So, this is a phrase some atheists like to throw in our face anytime we talk about the Sin Nature, and how we are commanded to repent and accept Christ:
"We were created sick and commanded to be well" or some variation of that. I'm paraphrasing because I don't remember the actual wording of it.
This is an easy misunderstanding for someone who doesn't Understand to make, so I thought I'd take a second to really explain why it is a faulty viewpoint, and what is really going on.
First of all, the phrase compares Sin and the Sin Nature to some type of medical malady. For simplistic sake, we're going to call it a disease. Atheists would say that God created this disease, caused us to come down with it, and demands that we be well.
First of all, I will talk about the origin of that disease.
The origin of the disease appears to be Satan, God's most powerful angel who rebelled against Him because of Pride. Satan formed the first evil thoughts in his mind, and decided that he would try to overthrow God, and convinced a third of his angels to go with him. He, of course, fails and gets exiled to Earth, and the third of the angels that rebelled are thrown out as well (though the Bible makes it clear that Satan can still visit Heaven, see Job).
Later, God made the Garden of Eden and placed the Tree that had the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in it. What this fruit was exactly, isn't explained in detail (probably because such detail isn't really necessary), but what is important is that God told Adam not to eat it, or he would surely die. Adam believed, and obeyed (for awhile).
Then, later, Eve was created, and Satan tempted her and got her to eat of the fruit. Why Adam took the fruit also is not known, but perhaps he knew the consequences, and didn't want Eve to bear it by herself, so he ate the fruit so that he would remain with her. That's just theory on my part, though. A personal belief.
That's the origin of sin. God didn't create sin and evil thoughts, Satan did when he became proud. There's a reason why Pride is oftentimes referred to as the "worst" sin, because it leads to all other sins. Where the fruit came from, who knows.
Either way, we can conclude that God did not cause Adam and Eve to eat that fruit, therefore He didn't create Adam and Eve "unwell", or "sick".
Sin works a lot like a disease (or genetic mutation) that's hereditary -- every person that is ever born has it because Adam and Eve had it before they gave birth to their firstborn.
Now, atheists like to say that God "commands us to be well".
I would propose that God does the very opposite, and man's attempts to be well on his own is only making the disease worse.
God knows the cure, and there is only one cure. The Cure only works under certain situations, and it works like this:
God said from the beginning that all sin must be punished by the shedding of blood, which is life. Some atheists balk at this because they don't like it, but that's simply what He said.
So, when Israel came out of Egypt as a Nation, God set up an animal sacrifice system that was meant to be symbolic, and also as a show of obedience (animal sacrifices cannot pay for sin) that was meant to be temporary until God sent Christ down to Earth.
Then, Christ was sacrificed. Since Christ led a sinless life, had no sin in Him (because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, therefore the "disease" was not in Him), He was the Perfect Sacrifice.
Christ is the Cure to the disease that we all have. God said "Here is your cure." and He only asks us to do three things:
1). Realize and agree that we are diseased and in need of a cure.
2). Repent and turn away from the evil things we've done or are accustomed to doing.
3). Accept Christ as our cure.
Christ is a cure that takes time to heal a person. When the person accepts Christ, a special medicine is given immediately, which does its work over time. The person will never be perfect, however as time goes on, the person gets closer and closer to it until they eventually die.
Those who have gotten the cure, will die once, but live on afterwards in spirit, in Heaven.
Those who have not gotten the cure, will die once... and then die again because they were not cured of the disease. That's why Revelation calls the Lake of Fire the "second death". All sin leads to the second death, unless of course, you were cured.
However, note above how I said that He asked us to Repent and turn away from evil? Well, if we look at Sin like a disease...
Let's say you contract a disease by a specific method. Let's use an STD for an example. You go to the doctor, and get some medication that slowly reverses the STD, and the doctor tells you to stay away from unsafe sex, but you ignore his advice and you go out and you continue to have unsafe sex, and get re-infected with the disease all over again (and/or spreading it to others too), perhaps even a different strain than the one you previously had (or an all new STD altogether). Then you go back to the doctor and he goes "I told you to stop doing that, and you went out and did it anyways... why should I give you another medication?"
This is kinda like how sin works. When a person accepts Christ and says they're sorry, but turns back to sin knowingly and willingly, they are basically re-infecting themselves with the disease and making the problem worse.
Now, the Bible says that every Christian will still sin occasionally in their lives, but there's a difference between knowingly diving head-first into sinful activities you know you're not supposed to be doing, and failing to resist temptation. The former, you pre-meditate, the latter you end up doing in the heat of the moment but you weren't seeking it. And also, there's unknowning sin, where a Christian does something they didn't know was sin (usually in their first few months of being a Christian).
So anyways, that's my thoughts on the subject.
"We were created sick and commanded to be well" or some variation of that. I'm paraphrasing because I don't remember the actual wording of it.
This is an easy misunderstanding for someone who doesn't Understand to make, so I thought I'd take a second to really explain why it is a faulty viewpoint, and what is really going on.
First of all, the phrase compares Sin and the Sin Nature to some type of medical malady. For simplistic sake, we're going to call it a disease. Atheists would say that God created this disease, caused us to come down with it, and demands that we be well.
First of all, I will talk about the origin of that disease.
The origin of the disease appears to be Satan, God's most powerful angel who rebelled against Him because of Pride. Satan formed the first evil thoughts in his mind, and decided that he would try to overthrow God, and convinced a third of his angels to go with him. He, of course, fails and gets exiled to Earth, and the third of the angels that rebelled are thrown out as well (though the Bible makes it clear that Satan can still visit Heaven, see Job).
Later, God made the Garden of Eden and placed the Tree that had the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in it. What this fruit was exactly, isn't explained in detail (probably because such detail isn't really necessary), but what is important is that God told Adam not to eat it, or he would surely die. Adam believed, and obeyed (for awhile).
Then, later, Eve was created, and Satan tempted her and got her to eat of the fruit. Why Adam took the fruit also is not known, but perhaps he knew the consequences, and didn't want Eve to bear it by herself, so he ate the fruit so that he would remain with her. That's just theory on my part, though. A personal belief.
That's the origin of sin. God didn't create sin and evil thoughts, Satan did when he became proud. There's a reason why Pride is oftentimes referred to as the "worst" sin, because it leads to all other sins. Where the fruit came from, who knows.
Either way, we can conclude that God did not cause Adam and Eve to eat that fruit, therefore He didn't create Adam and Eve "unwell", or "sick".
Sin works a lot like a disease (or genetic mutation) that's hereditary -- every person that is ever born has it because Adam and Eve had it before they gave birth to their firstborn.
Now, atheists like to say that God "commands us to be well".
I would propose that God does the very opposite, and man's attempts to be well on his own is only making the disease worse.
God knows the cure, and there is only one cure. The Cure only works under certain situations, and it works like this:
God said from the beginning that all sin must be punished by the shedding of blood, which is life. Some atheists balk at this because they don't like it, but that's simply what He said.
So, when Israel came out of Egypt as a Nation, God set up an animal sacrifice system that was meant to be symbolic, and also as a show of obedience (animal sacrifices cannot pay for sin) that was meant to be temporary until God sent Christ down to Earth.
Then, Christ was sacrificed. Since Christ led a sinless life, had no sin in Him (because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, therefore the "disease" was not in Him), He was the Perfect Sacrifice.
Christ is the Cure to the disease that we all have. God said "Here is your cure." and He only asks us to do three things:
1). Realize and agree that we are diseased and in need of a cure.
2). Repent and turn away from the evil things we've done or are accustomed to doing.
3). Accept Christ as our cure.
Christ is a cure that takes time to heal a person. When the person accepts Christ, a special medicine is given immediately, which does its work over time. The person will never be perfect, however as time goes on, the person gets closer and closer to it until they eventually die.
Those who have gotten the cure, will die once, but live on afterwards in spirit, in Heaven.
Those who have not gotten the cure, will die once... and then die again because they were not cured of the disease. That's why Revelation calls the Lake of Fire the "second death". All sin leads to the second death, unless of course, you were cured.
However, note above how I said that He asked us to Repent and turn away from evil? Well, if we look at Sin like a disease...
Let's say you contract a disease by a specific method. Let's use an STD for an example. You go to the doctor, and get some medication that slowly reverses the STD, and the doctor tells you to stay away from unsafe sex, but you ignore his advice and you go out and you continue to have unsafe sex, and get re-infected with the disease all over again (and/or spreading it to others too), perhaps even a different strain than the one you previously had (or an all new STD altogether). Then you go back to the doctor and he goes "I told you to stop doing that, and you went out and did it anyways... why should I give you another medication?"
This is kinda like how sin works. When a person accepts Christ and says they're sorry, but turns back to sin knowingly and willingly, they are basically re-infecting themselves with the disease and making the problem worse.
Now, the Bible says that every Christian will still sin occasionally in their lives, but there's a difference between knowingly diving head-first into sinful activities you know you're not supposed to be doing, and failing to resist temptation. The former, you pre-meditate, the latter you end up doing in the heat of the moment but you weren't seeking it. And also, there's unknowning sin, where a Christian does something they didn't know was sin (usually in their first few months of being a Christian).
So anyways, that's my thoughts on the subject.
