Sovereignty and responsibility

Genesis 25, Matthew 25

After a time of barrenness, Isaac prays for his wife, Rebekah, and she conceives twins (Genesis 25:21). Again, like in the case of Abraham and Isaac (Genesis 21:1-2), the promised offspring is provided by God's supernatural intervention. "The children struggled together within her" and she went to "inquire of the Lord" about "why" this was happening (Genesis 25:22) and God told her that it was partly because "the older shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23). Later the Apostle Paul interpreted this as a sign of God's sovereignty and calling. In Romans 9:10-12, he wrote:

[10] '....when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, [11] though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad-in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls- [12] she was told, "The older will serve the younger." (ESV).

As the two boys grew up, it became clear that another reason for why the older would serve the younger was because the older son, Esau, chose to be irresponsible and value his birthright as the elder son of Isaac, through whom the promised offspring of God would come, less than "some ... red stew". Tricky Jacob, who had made the stew, sold some of it to his brother Esau for the price of his birthright, and then the author of Genesis commented that "thus Esau despised his birthright" (Genesis 25:34).

Here we note an example of the tension between God's sovereignty and human responsibility. On the one hand the younger son would be the chosen one, through whom God's promised line would continue, because God had sovereignly planned it that way. On the other hand, the younger took the place of the 'first born son' because the older son chose to be very irresponsible about the things of God. In Hebrews 12:16, we read of 'unholy .... Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal'. 

In the mystery of how divine sovereignty and human responsibility co-exist, we must resist thinking that the divine call caused the human character flaw, because this would destroy the reality of human choice and turn people into mere puppets manipulated by God. No, God planned for the promised offspring line to flow through the younger son, Jacob; but the older son, Esau also freely chose to throw way his birthright.

We see another example of God's sovereignty and human responsibility in our Matthew 25 reading. On the day of Judgment, the Son of Man will invite His "sheep", who cared for His needy "brothers", to "inherit the kingdom" (Matthew 25:31-40). This indicates that their salvation involved how they responsibly expressed their faith in Jesus by caring for his people (His "brothers"). But then we also note that God had sovereignly planned it that way. The Lord says, "inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). Before the world began, God had sovereignly "prepared" a place in the kingdom for His responsible believers (and in time He had given them the grace that enabled them to live responsible lives of caring faith? See Titus 1:1-3.)

But the "goats" who get sent "into the eternal fire" (Matthew 25:41), because they neglected Jesus in unbelief, evident in their neglect of Jesus' needy "brothers" (Matthew 25:40, 42-45), "go away into eternal punishment" (Matthew 25:46), solely because they chose to be irresponsible, inactive, uncaring, unbelievers in Jesus. God had NOT planned it to end that way for any human being. Hell was only originally intended and "prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41). People were NOT 'predestined' to go to hell.