Why Did God Create Human Beings
Into a Universe Already Heavily Contaminated With Sin?
Why did God create the human race? The answer often given by Christians is that God "wanted friends." But God had millions and millions of "friends" when He created the angels. Why did He create an entirely different order of being: humanity?
And why did God create humanity into a universe already heavily contaminated with sin?
The human race is not responsible for sin. Sin was ALREADY present in the universe when God created Adam and Eve. Satan and his evil angels had been sinning for some period of time, maybe a very long time, before Adam and Eve were created.
Why didn't God solve the SIN problem with the angels? After all, that's where the sin problem started. Why was the human race drawn into this mess? We didn't ask to be here. Not a single one of us asked to be born. And we certainly didn't ask to be born sinners. I don't mean that babies are born sinning, I just mean that, as the Bible says, "ALL have sinned. . ." Romans 3:23.
Why did God create Adam and Eve perfect and then put Satan right in their neighborhood?
If God really didn't want Adam and Eve to sin, why did God place the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil right in their "living room" where they had to pass by it every day?
Also, why did God create a single tree that contained the knowledge of BOTH good and evil? In other words, why did God combine "good" and "evil" in the same tree?
Before Adam and Eve sinned, is there any Biblical record that they ever praised God? The answer is "No."
Before they sinned, did Adam and Eve understand what a magnificent garden God had given them for their home? How could they, they had never experienced anything else.
Before they sinned, did Adam and Eve understand what good health was? How could they, they had never been sick! They had never seen disease nor death in anything-not in humanity, not in animals, nor in plants.
Adam and Eve could not appreciate any of these things because they had never known anything other than perfection.
The fact is, it is impossible to know what good health is unless you've been sick or you have seen sickness in someone else. It's impossible to be appropriately grateful for all you have if you have never been without. It's impossible to know "good" unless you have known the opposite: "evil."
The only way we change is by going through difficult times. If everything is going well, we'll just keep right on doing what we're doing. The ONLY reason we change course, and begin to grow in maturity and spirituality, the ONLY way we build character, is by going through trials.
Jesus came to this earth for at least three reasons: a) to reveal the true character of God, b) to show His great love for us by dying on the Cross and, c) to do away with sin. The Bible says that "the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world" Revelation 13:8.
The Plan of Salvation obviously was in place BEFORE the earth was created. Something had to be done to provide salvation for sinners or all would have been lost. Satan and the evil angels were already sinners before any human being was created.
Again, why didn't God solve the "sin problem" with the angels, who were obviously the first sinners? Mankind, Adam and Eve, were initially novices in the "sin" business which had been going on for some time in the heavenly realms before their creation on earth.
God's plan was for Jesus to come as a "man" and die for the sins of the world. Why couldn't Jesus have come as an angel and died for the sinning angels? Why did God instead have to create the human race, the majority of whom would go through hell on earth, then die, only to be resurrected, judged and then annihilated or "burned," either forever, or "as long as they deserve"?
In order for Jesus to come in the form of an angel, to die for the sins of the evil angels, angels would have to be capable of dying.
Do Angels Die?
Jesus gives the answer Himself in Luke 20:36, when the Sadducees were telling Jesus the story of the woman who married a man who subsequently died. She then married each of his six brothers, one after another, as each of the brothers died. The Sadducees asked Jesus whose wife she would be in heaven.
This is Jesus' response, in His own words:
"The children of this world marry and are given in marriage, but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage;
"Neither can they die any more; for they are equal unto the angels. . ."
Jesus said it Himself. Angels don't die! Notice that Jesus did not say, "Good angels don't die." He said, "Angels (in general) don't die." If angels don't die then Jesus could NOT have come as an angel to die for the sins of the evil angels.
This created a major problem in the thinking of the righteous angels. Since sin entered the universe when Satan sinned, how could sin ever be eliminated from the universe if angels don't die?
A question we must ourselves ponder, is: If angels don't die, as Jesus Himself has told us, then how can the evil angels be "destroyed" from the earth and from the universe at the end?
And if they cannot be destroyed, then sin will remain in the universe for eternity!
Yet Jesus came to "do away with sin!" John 1:29.
So how does this all work out?
God created a new race of individuals, humanity, individuals with flesh and blood, individuals who were capable of dying, a necessity for the plan of salvation since Jesus' plan was to come in human form and DIE for the sins of the world. But human beings would be capable of dying ONLY if they sinned. Before sin there was no death, neither in Adam and Eve, nor in all of Creation. Even Satan and the evil angels had been sinning for a long time, yet they showed no signs of deterioration in their stamina. The same is true today. Satan and his evil angels are going strong! They have no flesh and blood, which is what deteriorates as a result of sin.
If neither Adam and Eve, nor their offspring, had sinned, there would be no death. In that case, there would be no need for Jesus to die for us, since no human being would have sinned. Adam and Eve still would have been as innocent as little children. They would not have known the difference between good and evil. They would have been incapable of purposely choosing God for His goodness because they knew nothing else. It would have been impossible for them to glory in God's fabulous creation because they had no opportunity to know anything else. It would have been impossible for Adam to Eve to appreciate God's boundless love for His children, whether perfect or sinful, because Adam and Eve knew nothing of sin, calamity or utter wickedness.
It was necessary for them to know evil in order for them eventually to choose "good," intelligently and willingly.
Therefore, sin was a necessary part of the plan of salvation. Without sin, there would be no death. Without sin, Adam and Eve would never have experienced the opposite of "good," which would allow them eventually to understand and abhor evil. Every human being had to be "dipped" in sin to be able to understand first hand the ruinous consequences of sin, to understand that sin leads to death. Sin was imperative because it introduced death to the human race, a prerequisite necessary for Jesus to come in human form and DIE to redeem mankind.
It is impossible to know good without knowing evil; it is impossible to learn right without understanding what is wrong, and that often takes personal experience in wrong-doing. It is impossible to build character without having trials and tribulations. The only way we change is by having trouble. If everything is going along fine, we will NEVER change. It takes troubles, catastrophes, illness, financial upsets, severe loneliness, heartbreak, to force us to change our direction, to turn us to God!
We now see that sin was a necessary part of the plan of salvation. That means that the lead sinner, Satan, had and still has, a specific purpose. His purpose was, and still is, to be the opponent, the antagonist, the Adversary against God. In fact, the name Satan actually means Adversary. God, Himself, provides opposition to truth in order to bring attention to truth, to clarify truth and to magnify the difference between truth and lies, between good and evil. That is still happening today.
Satan was designated to be the Adversary against Christ, just as Judas was designated to be the betrayer of Christ. After all, SOMEONE had to do it! John 17:12
"The troubles of the universe originated among the celestials, among the angels, long before man was created. Humanity was an entirely separate creation, made in the image and likeness of God to be the form in which God's own Son could come to give up His life for the universe, and remedy what had gone wrong in that higher sphere.
"Thus humanity is made the vehicle through which the reconciling of the universe is to be effected, even though all efforts of humanity itself are in vain and come to nothing, and it is left to God to provide, in the person of His Son, the one effectual means by which this reconciliation is to be accomplished." The Place of Humanity in God's Purpose, J.H.Essex, pg 45
"The real reason for the creation of humanity was that it would provide a form in which it would be possible for our Lord to come and give His life for the universe. That is why man was made in the image and likeness of God-that Jesus could come in human guise and still be recognized as the Son of God." Ibid pg 67.
The Lamb was slain "from the foundation of the world" Revelation 13:8. God's purpose in every facet and detail was planned from the outset, and in no sense whatever is any part of it an improvisation to meet an emergency. He is the One Who tells "from the beginning the hereafter, and from aforetime, what has not yet been done, saying, All My counsel shall be confirmed, and all My desire will I do" Isaiah 46:10. He is "the One Who is operating ALL in accord with the counsel of His own will" Ephesians 1:11, and Who has purposed "to head up all in the Christ, both in the heavens and that on earth," and "through Him, to reconcile ALL to Him. . . whether those on the earth or those in the heavens" Ephesians 1:10, Colossians 1:20.
"When the reconciliation of all is complete, the joy of the universe will be full. When the purpose of the All-sufficient God has reached its consummation, and He is All in all (1 Corinthians 15:28), every heart will be filled with the true laughter which accompanies the praise and adoration of Him Who is Supreme and Whose name is Love." Ibid pg 72.
God has not created one more person than required
for the completion of the Plan of Salvation.
God does NOT waste anything! When Jesus fed the 5,000 men plus women and children, with 5 loaves and 2 fish, there were scraps of bread left over, according to Matthew 14:13-21. Jesus instructed His disciples to gather up the fragments of bread that resulted in the collection of twelve baskets. The extra pieces of bread apparently were then taken home by members of the crowd. The scraps of bread were NOT thrown away. They were NOT wasted.
God does NOT waste anything! In nature, matter is never lost! The flowers die and return to the earth, but matter is not lost.
God does NOT waste anything! He knows every sparrow that falls but tells us that we're much more important than the sparrows. (Matthew 10:31)
So how could God throw away (permanently destroy or annihilate) billions of His children whom He has created? They are far more important than scraps of bread. We must learn about God's character from nature, from God's fabulous creation. Nature proves to us that God never throws anything away, even His errant children.
But He doesn't leave us in our sinful wretchedness. God tells us in His own words how He treats His erring children, including the evil angels who "don't die." Jesus says, "Behold, I make ALL NEW!" (Revelation 21:5) "I came not to destroy men's lives, but to SAVE them" Luke 9:56. "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, WILL draw ALL unto Me" John 12:32.
God has a specific purpose for your life, a purpose that no one else can fulfill. But first He must draw you to Him through the trials and tribulations that we bring on ourselves-including disease! It's all for a specific purpose. Serious illness should turn us to the Great Physician who promises to "forgive all our sins and (THEN) heal ALL our diseases" Psalm 103:3. Through this experience He wants to change your life.
What a wonderful God we have. Who would want to struggle through life without Him!
So the question remains, does one have to be a Christian in order to get well? And if so, then why do so many "Christians" die of disease?
A true follower of Christ, a true Christian, will allow Jesus to make ALL of his or her decisions. When that happens, that Christian will no longer be sick. He will have given his mind and heart and body fully to Christ. You don't become well just by calling yourself a Christian. You must learn to trust Jesus completely, to go to Him with every problem and NOT to man.
This entire health plan is an exercise in obedience.
Simply put, the process of getting well is the process of getting to know God!
The process of getting well is the process of learning to trust God completely and depend on Him for everything.