What’s The Point?

If God knows exactly what the outcome is of every decision we make before we do, what is the point of our life? I know He gave us free will, but if He already knows what we are going to do before we do it, Why didn’t God just skip this “earthly life” and go straight to “happily ever after”?

Q. Hello and thank you for such an informative site. One thing that I’m struggling with is: If God knows exactly what the outcome is of every decision we make before we do, what is the point of our life? I know He gave us free will, but if He already knows what we are going to do before we do it, and already knows who will be saved and who won’t be, why are we here if He already knows where we’ll end up? Why didn’t God just skip this “earthly life” and go straight to “happily ever after” if He already knew who would be there?

A. Some people incorrectly assume that since God knows the outcome of all our choices that means He’s controlling our life. But that’s only true to the extent we allow it. Believe me, if it was totally up to Him, things would come out a whole lot better. The fact that he gives rewards and punishment based on our choices means that we’re still responsible for making them. In other words, you don’t get to experience the victory if you haven’t run the race. (2 Timothy 2:5)