Series: Recovering Stolen Identity & Reclaiming Misplaced Destiny: Part 3b: Difference B/W Predestination (Fate) & Free Will – The Cost Of Destiny

SERIES: RECOVERING STOLEN IDENTITY & RECLAIMING MISPLACED DESTINY: PART 3B: DIFFERENCE B/W PREDESTINATION (FATE) & FREE WILL – COST OF DESTINY

1. Genesis 12:1-20: 1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family and from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth (oak) tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.

2. Galatians 3:7-9, 14: 7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

INTRO: RECOVERING STOLEN IDENTITY & RECLAIMING MISPLACED DESTINY: THE DIFFERENCE B/W PREDESTINATION (FATE) & FREE WILL – THE COST OF DESTINY(B)

Series: Recovering Your Stolen Identity & Reclaiming Your Misplaced Destiny. 1) The Intro: Difference B/W Identity & Destiny. 2) Significance of Destiny Helpers. 3) How To Lose Your Identity (Don’t Sell Your Birthright) (A & B). 4) The Difference B/W Predestination (Fate) And Free Will – The Cost Of Destiny – The Abraham Story (A&B).

IDENTITY THEFT IN THE REAL WORLD.

1. Secular Identity Theft: Deceitful / unauthorized use of a person's private info for gains.

2. Spiritual Identity Theft: When Satan distorts the image of God in us that leads to destiny.

ABOUT STOLEN IDENTITY AND MISPLACED DESTINY AMONG GOD’S PEOPLE.

1. Identity: Answers The Question: ‘Who has God called you to be?’

2. Destiny: Answers The Question: ‘What has God called you to do?’

3. Conclusion: So Our Identity Leads To Our Destiny.

WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW ABOUT PREDESTINATION (FATE) AND FREE WILL

1. Fate – We Have No Choice (Predestination, Fatalism, Predeterminism): Fatalism - major premise of Islam & Hinduism. Something that unavoidably befalls a person or that which is inevitably predetermined - nothing you can do to stop it. "Whatever will be, will be." If God planned a good life for you, it will happen - you can’t change it. If God planned a bad end for you, you can’t change it. John Calvin and St. Augustine promoted Doctrine of Predestination – God predestinated some to salvation & others to destruction. Personally, this theology is flaw, unfair, bias, dishonors God, His love & respect for human dignity. It implies that God, who created us in His image, holds us responsible for what He has programmed us to do. If true, no need for prayer, trust in God, or going to church? Then why would Jesus even come to save us?

2. Free Will – We Have A Choice In God’s Destiny For Us: God has a plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11), but it requires my cooperation to make it happen. Man was created with the ability to make choices and he is responsible for those choices. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Adam’s fall was not a predetermined event in which he was powerless victim of a Programmer. On the contrary, Adam & Eve had the ability to choose obedience (with its blessings) or disobedience (with its consequences). They knew what the result of their decision would be, and they were held accountable. Accountability for choices is biblical: Pro. 22:8a He who sows wickedness reaps trouble. Rev. 20:13 Each person was judged according to what he had done. We sin because we choose to. James 1:13-14: When tempted, no one should say, ‘God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Bible also teaches that we must choose to have faith. John 20:27 Be not faithless, but believing. As a Christian, I must choose to believe God. Summary: God is in charge, but He gives me freedom to choose.