Which version seems most biblical to you? Wouldn’t a world of libertarians mean that parts of God’s plan wouldn’t get done and that he was only partially sovereign at best? It would be like herding cats. But if we’re all voluntarists, doesn’t sovereignty seem too easy for someone at God’s paygrade?
Think about sovereignty. God is the Creator, and in the Bible he is the Creator not only because he starts creation, but because he completes it to the end of history. That’s why we hear so much about God as Creator in the Book of Revelation. The end of the story is filled with imagery drawn from the beginning (Revelation 1:8, 2:7, 4:11, 13, 10:6, 21:1–6, 22:1–5, 13–14). Like a master builder God starts and completes his project—he is a true Creator. That is sovereignty.
But what version of freewill could God’s sovereignty reckon with and still be Creator at the end? Revelation steams with the demand for decision. It sets us on the knife-edge: Choose! Now! But amazingly, there is no hint in Revelation that the New Jerusalem would have been better had there been no freewill. No hint that God wanted Heaven to be five-star, but because of our sinful choices, it will only be two-star, an eternal vacation at the Motel 6. No. Revelation steams with decision and God is utterly victorious. That is the great mystery.
