Hmm. Good insight. I'd say if God made all of us perfect, we would still have freedom of choice.
Exactly. Free will was a gift, but once it was abused, it became a curse. Was God wrong in giving us a quality we could use in a wrong way? Remember that a knowledge of evil was not available when the gift was given. Without evil, there were no bad choices to be made. If the devil had not made disobeying God appear to be beneficial, Eve would never have taken the fruit, but she was talked into believing the fruit would make her "like God"! Adam could have rejected her offer, but in full knowledge of the consequences, he followed her into rebellion and unleashed the knowledge that would make free will into a terrible burden.
Look at all the horrible things that happen in the world and see that every one of them is the result of someone abusing their free will and imposing it on someone with less power....to their detriment.
What makes me puzzled is, why do Christians want a freedom of choice between good and evil. If we were in the Garden of Eden, as scriptures teaches, would it not be freedom of choice to chose between eating an apple rather than an orange? Also, on that note, we have a "tendency" to sin because of the snake (for point not for historical accuracy; I don't share the original sin teaching). Jesus had a tendency to sin as well.
This is an assumption Carlita. The tendency to sin is what we inherited from Adam. (Rom 5:12) Adam did not have a tendency to sin when he was created, he had the ability to choose his actions. Couple this with man's ability to contemplate the future and plan his activities around a perceived outcome, we see how the devil got to the woman, to get to the man. It was calculated. I know that many people have a warped view of original sin, so could you tell me what you think it is that you disagree with?
, if God created a human who is perfect, that person is still not God. He has a choice to disobey God, just as Christ did. He has a choice to love God, just as Jesus. His being human (flesh) should not negate this God created human from being perfect.
Sorry, I can't figure how to get my point out in one paragraph.
Not sure what you are trying to say here, but Jesus came into the world as a perfect, sinless human being to atone for the sin of Adam's children. A perfect life was lost for them through no fault on their part, so God arranged for a life to be given on their behalf to satisfy justice. God's law stated "eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, life for life." Adam and his wife paid for their sin with their own lives, just as God said they would, but they left a legacy of sin in their children who pay sins wages with their lives too. Since perfection and sinlessness was lost for them, with no way for them to pay it back, Jesus came as a perfect man to balance the scales of justice. A perfect life was lost, so a perfect life had to be offered to break the cycle of sin and death and give Adam's children (us) back what their father lost for them. No perfect person existed on the planet, so that is why Jesus had to come from outside the now imperfect human race. Our debt is now paid by the sacrifice of Jesus' perfect life, given freely in our behalf.
He did not have to be God to offer his life....all he had to be was the perfect equivalent to Adam.
We can't limit God's power to send a human to die on the cross as he chose unless Christians define humans by original sin; which, is not the case. Christians have a tendency to sin just as Jesus. I find that if Christians are completely devoted to God (one hundred percent) then they have the same ability to die for humanity because they did not do so, it was God through them.
Understand?
I think I understand what you are saying, but I disagree for the reasons stated above.
Humans have a tendency to sin because of imperfection. There is a tendency towards wrong choices, despite our ability to foresee where those choices will take us...we succumb to them anyway. Paul noted his own struggle with sin's "law". (Rom 7:14-25) Who cannot identify with his dilemma? See who he credits for the rescue?
Adam and Jesus as perfect human specimens, did not have sin in their DNA...what they had was free will. One chose to disobey and forfeited the life and future that God planned for him and for his children. The other remained obedient and loyal to his God and acted selflessly for the benefit of all.
Free will was meant to be a blessing, allowing humans to make choices every day that would enhance their existence in many ways.....but once they became imperfect, their choices between good and evil became skewed, and sins laws prevailed in their imperfect flesh.
The only way to retain free will as the gift it was meant to be was to allow humans to experience first hand what happens when it is abused and we disobey the legitimate commands of our Maker.
We are all now tested as to fitness first before God goes ahead with his purpose...not just for this earth, but for the vast universe he created. Who knows what he has in store? The sky is literally the limit!
