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I didn't get that far the first time, that is what I read and stopped.
You didn't get that far? It was my very first statement!
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It's true I don't read long posts, especially someone who I know we don't agree on virtually anything.
Well, conversing only with people you agree with is one very good way to keep from sharing ideas, I guess. But surely you believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I would think that would count for something!
Actually, the only statement you posted in the above quote that I can agree with was that "God knew this would happen." Actually, though, your take on the story is much more commonly believed than mine. The way I see it, God either didn't know it would happen, in which case He's nowhere near as smart as we give Him credit for being or else the existence of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil in the Garden has another explanation. It's why He placed the tree there that you and I do not agree on, as we both agree that He knew what would happen with it there.
Actually, the scripture doesn't straight out tell us why He placed that Tree in the Garden. After reading the thoughts of many Theologians through the years, I have come to the conclusion that God wanted to show man from the very beginning who he really is in his natural state. Man is self-seeking, a pleaser of himself, clearly seen in his believing the lie of Satan over God.
See, I believe, first off, that the tree in question was not just "the Tree of Good and Evil" but "the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." God placed it there knowing that Adam and Eve would not only be tempted to eat from it but that they would not be able to withstand the temptation. After all, they were completely innocent before they transgressed, and as you pointed out, they had no idea what sin even was. To me, that raises an interesting question: Why would God condemn someone to an eternity of suffering for doing something they didn't even know was sinful? I don't believe He did. I believe that what we commonly refer to as "the Fall" was actually the beginning of an ascent. God even noted, as Adam and Eve left the Garden, that "the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil." God knows evil, and Adam and Eve could not progress without also having this knowledge. So, eating from the tree got them one step closer to being like Him. And when I say, "like Him," I mean having all of the attributes that make it possible for one to have a fullness of joy.
We (every one who has ever lived or will yet live) is the spirit offspring of God, our Father in Heaven. We are His children, and we are brothers and sisters to one another. He wants us to learn to love as He loves, and that is why He put us here. Life is nothing more than progress towards an eventual goal, starting with our earliest ability to choose good over evil, love over hate. He wants nothing more than for us to all live as an eternal family someday. Adam and Eve were not villains. They had the courage to do what needed to be done to get the Father's Plan rolling.
Amen! It was NOT the Fall, it was our first and most important lesson in how to achieve eternal life!
You didn't get that far? It was my very first statement!
Well, conversing only with people you agree with is one very good way to keep from sharing ideas, I guess. But surely you believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I would think that would count for something!
Well, there again, there are many different ways of belief for salvation, but actually, biblically, there is only one way. The scripture makes that clear, and I'm thinking all of us don't agree on that way.
So I can agree that Christ is our Saviour, no doubt, but who among us is really saved? Who among us has crucified themselves to the Cross with Christ in this life we live?
Well, there again, there are many different ways of belief for salvation, but actually, biblically, there is only one way. The scripture makes that clear, and I'm thinking all of us don't agree on that way.
So I can agree that Christ is our Saviour, no doubt, but who among us is really saved? Who among us has crucified themselves to the Cross with Christ in this life we live?
Well, there again, there are many different ways of belief for salvation, but actually, biblically, there is only one way. The scripture makes that clear, and I'm thinking all of us don't agree on that way.
True. We read the same scriptures, but understand them differently.
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So I can agree that Christ is our Saviour, no doubt, but who among us is really saved?
Ultimately, I think virtually all of us will be. At least that's what God wants, and He will do everything possible, short of coercion, to see it come to pass. His work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
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Who among us has crucified themselves to the Cross with Christ in this life we live?
Hmmm. Probably none of us, but then I don't believe one must be crucified in order to be saved.
"Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.
Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. -- Romans 7
If God had never spoken the commandment not to eat of the tree, it would not have been a sin to eat of the tree. The existence of the commandment itself made inevitable its breaking.
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But, hey, it's certainly no skin off my nose if you don't want to discuss it.
Amen! It was NOT the Fall, it was our first and most important lesson in how to achieve eternal life!
