Suppose one day a space ship landed and an alien being emerged. Within a very short time, it becomes apparent that this alien and his cohorts are of a vastly superior race, with powers and technology far in advance of our own. He can wave his hand and AIDS and cancer and birth defects vanish from the planet; with a wave of the other hand major cities disappear in a cloud of radioactive dust. He knows, or can access, our thoughts, our individual histories, our plans and dreams; nothing is hidden from this alien creature. Here is the question: Do we worship him or flee in abject terror?

We wonder why God doesn't just show up and set the world right, and that's why. He has the power to fix whatever ails mankind. But does it occur to you that what we think ails us may not be what He thinks ails us? Whenever I hear someone say something like, "Why did God allow Hitler to kill those millions of people?", I think to myself, "For the same reason He allows you to cheat on your taxes, or your wife." What He would consider fixing, we would consider gross interference. We simply don't want that kind of God.

When God placed Adam in the garden, He gave him, and us, dominion over this planet. He wasn't kidding. It was His desire that mankind be the "God of this world." Of course you know the story; Adam through his sin, transferred that dominion to Satan, and all of creation suffers the influence of sin to this day. But although Satan became, and remains for now, the God of this world, each of us has, through Jesus, been offered back that dominion that was lost. True, we are born sinners; we have the sin-stained blood of Adam flowing in our veins, but we may, by an act of our will, be redeemed by the sinless blood of Jesus. Such redemption is made available to us by grace; we receive it by faith. "For by grace are ye saved, through faith..."

Think of grace as a delivery truck. What you need most in the world is on that truck, is sitting in front of your door, and the driver is knocking. But the package is not yours until you open the door of faith and receive it. Our deliverer will not break down the door, will not so much as grasp the handle and push. He will wait, knocking, until you, by an act of your will, open the door and invite Him in. How could He do otherwise? Were He to lift one finger against your will, He would be no better than a common trespassor; worse, He would cease to be Lord, and become a tyrant instead.

Do you see that by involving your will, He has restored your dominion to you? We did not choose to be born in sin, but we do have a say in whether to remain in sin. Jesus died, not to save us by force, but to give us the choice. "Whosoever will may come." A man traveling in the dark has little choice; if he finds any road at all it is only by luck or accident. But when the light comes, he can see to choose. He may go home, but he may also take the other road, the one that leads to destruction.

The alien has landed. Some of us know or suspect His power; most of us ignore Him, some even contend with Him: "If He's so great, why doesn't He put an end to disease and crime?" Because if He did, He would also put an end to sin, and that would be the end of us. No, He neither rescues nor destroys us by His power; He sets us free to choose. But we must choose, it must be our hand that opens the door. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock..."