The “standard” answer seems to be that, for love to be real, it must not be coerced.

If we
did not have the ability to reject God, then neither would we have the ability to truly love
Him. Some theologians even go so far as to say that human freedom is the highest good
and that even God will not violate it. Genuine love and genuine good can only exist in a
world where there is an opportunity for genuine rejection and genuine evil. Some add
that, since God knows all possibilities past, present, and future (foreknowledge), the
world He created must be the one where the greatest amount of good would result. Out
of all possible worlds, the one He made is the best. The problem with this line of thinking
is that, although it may be somewhat satisfying intellectually, it is never articulated in
Scripture.

What follows are a few more thoughts that may help us formulate some conclusions as
to why God gave us a free will. At least they will give us the full weight to the biblical
evidence.

First, we have to admit that “free will” is limited by physical possibilities. “Free will”
cannot mean we are free to do anything we want to do. Probably a lot of people would
like to fly like Superman or be as strong as Samson or teleport from one location to
another, but physical limitations prohibit them from doing it. On one level, this may not
seem to be an issue of free will, but it is not completely extraneous, because God created
a world in which people desire to do these things but have no ability to do them. In this
sense, God has curtailed “free will”—it is not truly free as popularly defined.

When we pray for something, we often are praying that another’s “free will” will be
curtailed by outside circumstances and physical limitations. If a brutal dictator invades a
neighboring country, and we pray for his defeat, we are certainly praying that the
dictator will be unable to do what he wants to do. In this case, the person praying is
asking God to intervene with another person’s will to prevent a person from
accomplishing what he has chosen to do. In the way God created the world, He has built
in many limitations that stymie our wills and limit our choices. Likewise, He may
intervene to further limit our choices by circumstances beyond our control.

With this in mind, perhaps we might define free will as the ability to choose whatever we
want, within the bounds of physical limitations. This brings up the second problem,
which has to do with what we want. To deal with this issue, Martin Luther wrote his
treatise The Bondage of the Will. The problem is not that we are not free to choose what
we want, but that what we choose is severely limited by our desires. We freely choose to
disobey God because that is all we want to do. Just as we cannot fly like Superman due
to our physical limitations, we cannot obey God due to our spiritual limitations. We are
free to choose all sorts of ways to disobey God, but we simply cannot choose to obey
God without having our desires radically reorganized (some would say regenerated)—
and we are powerless to do this on our own. Apart from God and left to our sinful selves,
we will choose sin (Psalm 14:1-3, 53:1-3; Romans 3:10-12).

Romans 8:5–8 identifies the spiritual limitations to our “free will”: “Those who live
according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live
in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind
governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The
mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it
do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God” (emphasis added).
From the context, it is clear that those who “live according to the flesh” are unbelievers.
Their wills are in bondage to sin, and so sin is all they want to do. They cannot submit to
God’s law.

If this is the case, who then can be saved? “All things are possible with God” (Mark
10:27). The Lord so works in some to energize their spirits and give them a desire to
repent and believe (see Acts 16:14). Sinners do not do this on their own but only under
the convicting power of the Spirit. If it were otherwise, the saved could boast that they
possessed some wisdom or moral superiority that caused them to choose to repent and
believe when confronted with the facts, even while so many others continue to reject the
gospel. But we are saved by grace, and no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8–9). God is not
obligated to save anyone (He has free will), yet He desires that all would be saved and
come to repentance (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9). He offers salvation to everyone (Titus
2:11) yet He will not force anyone to come to Him. By His sovereignty, unchanging
character (Malachi 3:6), foreknowledge (Romans 8:29, 11:2), love (Ephesians 1:4-5), and
plan and pleasure (Ephesians 1:5) He predestines some to salvation. Others He allows to
continue in rebellion—which is exactly what they want to do. In either case, people make
real, uncoerced choices.

Coming to faith in Christ frees our will to obey God, to desire the things of God, yet
Christians still have an old nature that pulls them in the other direction. Romans 6:12–
14 says, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil
desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but
rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and
offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no
longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” One day,
believers will be confirmed in holiness (glorified) and will no longer be able to sin—yet
their love for God will be genuine. They will be free to do what they want, but they will
not want to do anything that displeases God.

Prior to the fall, man could be said to have had a “free” will in that he was free to obey
God or disobey God. After the fall, man’s will was corrupted by sin to the point where he
fully lost the ability to willingly obey God. This doesn’t mean that man can’t outwardly
obey God. Rather, man cannot perform any spiritual good that is acceptable to God or
has any salvific merit. The Bible describes man’s will as “dead in transgressions and sins”
(Ephesians 2:1) or as “slaves to sin” (Romans 6:17). These phrases describe man as both
unable and unwilling to submit to God’s sovereign authority; therefore, when man makes
choices according to his desires, we must remember that man’s desires are depraved and
corrupted and wholly rebellious toward God.

God created a world where people could choose to disobey, and He allows people today
to continue to rebel against Him In the process, God’s power and forbearance are clearly
seen: “What if God, although choosing to show his wrath and make his power known,
bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? What if he
did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he
prepared in advance for glory?” (Romans 9:22–23). The whole plan of redemption is to
the praise of God’s glory (Ephesians 1:14). As should be expected, this doctrine is wholly
unsatisfying to those who are in rebellion against God and have no desire to give Him
glory. When we engage in evangelism or apologetics, we are often tempted to offer
another, more “satisfying” answer that focuses salvation on the benefit to humanity. We
should resist that temptation and keep the focus on God’s glory.

God does not coerce people to reject Him; He simply allows them to do the only thing
they want to do (sin), and He allows them to do it with a great deal of variety and
creativity. God does not coerce people to accept Him, but He persuades them with
tactics that cannot be refused. God is in control, but humans make real choices.
Somehow, God’s control and human freedom are perfectly compatible.

In the final analysis, there are questions that simply cannot be fully answered or fully
understood, and we must never put ourselves in the place of judging God by declaring
what a loving God “should do” or a just God “should have done.”

After finishing a long section on God’s control and human choice (Romans 9—11), Paul
concludes with this:

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable his judgments,
and his paths beyond tracing out!
‘Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has been his counselor?’
‘Who has ever given to God,
that God should repay them?’
For from him and through him and for him are all things.
To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:33–36).

And Paul ends the letter to the Romans with this: “To the only wise God be glory forever
through Jesus Christ! Amen” (Romans 16:27).

God created the world as He did and gave humans the freedoms they have in order to
bring glory to Himself. The glorification of God is the greatest possible good and we are
God’s greateast ctretatoion

https://reasonsforhopejesus.com/pre-trib-rapture/

The short answer to the question “why did God create us?” is “for His
pleasure.” Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and
honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have
their being.” Colossians 1:16 reiterates the point: “All things were created by him and for
him.” Being created for God’s pleasure does not mean humanity was made to entertain
God or provide Him with amusement. God is a creative Being, and it gives Him pleasure
to create. God is a personal Being, and it gives Him pleasure

to have other beings He can have a genuine relationship with.

Being made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:27), human beings have the
ability to know God and therefore love Him, worship Him, serve Him, and fellowship with
Him. God did not create human beings because He needed them. As God, He needs
nothing. In all eternity past, He felt no loneliness, so He was not looking for a “friend.” He
loves us, but this is not the same as needing us. If we had never existed, God would still
be God—the unchanging One (Malachi 3:6). The I AM (Exodus 3:14) was never
dissatisfied with His own eternal existence. When He made the universe, He did what
pleased Himself, and since God is perfect, His action was perfect. “It was very good”
(Genesis 1:31).

Also, God did not create “peers” or beings equal to Himself. Logically, He could not do
so. If God were to create another being of equal power, intelligence, and perfection, then
He would cease to be the one true God for the simple reason that there would be two
gods—and that would be an impossibility. “The LORD is God; besides him there is no
other” (Deuteronomy 4:35). Anything that God creates must of necessity be lesser than
He. The thing made can never be greater than, or as great as, the One who made it.
Recognizing the complete sovereignty and holiness of God, we are amazed that He
would take man and crown him “with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5) and that He would
condescend to call us “friends” (John 15:14-15). Why did God create us? God created us
for His pleasure and so that we, as His creation, would have the pleasure of knowing
Him.

God Created Us for His Glory | Desiring God

https://www.gotquestions.org/rapture-tribulation.html

https://www.gotquestions.org/pretribulationism.html

The Bible is crystal clear: God created us for his glory. Thus says the
Lord, “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the
earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my
glory” (Isa. 43:6–7). Life is wasted when we do not live for the glory
of God. And I mean all of life. It is all for his glory. That is why the
Bible gets down into the details of eating and drinking. “Whether you
eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor.
10:31). We waste our lives when we do not weave God into our eating
and drinking and every other part by enjoying and displaying him.