The Issue of Universal Sovereignty

3-5. Why did not God just destroy Adam and Eve and start over?

³ Why did God not just destroy Adam and Eve and start over with another human pair? Because his universal sovereignty, that is, his inalienable right to rule, had been challenged.

⁴ The question was: Who has the right to rule, and whose rule is right? His being almighty and the Creator of all creatures gives God the right to rule over them. Since he is all-wise, his rule is best for all creatures. But God’s rule had now been challenged. Also, was there something wrong with his creation—man? We will later examine how the question of human integrity is involved.

⁵ By man’s becoming independent of God, another question was implied: Could humans do better if not ruled by God? The Creator certainly knew the answer, but a sure way for humans to find out was to allow them the total freedom they wanted. They chose that course of their own free will, so God permitted it.

6, 7. Why has God allowed humans total freedom for so long?

⁶ By allowing humans enough time to experiment with total freedom, God would establish for all time whether humans are better off under God’s rule or on their own. And the time permitted would have to be long enough to allow humans to come to what they considered the peak of their political, industrial, scientific, and medical achievements.

⁷ Therefore, God has allowed man a free rein clear down to our day to show beyond any doubt whether human rule independent of him can succeed. Thus man has been able to choose between kindness and cruelty, between love and hate, between righteousness and unrighteousness. But he has also been confronted with the consequences of his choice: goodness and peace or wickedness and suffering.

12-14. How would time reveal the truth about the two issues Satan raised?

¹² Therefore, God has permitted enough time for all intelligent creatures to see how this issue as well as the issue of God’s sovereignty would be resolved. (Compare Exodus 9:16.) The eventual experience of human history would reveal the truth about these two issues.

¹³ First of all, what would time reveal regarding the issue of universal sovereignty, the rightness of God’s rule? Could humans rule themselves better than God? Would any system of human rule apart from God usher in a happy world free from war, crime, and injustice? Would any eliminate poverty and provide prosperity for all? Would any conquer sickness, old age, and death? God’s rule was designed to do all of that.—Genesis 1:26-31.