I still don't understand why God created a perfect man and woman with no sin and let them commune with Him in the garden, if God willed that they would sin and that sin would befall mankind and God did that on purpose.
But nevermind, I guess.
This cannot be answer in a few line but it is a very important question. God does not look at this temporary realm the way we go it is but a moment in time to a God who does not dwell in time. I believe we are God sons and he desires something amazing from us and that is part of the reason we are here these short seventh or so years.
It is not a manner of
if you go thought the fire, but
when. It is interesting to note that the Greek word for fire is PUR, a derivative of which is the Latin word PYRA (pure) and the English word PYRE - the place for the burning of a corpse. PYREX also comes from the same root, PYR or PUR, meaning a fire, and REX, meaning a king - that which is king, thus ruling over the fire, hence a "heatresistant" glassware. All our English words having to do with that which is pure are related to the Greek word PUR, indicating clearly that that which is pure is so because it has been cleansed BY FIRE! Consider: PURE, PURity, PURify, PURification, PURitan and yes the catholic word PURgatory.
Fire, in the scriptures, symbolized two things - judgment and cleansing. But God is not schizophrenic in His nature - one side of His character disposed to forgive, save, heal, redeem, deliver and restore, while another part of His nature is bent on vengeful destruction and the sadistic torture of His enemies. His action in fire, as His action in grace, is pure, harmonious, and balanced, directed towards the purging that will lead to restoration.
His fire cleanses the believer that he may qualify for God's highest.
His action of fire towards the unbeliever is to the same end, conditioning and preparing that one for good results, when, having been broken and purged from pride and rebellion, he bows low before the Saviour, penitently receiving the gracious gift of life. The fire does not save him, but it removes the hindrance that separates him from the kind mercy of the Lord.
That the coming of the Lord as refining fire does not relate to His coming in the flesh two thousand years ago is clearly seen by the fact that there was no purifying of the priesthood then, and the term "the sons of Levi" cannot refer to the old Levitical priesthood but to the new order of the Melchizedekian priesthood, for the old Aaronic priesthood has passed away and the new order has come into being, the order of Melchizedek.
The Lord has nothing to do with the Levitical priesthood, for He was not of the tribe of Levi but of the tribe of Judah. He couldn't be a priest after the old order because He was not of Levi nor of the descendents of Aaron. This is made perfectly clear in Hebrews chapter seven. Malachi used this word in reference to the priesthood because there was no other order in existence then, and as the old was a type of that which was to come, the reference must be to the new order of priesthood. Christ Jesus is the High Priest of the new order, the Melchizedekian priesthood, the priesthood that is being formed now, and THIS IS THE PRIESTHOOD THAT HE CLEANSES AND PURIFIES WHEN HE RETURNS TO HIS TEMPLE.
The apostle Peter expressed the truth of it this way: "Beloved, do not be amazed and bewildered by the fiery ordeal which is taking place to test your quality, as though something strange - unusual and alien to you and your position - were befalling you" (I Pet. 4:12, Amplified). "THINK IT NOT STRANGE," the King James version says - do not be amazed and bewildered, do not be astonished, do not be alarmed as though the experience is foreign, unexpected, abnormal, a surprise. It is not an accident - it was PLANNED. It is not a surprise - it was PURPOSED.
Who may abide - endure - wait for - the day of HIS COMING? So many are content in that spiritual place where they are. The vast majority of Christians are satisfied with the forgiveness realm, the blessing realm, the gift realm where all is received by free grace through faith. Everything in those elementary realms is free! There are no conditions, no qualifications, no price - neither is there any great attainment in God. It is the realm of children, of babes in Christ. "Ask, and ye shall receive." To the spiritual children Jesus promised, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him?" (Mat. 7:11). The world of children receiving gifts from their parents is a blessed world indeed!
1 Peter 1:7 (KJV) That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
1 Peter 1:7 (ESV) so that(
A) the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes(
B) though it is tested by(
C) fire—may be found to result in(
D) praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
1 Peter 1:7 (WYC) that the proving of your faith be much more precious than gold, that is proved by fire; and be found into praising, and glory, and honour, in the revelation of Jesus Christ.
"He knoweth the way that I take, and when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Job 23:10.
Isaiah. 48:10 & 11 says, "Behold I have refined thee, and I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. For mine own name's sake I will do it, for I will not have My name to be polluted." The name of God means that He will become whatever He wants to become to meet everyone's need, whenever He wants to do it. In order for us to become the expression of the name of the Lord in the earth, it is essential that we be purified from all that does not bring glory to His name. This is what the furnace of affliction will do. Affliction includes all of the adversities, hardships and trying experiences that are a part of our life. The Greek word for affliction means pressure. Paul said that we are pressed, not only from without, but from within. All of these pressures, both external and internal, are controlled by God and are urging us into Him. Paul tells us that we must through much pressure, enter the kingdom of God.
We should never view suffering in a negative way. We should always see it as a totally positive handiwork of God that will always have excellent results, without any defeat whatsoever. In all Job's suffering He did not attribute folly to God. Job 1:22. God Himself is fully responsible for all of our negative situations. The statement is true that was made by a man of God back in the eighteen hundreds: "
