My free will magnifies the Lord

An interesting question came up in Christian Ed today concerning whether the exercise of human free will puts limits on God’s omnipotence.  (I said it was an interesting question, not a new question.  I suspect there haven’t been any new questions in at least 500 years – probably longer.)

The traditional answer I’ve always hears has revolved around God’s self limitation by granting free will to His creation.  I was wondering, though, if free will doesn’t actually showcase God’s omnipotence.  The Christian hope revolves, eventually, around the promise that, in the end, “all will be well, and all will be well, and all manner of things will be well.”  That promise, coupled with free will, indicates that – whatever we do – in the end, it will make no difference to God’s will.  The evil generated by human free will has no ultimate effect.  If I take a machine gun to the mall, in the end it will make no difference (except to me).  The New Jerusalem will descend from heaven, and nothing I or anyone else can do will stop it.  Sort of like filling a barrel with ball bearings and flinging it down the hill, only to find at the bottom that the bearings form a sculpture of Christ.  If I take some of the bearings out, if I put more bearings in, if I throw the barrel harder or softer, even if I empty the barrel – at the bottom of the hill, I get the same sculpture of Christ.  Now that is omnipotence.

I am sure that thought is not original either.  I once had a theological notion thought was my own, but later found it in some patristic work from the third or fourth century.  I don’t even remember what it was.  Either I had read it once, forgotten about it, and resurrected it as “original,” or it was such an obvious thing that a zillion people have come up with it independently.  But, then, if I stop to think about it, looking for “original” theological insights is probably about as dangerous as engineering “original” viruses.  Perhaps I’ll leave well enough alone.