Chapter Predestination
Predestination for the Fulfillment of the Will
As
clarified in the "Principle of Creation", God's purpose of creation
is to be fulfilled only by man's accomplishment of his portion of
responsibility. The will for the providence of restoration, which is to fulfill
this purpose, being absolute, is not for man to interfere with; however, man
must accomplish his own portion of responsibility in order for the will to be
accomplished. Therefore, God's purpose of creation was to be fulfilled only
through man's accomplishing his portion of responsibility by not eating of the
fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:17).
Accordingly,
even in accomplishing the purpose of the providence of restoration, the will
can be fulfilled only through the accomplishment of man's responsibility by the
central figure in charge of the mission. In Jesus' day, the people should have
believed in Jesus absolutely, in order that he might accomplish the purpose of
the providence of salvation. But due to their disbelief, they could not
accomplish their portion of responsibility, and naturally, the accomplishment
of the will had to be postponed to the day of the Second Advent.
Then, to
what degree and to what extent would God predetermine the accomplishment of the
will? As mentioned, God's will to accomplish the purpose of the providence of
restoration is absolute, but the accomplishment of the will is relative. So, it
is predetermined that the will is to be accomplished, but only through God's 95
percent responsibility and man's 5 percent responsibility combined. Indicating
the proportion of man's responsibility as 5 percent is only to say that man's
responsibility is extremely small compared to God's.
Nevertheless, we must understand that, for man, it means 100 percent
effort.
To cite examples: the accomplishment of the will centering on Adam and
Eve was predestined to be fulfilled by the fulfillment of their own portion of
responsibility, namely, by not eating of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge
of Good and Evil. The providence of restoration centering on Noah was
predestined to be fulfilled by the accomplishment of his own portion of
responsibility, through his loyalty in building the ark. The providence of
salvation through Jesus was predestined to be accomplished through the
fulfillment of responsibility on the part of fallen men by their believing in
Jesus as the Messiah and following him (John 3:16). Men have caused the
prolongation of God's providence of restoration by not fulfilling even their
small amount of responsibility.
The Bible
says, "The prayer of faith will save the sick man." (James 5:15);
"Your faith has made you well." (Mark 5:34); "For every one who
asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be
opened." (Matt. 7:8). All these Biblical passages prove that the will is
predestined to be fulfilled by the accomplishment of man's own portion of
responsibility. We can understand well enough how small were the
responsibilities men took charge of in all these instances, compared to God's
responsible portion of toil and grace.
At the
same time, from the fact that through their failure to accomplish their
portions of responsibility, the central figures in the providence were
compelled to cause the prolongation of the providence of restoration, we can
well imagine how extremely difficult it was for them to fulfill even a
relatively small responsibility.
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