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We are held hostage to the sin of Adam, because when God created it was according to a moral order where appropriate consequences follow actions. As hideous as the result of that currently is, you really wouldn't want it any other way, because it would rapidly descend into total moral chaos. That is why God didn't just snap His fingers and pretend nothing happened. It's why He didn't say, aw heck, you shouldn't have done that, but I'm going to overlook it just this one time. The relationship would have been contaminated, and would eventually have fallen apart again and again, because respect is lost when first principles are broken.
God's priorities in this matter are hard for us to apprehend because the pain of this life is so great it obscures our perspective. But the Bible, which is divine revelation, tells us that God dwells in unapproachable light, and that there is no variation or shadow in Him. He simply cannot compromise on these root issues. He created us to be free moral agents, and that is exactly what we are going to be, like it or not. Even when the cost is this terrible wrinkle in time in which we find ourselves.
And so God faced a dilemma. Man, made in His own image, whom He loved, was lost to Him, and He could not bend the rules to get him back. The enemy, the usurper, satan, thought he had very shrewdly outfoxed even God. But the enemy did not take into account the astonishing sacrificial depth of God's love. In his own delusions, he had believed his own lie spoken to Eve in the Garden (Gen 3), that God rules over us for His own selfish aggrandizement. So God's solution not only needed to ransom captive man, it had to put that lie to rest for all eternity.
God's solution was for His only-begotten Son to become man and pay the penalty of sin in our place. We needed the virtue of a perfect man to take the place of fallen Adam. The Bible calls Christ the "second Adam," because He has re-fathered the human race.
But it goes even further than that. While we needed a perfect man, we got the very Son of God. We are not merely going back to our state in the Garden, wonderful as that would be; as the Bride of Christ we are going to the very throne room of the universe, to rule and reign with Him. The more you study what God has done, the more you will learn of His wonderful nature. The Bible tells us to "taste and see that the Lord is good".
Man's problem is his fallen perspective. We are in pain and we want a way out - NOW. Bend the rules, cut the corners, but get me out of this mess. God would love to remove the pain, and the sooner the better, but like a master builder, whatever He does is done right, to last. And with God, His kingdom established by love will last forever. So we for this brief moment continue in pain, but God has given us the Comforter, and He also promised that He will one day remove the pain forever. He asks us to consider His love for us, and to love Him back. It's essentially that simple.
God's priorities in this matter are hard for us to apprehend because the pain of this life is so great it obscures our perspective. But the Bible, which is divine revelation, tells us that God dwells in unapproachable light, and that there is no variation or shadow in Him. He simply cannot compromise on these root issues. He created us to be free moral agents, and that is exactly what we are going to be, like it or not. Even when the cost is this terrible wrinkle in time in which we find ourselves.
And so God faced a dilemma. Man, made in His own image, whom He loved, was lost to Him, and He could not bend the rules to get him back. The enemy, the usurper, satan, thought he had very shrewdly outfoxed even God. But the enemy did not take into account the astonishing sacrificial depth of God's love. In his own delusions, he had believed his own lie spoken to Eve in the Garden (Gen 3), that God rules over us for His own selfish aggrandizement. So God's solution not only needed to ransom captive man, it had to put that lie to rest for all eternity.
God's solution was for His only-begotten Son to become man and pay the penalty of sin in our place. We needed the virtue of a perfect man to take the place of fallen Adam. The Bible calls Christ the "second Adam," because He has re-fathered the human race.
But it goes even further than that. While we needed a perfect man, we got the very Son of God. We are not merely going back to our state in the Garden, wonderful as that would be; as the Bride of Christ we are going to the very throne room of the universe, to rule and reign with Him. The more you study what God has done, the more you will learn of His wonderful nature. The Bible tells us to "taste and see that the Lord is good".
Man's problem is his fallen perspective. We are in pain and we want a way out - NOW. Bend the rules, cut the corners, but get me out of this mess. God would love to remove the pain, and the sooner the better, but like a master builder, whatever He does is done right, to last. And with God, His kingdom established by love will last forever. So we for this brief moment continue in pain, but God has given us the Comforter, and He also promised that He will one day remove the pain forever. He asks us to consider His love for us, and to love Him back. It's essentially that simple.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” -Rev 21:1-8
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.
The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” -Rev 21:1-8
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