Some doubts

[Shelly_S]

Hi!
Well i,m new here and i,m looking for some answers.
I got healed a few months ago from a chronic illness (Thanks God!), and because of that I decided to take my christianity and faith further. So I,m actively reading and studying the bible every day but it's becoming more and more difficult. My pastor will run out of patience and get angry at me so I can,t rely on my church anymore (they were so supportive at the start!)- I feel like my faith is failing already and I,m not comfortable at bible study. I hope you can cope with me.

https://www.cgg.org//index.cfm/fuse...QA/k/257/Did-God-Lie-Adam-Eve-Genesis-217.htm
"Would Adam and Eve have lived for ever if they had not sinned? No. Why not? Because they were physical human beings, and "it is appointed for men to die once"
Then why did God threaten them to die in the first place if they didn't behave? Why don,t tell them straight away what would happen (getting out of the garden and suffer working the land and giving birth)?
And why did he curse us forever instead of using a disciplinary punishment?
If it was an exercise of free will, why would Adam and Eve be the only ones with the chance to choose between good and bad?

Why did God accept Abel's offering but reject Cain's offering? Why did Cain then kill Abel?
"Why did Cain kill Abel? It was premeditated murder, caused by anger, jealousy, and pride John wrote, "Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous""
Why did God punish Cain to roam the world, exposing inocent people to a murderer, someone who belongs to evil?
Wasn't Cain going to spread the evil seed when forming a family?

Got more questions but I ran out of time, i,ll write more when I come back.
Thank you!

 

[mukk_in]

Hi!
Well i,m new here and i,m looking for some answers.
I got healed a few months ago from a chronic illness (Thanks God!), and because of that I decided to take my christianity and faith further. So I,m actively reading and studying the bible every day but it's becoming more and more difficult. My pastor will run out of patience and get angry at me so I can,t rely on my church anymore (they were so supportive at the start!)- I feel like my faith is failing already and I,m not comfortable at bible study. I hope you can cope with me.

https://www.cgg.org//index.cfm/fuse...QA/k/257/Did-God-Lie-Adam-Eve-Genesis-217.htm
"Would Adam and Eve have lived for ever if they had not sinned? No. Why not? Because they were physical human beings, and "it is appointed for men to die once"
Then why did God threaten them to die in the first place if they didn't behave? Why don,t tell them straight away what would happen (getting out of the garden and suffer working the land and giving birth)?
And why did he curse us forever instead of using a disciplinary punishment?
If it was an exercise of free will, why would Adam and Eve be the only ones with the chance to choose between good and bad?

Why did God accept Abel's offering but reject Cain's offering? Why did Cain then kill Abel?
"Why did Cain kill Abel? It was premeditated murder, caused by anger, jealousy, and pride John wrote, "Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous""
Why did God punish Cain to roam the world, exposing inocent people to a murderer, someone who belongs to evil?
Wasn't Cain going to spread the evil seed when forming a family?

Got more questions but I ran out of time, i,ll write more when I come back.
Thank you!

Hello Shelly, welcome to CF . It was God's will for Adam and Eve to live forever (He also gave them dominion over the earth). That's why He told them not to eat from the tree. Satan lied that they wouldn't die. Of course they didn't die right away, but ushered in sin and eternal damnation. God didn't threaten them, He simply revealed what would happen (as it had).

God's love is coupled to His holiness. Had God simply punished them and let them back in without atoning for their sin, then God Himself would cease to exist. That's why Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundations of the world. The Lord was set apart even before the world began.

It's not just Adam and Eve, we all have the freedom to choose. "If any man comes after me...". It always starts with a big "If..". You're still free to choose.

I'm not sure why God allowed Cain to wander instead of destroying him. My guess is because he was giving him time and space to repent. Could Cain have infected others with sin? Quite possible. Cain built the land of "Nod" (land of wanderers). The people in that land were most likely murderers as well and not innocent.

Peace in Christ kid .

 

[Hidden In Him]

Greetings Shelly, and welcome to CF! I hope you grow a lot here. And btw, when it comes to this place, you don't have to worry much about people running out of things to say, LoL. You may not LIKE what they say, but they'll always be saying something.

Ok, let me deal with your questions.

"Would Adam and Eve have lived for ever if they had not sinned? No. Why not? Because they were physical human beings, and "it is appointed for men to die once"

This answer they gave is a poor one. Yes, they would have lived forever, and that's the whole point of the entire garden account. They got tricked by Satan into doing what would separate them from the tree of the Life, and once that happened death became inevitable. The argument about how "it is appointed unto men to die once" became true only after the fall in the garden.

"Why did Cain kill Abel? It was premeditated murder, caused by anger, jealousy, and pride John wrote, "Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous""

Why did God punish Cain to roam the world, exposing innocent people to a murderer, someone who belongs to evil?

You have to remember that there were not a lot of people on earth yet, in fact very few. They probably all still lived together as a family at this point, and only Cain was sentenced to separate himself from them and wander alone. Tradition says that Cain eventually did settle in his own region and raised a large family and community around him, people who followed him into all sorts of sin. But God was still being merciful to him in hopes that he might eventually repent. He's like that with all of us (2 Peter 3:9).

Got more questions but I ran out of time, i,ll write more when I come back.
Thank you!

Bring 'em on! I'm sure we'd be more than happy to help. And welcome once again.

 

[Hidden In Him]

Btw, sorry about my spelling errors (corrected now). Maybe I'm cursed with an inability to spell check.

Or maybe it's just overeagerness, one of the two.

 

[SkyWriting]

Hi!
Well i,m new here and i,m looking for some answers.
I got healed a few months ago from a chronic illness (Thanks God!), and because of that I decided to take my christianity and faith further. So I,m actively reading and studying the bible every day but it's becoming more and more difficult. My pastor will run out of patience and get angry at me so I can,t rely on my church anymore (they were so supportive at the start!)- I feel like my faith is failing already and I,m not comfortable at bible study. I hope you can cope with me.

https://www.cgg.org//index.cfm/fuse...QA/k/257/Did-God-Lie-Adam-Eve-Genesis-217.htm
"Would Adam and Eve have lived for ever if they had not sinned? No. Why not? Because they were physical human beings, and "it is appointed for men to die once"
Then why did God threaten them to die in the first place if they didn't behave? Why don,t tell them straight away what would happen (getting out of the garden and suffer working the land and giving birth)?
And why did he curse us forever instead of using a disciplinary punishment?
If it was an exercise of free will, why would Adam and Eve be the only ones with the chance to choose between good and bad?

Why did God accept Abel's offering but reject Cain's offering? Why did Cain then kill Abel?
"Why did Cain kill Abel? It was premeditated murder, caused by anger, jealousy, and pride John wrote, "Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous""
Why did God punish Cain to roam the world, exposing inocent people to a murderer, someone who belongs to evil?
Wasn't Cain going to spread the evil seed when forming a family?

Got more questions but I ran out of time, i,ll write more when I come back.
Thank you!

Hello Shelly S, Brand new Member from Spain.

How's the economy in Spain? What city are you from?
What denomination is your church?

 

[St_Worm2]

Hi!
Well i,m new here and i,m looking for some answers.

Hi Shelly, first off, WELCOME TO CF .. I hope you find the answers you are looking for
You continue:

My pastor will run out of patience and get angry at me so I can't rely on my church anymore (they were so supportive at the start!)- I feel like my faith is failing already and I'm not comfortable at bible study. I hope you can cope with me.

Your pastor is impatient and angry? If that's true, it's time to find a new pastor (even if you are the cause of his impatience and anger). When do you feel he's acting like this towards you?

https://www.cgg.org//index.cfm/fuse...QA/k/257/Did-God-Lie-Adam-Eve-Genesis-217.htm

This church is a non-Christian cult. If you are interested in Christianity and knowing the truth about the faith and God, I would not listen to a single thing they have to say.

"Would Adam and Eve have lived for ever if they had not sinned? No. Why not? Because they were physical human beings, and "it is appointed for men to die once"

Actually, we know that's not true since we are told plainly that:

"Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin" .. Romans 5:12​

Death was not appointed for anyone until Adam sinned.

Then why did God threaten them to die in the first place if they didn't behave? Why don,t tell them straight away what would happen (getting out of the garden and suffer working the land and giving birth)?

God told our progenitors that they would die because it was the truth .. Genesis 2:16-17. They, in fact, died "spiritually" that day, and would eventually do so physically as well.

And why did he curse us forever instead of using a disciplinary punishment?

God didn't curse us forever, He sent His Son to die in our places on the Cross as the atonement for our sins. And He did something for our first parents in this regard (on the very day that they sinned and died, in fact) that looked forward to the coming life and death of Messiah, He sacrificed animals to clothe them with .. Genesis 3:21 and to atone (temporarily anyway) for their sins (because w/o the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness .. Hebrews 9:22). This is where the "scarlet thread of redemption" began, in the Garden of God with Adam and Eve.

If it was an exercise of free will, why would Adam and Eve be the only ones with the chance to choose between good and bad?

Unless acted upon by an irresistible outside force, I believe we are all still free to choose according to our greatest desire at any given moment in time. That is the essence of free will.

What our first parents actually lost for themselves and for us was the desire to choose/seek God .. Romans 3:10-12. It's not that we can't chose God, it's the fact that we aren't willing/have no desire to do so, since we are now, by nature, children of wrath .. e.g. Ephesians 2:1-3. (don't get me wrong, everyone wants the "benefits" God has to offer, its just that, in our falleness and resulting selfishness, we don't want Him or His sovereign rule in our lives )

This reply is long enough. I'll stop here to see if you have any additional questions or comments before answering your second group of questions.

Yours and His,
David

 

[Soyeong]

Hi!
Well i,m new here and i,m looking for some answers.
I got healed a few months ago from a chronic illness (Thanks God!), and because of that I decided to take my christianity and faith further. So I,m actively reading and studying the bible every day but it's becoming more and more difficult. My pastor will run out of patience and get angry at me so I can,t rely on my church anymore (they were so supportive at the start!)- I feel like my faith is failing already and I,m not comfortable at bible study. I hope you can cope with me.

Hello,

It saddens me when pastors discourage those who are earnestly seeks, but know that they are many other pastors who would welcome your questions. I know when I've taught classes that I want people to ask questions because it shows that they are engaging with what I have to say and are interested in learning and understanding. Times when teach and people don't ask question sometimes feel like I could have been talking to a wall. With that said, your pastor might have a busy schedule, but they should at least have other people in the congregation that they can defer to to help. But please don't think that there is anything wrong with questions or that your faith is failing because of them. There are many issues that Christians have pondered over the centuries and it is far better to seek answers than to not ask questions and have them nag away at you.

https://www.cgg.org//index.cfm/fuse...QA/k/257/Did-God-Lie-Adam-Eve-Genesis-217.htm
"Would Adam and Eve have lived for ever if they had not sinned? No. Why not? Because they were physical human beings, and "it is appointed for men to die once"
Then why did God threaten them to die in the first place if they didn't behave? Why don,t tell them straight away what would happen (getting out of the garden and suffer working the land and giving birth)?
And why did he curse us forever instead of using a disciplinary punishment?
If it was an exercise of free will, why would Adam and Eve be the only ones with the chance to choose between good and bad?

It seems to me that it could be appointed for men to die once because of the Fall, so that wouldn't necessarily mean that Adam and Eve would have lived forever. Thought it is possible that in any world that God created with beings who have free will they would have chosen to do the wrong thing at least once, so it might be that there is no possible world where Adam and Eve would have lived forever. However, as being with free will, we are responsible for the choice that we make and the consequences that result from them. Adam and Even had an intimate relationship with God, but they became separated from God because of the Fall, and the rest of the Bible is God's revealed plan of redemption, reconciliation, and restoration of that relationship. In Isaiah 11:7-8, it talks about the cow feeding with the bear, the lion eating with the ox, and children playing near a cobra's den, so conditions will one day be restored to how they were in the Garden before the Fall. Adam and Eve alone were created in God's image, so we are able to have fellowship with Him in a way that we can't have fellowship with our pets.

Why did God accept Abel's offering but reject Cain's offering? Why did Cain then kill Abel?
"Why did Cain kill Abel? It was premeditated murder, caused by anger, jealousy, and pride John wrote, "Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous""
Why did God punish Cain to roam the world, exposing inocent people to a murderer, someone who belongs to evil?
Wasn't Cain going to spread the evil seed when forming a family?

Got more questions but I ran out of time, i,ll write more when I come back.
Thank you!

I think it is implied that God had given Cain and Abel instructions to make offerings and how to make them, which Abel followed, while Cain did not. Abel brought the firstling of his flock and the fat thereof, so brought the best he could bring, while it just says that Cain brought some of his fruit. We see this theme repeated in Leviticus where our offerings to God must be from our first and best. However, the Bible doesn't go into details about why Cain was given that punishment, but we can speculate. For one, Cain considered his punishment to be worse than death (Genesis 4:13-14). He previous was a worker of the ground, so he was now cut off from his livelihood. It could also be that God had plans for Cain and his descendants or because there were not yet that many people around during that time.