Why Did God Make Man Knowing He Would Sin
Have you ever asked this question? Why did God create man if he knew he was going to sin?
This is a common question and one that almost every person has asked himself at some point in his life. But the question is flawed. It does not properly consider the bigger picture. The bigger picture is that God made Adam in his own image and desired fellowship with him. He put him in a perfect environment and gave him dominion over the creation. He gave him a perfect wife. And most of all, he gave him a free will so he could choose to love God of his own accord. The one limitation placed on Adam was to refrain from eating of the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil. By following this one simple command, Adam would prove his love for God. But he failed!
The question then could be asked, “Since God created man in a perfect environment and gave him the wonderful gift of personal choice, why did man choose to sin against God?” Can you see how that changes the tone of the question? The original question is often a veiled attempt to blame God for the outcome of man’s choices. In other words, since God knew man would sin and made him anyway, God is to blame for the outcome. How then can a man be responsible for his sins, and why would God send anyone to Hell? Similarly, children often say, “I didn’t choose to be born” in an attempt to shift responsibility from themselves to their parents.
So, when someone asks, “Why did God make man knowing he would sin?” they are really asking, “Why did God give man a free will?” or “Why didn’t God make men as robots and force them to love him?”
The answer is simple. Gods wants to enjoy a loving relationship with his creation, and therefore, made man with the freedom of choice (free will) so this could be possible. Love is a choice. Without choice (free will), love does not exist. (Love will always be dependent on choice if it is indeed true love. You can’t have one without the other.) Consider this, are you truly loved by someone if they are forced to love you? Would you find fulfillment in marrying someone who was forced to marry you? The answer is easy, No. We would always wish for someone to love us of their own free will and so does God. Forced love is not love at all and it is unjust.
We must therefore conclude that for God to make mankind, have a relationship with him, and be just in doing so, he must make man with the freedom of choice (free will). But granting free will also brings about the inevitable possibility for sin.
So, what should God have done? Should he have withheld himself from making man because of the potential for sin? Furthermore, should he have prevented us from being born in the event we might choose to sin?
The fact remains that God did create mankind despite his potential for sin. However, he did so with a plan in mind to forgive all men who would repent and turn back to him. The bible says in Eph. 1:4, “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” This is yet another factor that is not considered when one asks, “Why did God create man if he knew he would sin?”
With that in mind, we could once more reframe the question as follows, “Why would God make man knowing it would cost the death of his dear son as the only means of reconciliation for man’s sin?” Ultimately, this is the more honest question.
The bible says,
John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Rom 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
We see then that God is not to blame for the sinful choices and condition of man. He made man with the most coveted of all freedoms, the freedom to choose his own destiny. Furthermore, before Adam was ever created, God made a plan of salvation to redeem man from the bondage of sin.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
So the final question must be, “Will you choose Jesus as your Lord and Savior or will you shift the blame and reject his love?” The choice is yours.