Sermon Central
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Does God Alone Choose Who Gets To Heaven? - Thoughts On Predestination In A Quantum Universe
Contributed by Dr. Craig Nelson on Jan 31, 2020 (message contributor)
Summary: Christians get into endless debates about free will, predestination, losing your salvation vs once-saved-always-saved, getting lost in the complexity of it all.
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Quite often, discussions about theological issues boil down to one side pulling out their list of Scriptures proving their doctrine and the other side pulling out their list of Scriptures to prove their contrary doctrine, and most often, it is whoever has the most extensive list that wins.
For many, the subject of Predestination is a ‘closed fist’ doctrinal issue, which means they will often point the finger of indignant anger at those who disagree. There are absolutely essential doctrines in Christianity, but predestination is not one of them.
The doctrines of Predestination and free-will are complicated, and those on both sides tend to debate endlessly. In the church, there exists the belief that, before any humans were born, God picked out which of them would spend eternity with Him and which ones would end up in eternal conscious torment. Essentially, those whom God chose were saved before they were born, and those who were not end up suffering for eternity, with free will having zero effect.
THEOLOGY AND QUANTUM PHYSICS
Within the church, the mention of Quantum Physics seems eerie, complex, overwhelming, intimidating, or hard to understand when considering what the Bible teaches about Creation and the order of the Cosmos. However, after years of study, I truly believe that it is no threat to the orthodox teachings of the founding fathers of the faith and the authority of God’s written Word, the Bible.
The science of Quantum Mechanics is a branch of Physics that attempts to observe, calculate, measure, and understand the unpredictable behavior of matter (particles), light, and energy occurring at the atomic (nanoscopic) levels beginning within nuclei, atoms, and molecules of the micro-world within the present continuum of time, matter, and space. It is a complicated field of study which makes attempts to answer questions about the universe, while at the same time creating more questions than answers.
The Quantum world operates under dramatically different laws than the physical macro-world of conditions, events, and circumstances. It then attempts to break them down into their most basic forms at the sub-atomic level to discover how everything in the Cosmos has come into existence and what the source is where they were derived.
"By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen." (Hebrews 11:3 NLT)
Quantum Physics tells us that quanta particles, which are light particle wave packets, form atoms which form molecules, and molecules form objects. The force holding the quanta particles, atoms, and molecules together is LIGHT!
"Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw the light was good." (Genesis 1: 3-4, NLT)
Light was the first thing God made before all else. Light was essential to create these things since His design requires the light force to bind our particles together. Light keeps electrons tied to the nuclei of atoms, and atoms tied together to make molecules and objects.
Everything that we can see is made up of these unseen quanta particles that do not behave in ways that are known by the laws of physics, which makes them more of a series of probabilities than something that can be scientifically defined and observed.
“His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?'” (Daniel 3:34-35 NIV)
God does not travel through time at the same rate as human beings, yet He remains engaged with them through all of history. The timeless God entered into time with His created and continually works together with them to achieve His absolute and ultimate plan. The Quantum world opens up the understanding that there is no ‘before’ with God. God exists in the eternal ‘present,’ at the same moment then as now, and sees the past, present, and the future from the same point.
One of God’s attributes is that He is omnipresent, so He simultaneously is at every point in time as we understand it. He knows what every person on the planet will choose, but He still allows them to choose because He loves everyone individually.
The discoveries of Quantum Physics do not undercut the four foundational truths of the Reformation that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to the Scriptures alone. Quantum Physics has opened up the reality that God could know, even on multi-dimensional levels, everything that does or will happen as well as what a human being would freely choose if placed in any circumstance.
The study of Quantum Physics can help to bring clarity and understanding of the Creator’s sovereign knowledge of the future as well as His divine providence and predestination without hindering the free will of human beings. God is exponentially beyond human logic and understanding.
