The last leg of our tour of and browse-about in the mind of the invisible self of the Godhead is choice. Choice is probably the single most critical faculty of mind in the Godhead. Choice makes God WHO He is! The person of the Godhead uses choice (or selectivity) to edit and define Himself. God also uses choice to edit the what, why, when, where, how, how much, etc. of His being and doing.
This power of choice in the Godhead comes down hard on the side of good as the absolute measure of all things, hard to the point of causing the Godhead some troublesome choices, such as how to navigate around the problems posed by not-good, hard to the point of requiring pure goodness of Himself and all He does.
The most fascinating question, of course, is why—why did the Godhead select for pure goodness as the salient virtue in life when there were so many alternatives from which to choose? I currently have no answer for that . . . but, for certain, I am eternally grateful that the Godhead did so. I shudder to think if God had not. It must have something to do with the totality of His knowing, something to do with adding all things up and weighing all things out and correctly summing the result up, sort of like a mathematical equation with only one correct set of answers and therefore guaranteeing that there are no, cannot be, other answers, not for that equation.
If so, that implies to me that choice as experienced in the Godhead is a faculty whose architecture is ultimately based on structurally sound principles, principles which, like in a building, dictate the absolute parameters for that building (or choice); principles without which the architecture would fail. So, to me, that means that in the Godhead, operations and products of choice must always be governed by undergirding restrictions, because God knows that for choice to stand, it must be built rightly.
What then can be said about the faculty of choice in the mind of the Godhead? We’ll start with the basics.
Faculty: Choice
Definition: N., the “power to choose, the voluntary act of selecting or separating from two or more things that which is preferred; or the determination of the mind in preferring one thing to another. The right or power of choosing.” (Webster’s) As a verb, “to choose (means) to exercise the power of choice, selection” (Webster’s). Note that choice is described as a power.
Operation: To choose. The ability to select through the faculty of choice; involving thinking and rethinking; the ability to rightly ascribe and prioritize value; individual choice/decision with internal or external result; right mind and right emotion.
Hebrew,V., bâchar (Strong’s #977) to “select;—acceptable, appoint, choose (choice). . .”
Greek, V., hairěŏmai (Strong’s #138) “to take for oneself; i.e. to prefer:--choose.”
For example: Isaiah 14:1a
“For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still choose (bâchar) Israel . . .”
Inserting a suitable word from definition:
“For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will still select (bâchar) Israel . . .”
For example: 2 Thessalonians 2:13
“. . . because God from the beginning chose (hairěŏmai) you . . .”
Inserting a suitable word from definition:
“. . . because God from the beginning preferred (hairěŏmai) you . . .”
Product: Right decision, direction, preference. Virtue.
From this overview, it is easy to see that a big basic of the faculty of choice is that it is a power. And this basic has huge implications. It suggests that as a power, choice is like an engine of sorts, an engine that drives movement, arrests motion or sustains inertia. And it suggests a power-profile for choice as an engine:
First, choice is an engine of consequence. Choice matters. No matter how painful the truth is, it is the truth--choice is a power, in fact choice is power. Choice can make the world a better place or . . . a living hell. God chooses to influence the world for the better.
Second, choice is an engine of change. Choice exerts energy. For example, choice can enable or block change, or choice can perpetuate the status quo. The energy of God’s decisions fashions and refashions, it forms, sculpts all He touches.
Third, choice is an engine of control. Choice decides. It can take you places or keep you where you are. Choice determines outcome.
Fourth, choice is an engine of creativity or destruction. Choice can create or destroy. Consider how God is an expert at selection, bringing about precisely what He chooses. No matter how great or varied the range of possibilities, at any time He is able to identify the pertinent factors involved in and select the combination best suited to His excellent preference.
Fifth, choice is an engine of pattern. Put a bunch of choices together and you have a pattern of choice. There is a pattern to the choices made in the Godhead. Let’s consider some indicators of God’s choice-making pattern:
There’s His choice to exist in community.
His choice to co-operate in community.
His choice to communicate within community.
His choice to live in balance within community.
His choice to be reasonable, to be interactive, to defer to others, to respect others, to create, to command, to put forth an effort, to relate with self-control and self-restraint. His choice to help, adopt various helpful roles, to contribute, to understand, to care, to be involved, to love, to be orderly and dependable, to be present, to provide, to protect, to sacrifice for others.
His choices are patterned! They are patterned to be positive, enjoyable, desirable, delightful, interesting, reliable and valuable. . . to others first and then to Himself! They are patterned to be good!
Sixth, choice is an engine of good or evil. And so we are back to God’s choice of pure goodness for Himself and ultimately all creation. By choice God epitomizes pure goodness. No one forced Him to it. No one backed Him into a corner over this. He did it of His own free will. He chose pure goodness as His exclusive modus operandi. And He uses His power of choice to establish goodness, pure goodness, as the ultimate aim of all being, the ultimate aim of all doing, the ultimate reality. In fact, God so prefers good over evil that He routinely brings good out of evil. It’s a major practice of His. Here’s a great example from the life of Joseph of God’s preferred practice of bringing good out of evil.
Genesis 50:20
“But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”
So you see, dear reader, God is dedicated to good choices. God is not an irrational, self-absorbed, self-indulgent domineering tyrant. Not the Judeo Christian God! Nor is he indifferent and uncaring. These are profoundly important points. By choice God has chosen to be who He is, and if we can grasp it, who He is is the best thing that ever happened to us all.
To be continued . . .
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