It is not logically impossible to have free and yet sinless creatures as
were the angels...if Angels Michael and Gabriel could be free yet sinless, why
not Man?
My primary response if that this power of everlasting choice is accompanied by
a greater consequence if they chose otherwise. According to 2Pet 2:4 and Jude 6 fallen angels are NOT
spared when they sinned. There is no mercy shown to the abuse of freedom
by the angels, instead they are bound with everlasting chains, cast out,
etc. And Christ certainly did not die for the angels.
If we reflect on such dire results of the rebellion of celestial beings against God, and we compare this with the rebellion of us earthly beings, we notice a pattern:
Humanity’s capacity to choose good is weaker than the angels’ but our situation is ‘compensated’ with the possibility of mercy, patience, grace in the event we sin i.e. the immediate consequences of evil decisions can be put-off for at least a while (not to mention the ‘atoning work’ of our Saviour!). However, with angels, the capacity to submit to God eternally without fail comes together with an accountability and responsibility of parallel power. Their choices have much more far-reaching and irrevocable consequences than humans.
Adam – and all of us ‘in’ him – was given a second chance. Lucifer and the fallen angels were not. Greater moral/ethical willpower seems
to be the corollary of greater punishment for disobedience, and vice-versa.
Also, if we expect God to give a newly created race at its ‘start-up’ the kind of freedom given to Mike and Gabe – as some seem to imply He could ‘easily’ have done – we must remember that this was the same freedom granted to Lucifer. Furthermore, Man is sexually reproductive (but not angels, duh) so for us, the ‘corporate solidarity’ principle (“one falls, all fall”) operates a level inapplicable to the ‘heavenly beings’. If Adam was granted angel-like power/freedom, this would entail the risk of an entire race (and not merely 1/3!) automatically becoming as corrupted yet as powerful as the demons, in the event of a Fall.
It seems reasonable, then, to suggest that God, when deciding on humanity’s ‘system configurations’, went for a reduced present capacity for loyalty/love (as compared to the angels) but aimed to give more of Himself to this new breed (smile) upon whom also a glorious status as ‘Bride of Christ’ awaits.
Regards,
AL