God's Image And Free Will

In God's own image He created man;
Wonder of wonders! Mystery divine!
Astute the minds bequeathed, part of His plan,
Their light the beacons across the earth shine!
To guide us amiss, He did not intend;
But free will was imparted with the brain;
Each by choice must his own journey portend----
Whether God's road or hell's is man's to attain!
Man's image honored when Jesus was born,
For His copied man's in ev'ry aspect;
The circle completed: All the same form----
God, the Father, the Son, and the elect!
Man was equipped to make his choice aright;
That most do not, adds to Satan's delight!

Many travel the broad road that leads to destruction and still see themselves as "good", in the ethical sense of human understanding. They would be offended at being described as "sinful". This is because of their not understanding that "sin" is an offense to God only; it is disobedience by commitment or omitment in observing His commandments. Natural man does not know what God expects of him unless he has a pervasive knowledge of the contents of the Bible.

"One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noting that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, 'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?' 'The most important one,' answered Jesus, 'is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.'" (Mark 12:28-31)

Here Jesus condenses all 10 commandments into only two. Any human being who lives a good moral life based on his natural best instincts and the expectations of the best in world culture is woefully short of keeping these two most important commandments of God and is sinful. He is on the "broad road that leads to destruction (hell)", no matter how "good" he is in the world's eyes. In God's eyes, he is condemned to everlasting judgment, because he has not loved God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength; neither has he loved his "neighbor" (meaning every person in the world to which he has even the remotest contact). Can the world's very best "good" man honestly say he has put God and neighbor first when he has lived without God or His church and failed to share his goods, love, and service with any but his closest family members? Can Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, or Boone Pickens claim to be good on the basis of their charitable giving if he has ignored God and the best interest of His Kingdom's advance? (Example only; I know not anything about any of these and his relationship with God)