Freedom of God

We live in the age of democracy. Most of us are living in countries where all citizens are considered equal and are free. This freedom is limited to certain things which our government has given us as privilege, say for example right to freedom of speech, right to practice and profess any religion etc. But still we are not free in the fullest sense. For example, we are bound to the law of gravity even if I want to break from it, we cannot. We cannot stop time and go back to the past or future. We cannot control our aging process. We are not free from physical death. These are some of the things from which we are not free. There are so many things like that in our lives. So we are not free indeed in many things. But this is not the case with God.

God is free in absolute sense. He is not time bound. He is the one who created gravity and the laws of this universe. He is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. He is not bound to anything in this universe. He needs no councils and he is not under any other creation’s authority be it visible or invisible ones.

To reiterate that fact, let us look at two passages from scripture.

"Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements--surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? "Or who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, 'Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed'? (Job 38:2-11)”

Here God is asking a series of rhetoric questions to Job to make him understand His absolute power and His wisdom in how the entire creation has been created through His power. The above passage is just an example which I have quoted to state the point I am trying to convey. I will give another example from scripture to prove the absolute freedom God is having:

“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" (Dan 4:35)

Nebuchadnezzar was a king of Babylon. During his period, Babylon was the only superpower nation of the world and almost all other civilized nations were under its control either directly or through diplomatic supremacy, somewhat like our present day United States. As a ruler and king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar was proud about his accomplishments. Immediately, God gave him some mental illness and he was so humiliated that he was put to stay along with animals. Then he realised his folly and understood that there is God who is so powerful and mighty with absolute freedom to do whatever He wants to in this universe, who is much greater than the greatest king in the world.

These are some of the examples given in Scripture to show us the absolute freedom God is having. He is free to do whatever He wants to do. There is nothing which God cannot do. God is not bound to any other authority.

There are some people who ask questions like this: If God is having absolute freedom, then why is there suffering in this world? Where is God when we suffer? Can God stop all sufferings in this world?

Before giving a straight forward answer, let us remember who God is in first place. God need not have to create this universe. Even if God didn’t create this universe, even if He didn’t create any of the creation in this universe, He would have been the same. He is in no way dependant on us. Even if He didn’t create any human beings, He will be the same and he could have might as well not created anyone or anything. So the question is not ‘Can God eradicate sufferings in this world?’ but rather ‘Should God eradicate sufferings in this world?’ In other words, is God under some higher authority, where He is bound to eradicate sufferings in this world? Bible’s answer to that question is no. God is the highest authority in this universe. He is answerable to no one.

Inspite of having such absolute power, God’s only son, Jesus Christ though He has the exact nature of God, yet He chose out of His absolute freedom to become humble and take the form of human flesh and took up the cross and died for us so that we can be free from our sins. How great our God is! The very God who has absolute freedom chose to take up the worst form of bondage so as to give us freedom! Now when we ask the question why we are suffering, we should also ask this question, why God who has absolute power and freedom, should also suffer in the worst way possible? This is the only answer: “He does all that he pleases.” (Psa 115:3)

What is the application of knowing about God’s absolute freedom for us? Firstly it gives us a sense of awe and wonder about how great our God is. We worship a God who has absolute power and authority. Also this gives us humility to know how inadequate and weak we are. Inspite of this contrast, God chose to love us so much so that He gave us His only son, the Lord God Jesus Christ for the sake of our redemption from our sins. How great is the love of God?

Second thing which we can learn from this attribute is that, there is nothing beyond God’s control. Even if we think our life is so messed up, God can change that and make it a God honouring one. The best example for that is the life of Samson. We know that Samson was not faithful to God fully when he was in his youth. But towards the end of his life, when he was blind and bounded, when his life was in absolute shambles, God used him mightily so much so that the final battle is one of the greatest battle ever he had fought against the Philistines.

This is the same God upon whom we have our faith in. Therefore let us bow down and worship such an awesome God with full reverence and honor and be hopeful that He would lead us to Shalom one day. May the Lord bless us all!