Since The Loving Programmer is omnipotent, He knows what each of us is going to do. He has, however, gone to very great lengths to distance Himself from the cause-and-effect processes that appear to rule the universe. When we ask Him for Programming Assistance, He was very much aware that our request would be coming and what the result of that request would be.
So, The Program was not necessarily rewritten to reflect our request, but ran along as it should. “But,” one may argue, “if I have free will that can only lead to a pre-known conclusion, isn’t my choosing a kind of lie? And, if God is One, isn’t His knowing and willing one? If I was going to do what I was going to do, and end up where I was going to end up, then what difference did it make?”
As our lives unfold, we either find ourselves moving closer to God and obedience, or further from them. The move toward Him can be stopped, and reversed, by willful sin. Moving away from Him is reversed by choosing to repent and obey.
It is true that He knows what we will do. What He has done is provide the immense Creation Program in two ways. First, what was written will be. Secondly, we are making our choices freely, and it is those free choices that determine our eternity. We cannot show that He has led us to sin, but can show that He sent His Son to suffer greatly and die so that we might, upon fervent and heartfelt request, be forgiven for that sin. He knows what we will choose, but we must choose.
