However, this does not eliminate intermediary causes. Persons are not puppets bound by a divine string. People make significantly free and, consequently, responsible choices that are part of the overall plan of God. Though human freedom is not absolute nor total in the sense that God's design is made contingent, all people everywhere and at all times have been endowed with considerable determination impelled by the inclinations of the self. In order for love to be meaningful, it must be freely given. So, God originally created humans with the ability either to remain in a loving relationship with him, or not. Choosing to break fellowship with God, humanity became enslaved by an impulse which was only contrary to his perfect will (Gen. 6:5; Rom. 3:1ff; Eph. 2:3).

Yet, God in his wondrous mercy, grace, and love set out to remedy our hopeless human plight by offering up Jesus as the Savior of the world. He did this so that some, who through faith alone in his Son, might become born anew and forever enjoy a relationship with him as their loving, heavenly Father (1 Jn. 3:1). Given this divine plan of creation and redemption, questions naturally raised are "In what logical order did God decide, determine, or purpose that these events should take place?" "If the divine will is ultimately prior to and authoritative over the human will, what about human freedom?" Answers to these questions are somewhat speculative. But a substantial amount of biblical data will show that 1) God's plan is certain and 2) human involvement is part of God's strategy he employs to bring about his perfect plan for the universe.

First, what God decrees will take place. This is God's decisive or decretive will. It is unconditional and effectual. There is nothing outside of God himself that would or could compel him to perform his decisive will. It is theologically certain in that it must necessarily come about because God willed it. That which God intends by his decisive will is certain to be actualized. Furthermore, everything which God decisively performs is only good, since he cannot perform evil (Gen. 1:31; Jm. 1: 13, 17; 1 Jn. 1:5). Examples of God's decisive will would be the intent to create (Gen. 1:3, 6, 14, et al.) and to redeem (Acts 2:23; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:4; 1 Pt. 1:20).

However, it is also the case that Scripture clearly indicates God conditionally allows certain activities without being directly behind them. This is God's contingent will. That is, certain conditions, intermediary causes, or states of affairs must be in place prior to their actualization. God's contingent will is historically, or empirically certain, but only when the necessary condition(s) exist for the consequent result(s) to occur.

Two categories serve to divide the contingent will of God: 1) God's preceptive will, and 2) God's permissive will. Neither is logically certain nor unconditionally definite. The first category pertains to God's sovereign rule de jure, or the way things ought to be in the moral arena, whereas the second category relates to God's sovereign rule de facto, or the way things are literally. God does not force resistance to him, but he does permit it (Gen. 3; Lk. 7:30; Acts 7:51). If God is sovereign (has total control) over the universe, and the universe is not always pleasing to him, then he must allow that which brings him displeasure (Ez. 18:23; Mal. 1:10).

The major concern over God's decrees has primarily to do with salvation and reprobation. For the strict Calvinist, God unconditionally elects some to salvation and some to damnation. Nothing with respect to God's purposes is conditional. Logically, God decides prior to the Fall to elect some to be saved and some to be lost. In fact, God creates in order to place people in the proper camp. This eliminates human responsibility altogether. Also, it oversimplifies a complex issue. The universe includes a variety of causes and effects, none of which are out of the control of God. But, this does not exclude intermediary causes of responsible human agents.

For example, Peter, under the inspiration of God, intimates there are four causes to Jesus' crucifixion. First, the Jews are a responsible cause for Jesus' death (Acts 2:23; note "you put to death" is emphatic; also, v. 36). Second, the Romans carried out this heinous crime ("with the help of wicked men" = Roman guards/government). Third, if it is possible the Savior suffered for the sins of the whole world (Jn. 1:29; 1 Tim. 1:15; 2:6; 4:10; Tit. 2:11; Heb. 2:9; 1 Jn. 2:2; 4:14), and death by crucifixion was the manner of his suffering, then it is likely all sinners are responsible for the suffering and death of the Savior. Fourth, God was in and behind it all, accomplishing what he himself graciously predestined ("by God's set purpose and foreknowledge," also cf., Acts 4:28).

The Arminian camp also sees God's relationship to the elect and non-elect from merely one angle. Only it is opposite a strict Calvinistic position–God elects both believer and unbeliever conditionally. Salvation and/or reprobation is conditioned upon human response. God foreknows what will occur in salvation; he does not, however, predetermine it. This makes God's plan of redemption wholly contingent upon human choices. In one sense, it is true God's decision to elect is contingent upon him knowing in advance how others will respond. After all, he does not choose in the dark! However, God's knowledge of future choices is perfectly accurate. He, therefore, knows with a purpose. What God knows regarding the redeemed, he wills for the redeemed. Those who reject God's salvation do so because they are responsible, self-determining agents. As a result, unbelievers bring condemnation upon themselves (Jn. 3:18).

A model for logically ordering God's decrees would be: (1) God unconditionally creates persons with enough freedom to experience an authentic, loving relationship with him; (2) God conditionally permits the Fall of the human race (Gen. 2:17; 3:3); (3) God decisively and unconditionally elects some to a saving relationship with him (1 Cor. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:9); (4) God unconditionally provides redemption by sending his Son to accomplish salvation and the Holy Spirit to apply it (Rev. 13:8 [NIV]; Jn. 3:5) (5) God conditionally permits those who persist in rejecting his redemptive provision to enter into eternal damnation (Rom. 1:26 et al.; 2 Thess. 1:6-9); (6) God unconditionally brings the created order to a climactic end where he forever separates believer from unbeliever (Eph. 1:11; Rev. 22). And, the final stage in God's creative, redemptive drama will be where God's rule de jure and de facto are perfectly integrated as one.

God's Providence
The history of the universe, from beginning to end, is governed, planned, guided, and directed toward the loving ends of the all-wise and all-powerful Creator. Nothing eventuates which has not already been intended, either permissively or purposefully, by the Almighty God (Pr. 16:33; 1 Cor. 15:27; Eph. 1:11). Not only is God directly involved with creation by way of miracles, but he is indirectly involved through mediatorial means such as the natural laws of the universe, angels, individual human agency (good and evil), families, nations, and prayer.

The ordinary providence of God can be seen in his supplying the created order with regularity in its operation (Gen. 8:22- Job 38:4-38; Ps. 104; Mt. 5:45; Acts 14:17). However, God provides extraordinarily through miraculous intervention for his specific redemptive purposes (Ex. 14:16; Ps. 78:13; Josh. 10:12-14; 1 Kgs. 18:17-49; Dan. 3:27-29; Mt. 8:2-3; Lk. 4:40; Jn. 9; Acts 9:42; Gal. 4:4; Heb. 2:4). Miracles do not transgress the laws of nature, since God set them in motion. Rather, miracles are divine irregularities in a universe that is operated by the regular ways in which God governs through natural processes. Under his providential control, miracles primarily serve to redirect human and/or satanic activity toward God's redemptive agenda (Mk. 2:1-12; 5:30, 34). Though all miracles do not necessarily have their origin in heaven (Mt. 24:24; Rev. 13:13), those which clearly point to and confirm God's salvific plan originate in the kingdom of light (Acts 2:43; 3:6-26; 9:40-42; Heb. 2:3-4).

God's providential control is seen in governing the affairs of nations. He is the chief architect and ruler over the nations (Job 12:23; Ezra 1:1; 6:22; Ps. 22:28; 33:14-15; Pr. 21:1; 16:9; Dan. 4:34-35; Acts 17:26). Even in the midst of evil God redirects the results of wrong human choices toward his ultimate purposes, whether his purposes are for blessing, discipline, or judgment (Gen. 37:28; 45:5; 50:20; 2 Kgs. 19:25; Is. 10:5, 12; 13:17; Jer. 25:9, 12; Ez. 14:9; Hab. 1:5-12; Rom. 8:28-29; Eph. 1:11).

Not only does God redirect evil human activity toward his purposes, he also restrains evil. Abimilech was kept from having relations with Sarah, because God promised to fulfill his redemptive plan via Abraham's offspring (Gen. 17:16-21; 20:1-7). The wicked plan of Haman to destroy the Jewish population was overruled by God's providential plan to promote Esther in the Persian empire (Esther 4:14; 9:1-4). God contained the evil of the Ninevites by providing Jonah as a prophet to preach a message of repentance (Jonah 1:2; 3:10). Moreover, God provides government as a means of bridling the evil choices of humanity as well as allowing religious freedom (2 Thess. 2:6-7; Rom. 13:3-4; Acts 18:12-17).

Prayer is an expression of trust and reliance upon God's providence and, therefore, is a means of God effecting change for the accomplishment of his will. God responds to the prayers of his people (Gen. 18:22-33; 21:17; 30:17; Ex. 32:14; 1 Chron. 14:14; Dan. 10:12; Mt. 7:7-11; Acts 4:29-3 1; 12:5-11). Conditions for answered prayer include prayers offered in Jesus' name (Jn. 14:13-14; 15:16; 16:23-24). To pray in the name of Jesus is to enter the presence of God by the authority and reputation of Jesus rather than any individual authority (e.g., Acts 3:6; 4:7; 16:18; 1 Cor. 5:4). It implies a surrendering of all personal authority and privilege and a submission to the Lord Jesus' authority. Therefore, humility and dependence are necessary prerequisites to effective prayer (2 Chron. 7:14; Jm. 5:16; 1 Pt. 5:6-7). Also, Scripture teaches us to rely on God's providence by praying according to God's will (Mt. 6:10; 26:3 9; 1 Jn. 5:14-15). The fact that God knows in advance what we need before we ask (Mt. 6:8) suggests God's provision is not so much in the answers, but in the prayers themselves.

God has providential control over all of history, despite the free, responsible choices of humans. Though Satan is the ruler of this world who seeks to bind everyone in darkness (2 Cor. 4:4; 1 Jn. 5:19; Rev. 12:9), God will have the final say (Rev. 20:10). Humans are endowed with significant freedom, both before and after the Fall, but nothing which occurs can make the plans and provisions of God contingent. Before the Fall God provided sufficient ability to choose good over evil, but after the Fall, humanity would only choose evil. Even if it were ontologically possible for fallen people to choose the good (Rom. 2:14-14; albeit Eph. 2:3), they still would not do so because freedom has been defaced by sinful rebellion (Jn. 12:37, 39). Therefore, progress via evolutionary means (per Liberal theologies) is simply not possible.

Creation and Humanity
The Bible clearly states that God created the universe (Gen. 1:1; Mt. 19:4; Acts 4:24; 14:15). Moreover, the universe was created out of nothing (ex nihilo), rather than from some pre-existent material or matter (Rom. 4:17- Heb. 11:3, where the instrument was rhema = God's spoken word; also, Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, et al.; Ps. 33:6; 148:5). The personal agency through whom God operated in creating the universe and humanity is the second Person of the triune God (Jn. 1:3; 1 Cor. 8:6; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2).

That the universe began to exist is virtually undeniable, both from a scientific and philosophical point of view. However, when or how God created the universe is difficult if not impossible to determine. The biblical data offers a variety of options and does not necessarily intimate a young earth. The Hebrew terms meaning "to create" (bara) and "to make" (asah) are used interchangeably (Gen. 1:26, 27, 3 1). Both are used as either a direct or indirect act of God (cf., Zech. 10:1 where God makes the storm clouds which produce rain; also, Acts 14:17). Hence, God can create directly and immediately without respect to time or indirectly and mediately through time and from other created processes.

Moreover, the Hebrew word for "day" (yom) used in Gen. 1:5, 8, et al. can mean a literal twenty-four hour period (Ex. 20:11), a month (Gen. 29:14), one year (Lev. 25:4-7), or an extended time (Josh. 24:7; 2 Chron. 15:3; Ps. 90:4-6 [Note: Moses wrote Psalm 90!]; 2 Pt. 3:8). Problems of understanding "day" to mean a literal twenty-four hour period include insufficient time for: (1) Adam to become lonely before Eve was created (Gen. 2:18); (2) vegetation to produce for Adam to begin working the Garden (Gen. 2:15-16); (3) Adam to name all the animals (Gen. 2:19-22). Finally, Adam's surprise at first seeing the woman could be rendered "here now at last bone of" which may suggest a longer period than just twenty-four hours (Gen. 2:23).

Though everything that exists ultimately owes its existence to God, he can and does use intermediary causes or processes whereby the existence of something(one) is derived from pre-existent objects/persons (Acts 17:26; 1 Cor. 11:8-9). This is not to say that God uses a Darwinian type of evolutionary process that is purposeless and random. As soon as God speaks things into existence, they appear (Gen. 1:11). Biological life did not require an inordinate amount of time when it came into being. In addition, Scripture states that each time God spoke, a specific "kind" of object came into existence (Gen. 1:3, 6, 9, 14, 24, 26-27). This demonstrates that God is the God of order and design, not chaos (Job 38:10; Ps. 104:9; 1 Cor. 14:33).

The genealogies in Scripture do not necessarily indicate a strict chronology. When comparing the genealogy of 1 Chron. 3:10-12 with Mt. 1:8-9, a gap is present. The biblical authors may have had some other purpose(s) in mind, rather than writing an exhaustive, detailed account of every event in history. The overall purpose of creation is not to provide a laboratory for discovering all the secrets of how and when creation came about, but to point to the glory of the Creator (Ps. 19:1-2; Rev. 4:11).

It seems best to understand the first three days of creation to be periods of time in which God provided form, structure, and order to the universe that could sustain life. Days 4-6 could be understood as God filling in the structure or void with biological life that is dependent upon the natural processes that he set in motion during the first three days (Is. 45:18). This treats the Gen. 1-2 narrative as historical, just as Jesus, the Jews, and the apostles understood (Mt. 19:5; Mk. 2:27; 13:19; Acts 7:50 = Is. 66:2; 1 Tim. 4:4; Heb. 12:27; Jm. 1:18), while making room for science to hypothesize how and when this may have taken place.

The zenith of God's creative activity is Adam and Eve. They alone are endowed with speech which enables them to communicate (Gen. 2:16, 19; 2:23; 3:2, et al.). They alone are made in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1:26-27) and receive life from the very breath of God (Gen. 2:7). The rest of Scripture is taken up with humanity's need for a redemptive relationship with the Creator. Against a theistic evolutionary theory, material human was formed from the dust of the ground, but the principle of life was given by God (Gen. 2:7). Also, the woman was clearly brought forth from man indicating ontological continuity of humanity, rather than the product of a non-human species (Gen. 2:21-22). And, the first man and woman were fully developed sexually to allow for immediate reproduction (Gen. 1:28). Finally, humanity was given significant freedom to make moral choices and to rule over all other life forms (Gen. 1:28; 2:16-17).

 Humanity in God's Image, Humanity in Rebellion, and God's Calling and Election