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      Why Did God Allow Such a Tragedy?

      Another question you might have is, ‘Why would God create such a world if it would fall?’ The answer is found in the principles outlined in chapter one. The first thing to say is that God created so that he would have a love-based volitional relationship with every person, and although we have fallen, that is not the end of the story. He is not a God who gives up easily. He will pursue the relationship and find a way out (see the next chapter). The second thing to realise is that God, who is all-knowing and has all knowledge across time (omniscient), knew that this fall would occur but still went ahead with his creation.46 He did so because true awareness of freedom requires choice. In a sense, God allowed the possibility of the Fall so that freedom would be real and revealed.

      We can go further. God in his omniscience actually knew that some would fall but still went ahead. Why? He did so because of his love and yearning for relationship. God, because of this love and desire to create and give freedom, considered it worthwhile to create for those who would ultimately accept his offer of relationship. God considered it better to create and risk losing some than not to create at all. We can understand this from human relationships – to risk loving is to risk rejection. The alternative is to resist relationships and die lonely. As the saying goes, ‘It is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.’ This is the risk that every parent takes when having a child. One never knows whether the child will choose obedience, love and goodness. Yet humanity continues to have children because it is worth the risk. In the same way, God chose to create us.