance is more like a compass than a map. We are not given the fine detail of every decision on every day for the rest of our lives. God doesn't want us to spend our time trying to discover the secrets of his will. He does indeed guide us through life 'behind the scenes', and every detail is known to him and under his sovereign control. He knows where he wants to take us, and he will get us there. But he does not provide us with a detailed map - he gives us a compass instead.

At every point along the journey, no matter where we are or what we are doing, we can consult the compass to see which direction to head. That direction is always towards righteousness and holiness and becoming like Christ. As Paul puts it: 'Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him' (Col 3:17). At every step along the way, this is the direction God wants us to take, for that is the destination he is guiding us to - to be conformed finally to the image of Christ, to be submitted to him for all eternity, to inherit the unspoiling glory that belongs to the adopted children of God.

The compass is his own word to us: the Bible. It may not tell us the detail of every rock to step over, or whether to climb the mountain or tunnel through it, but it will constantly and unerringly point us to what God wants us to do every day of our lives. It will tell us what matters matter, and in what ways God wants us to lovingly obey him. It will also tell us, by implication, that some decisions (or aspects of decisions) are not matters of right and wrong, and that in these circumstances we can use the wisdom God has given us to make up our minds.

- Phillip Jensen and Tony Payne, Guidance and the Voice of God

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah
Pilgrim through this barren land
I am weak, but Thou art mighty
Hold me with Thy powerful hand

Bread of Heaven, Bread of Heaven
Feed me now and ever more
Feed me now and ever more

link: more on the best possible world (4 feb 09)