The ultimate question concerning Christianity

I have asked this question many times, most of the time, I given some trite answer, hopefully there are deeper thinkers here

If God, is all knowing and can see the future, why create the devil? He would have foresaw, the destruction the devil would bring upon man. If God created the devil, knowing he would tempt man, and cause man to fall, and eventualy be damned eternaly, than why create the devil? Why not, just never create the devil? Wouldnt this mean, God is the cause of man, to spend eternaly in Hell?

Do you know who Tony Evans is? He is a Pastor in Texas, I believe Dallas. He is also an author and has a weekly program. I saw him speaking on TV one time and his talk was on why God did stuff the way He did. I'm going to put into a nutshell what he said.

God created the angels before mankind. The angels have seen God and are privy to more of who God is and what He does and why He does things. Although they do not know everything about God that is to be known.

So there is God and the angels. Angels have free will also. An angel named Lucifer rebelled against God. Lucifer wanted to be God and have God's rank. Well that's silly. To illustate try walking up to the White House and informing the President that He is no longer president, because you have decided you are now the president. That's basically what Lucifer/satan did. Along with this rebellion comes aspects of a beings soul and spirit. satan wanted to physically be on God's throne. Soulishly that indicated that in satan's intellect that he/satan desired something that was not his and could never be. That leads into satan's connection to God, spirit wise, and satan found within the recesses of his being the desire to not be happy in his ordained state and a refusal to trust and listen to God.

Now alot of people say that God should have annihilated satan at that point and caused him/satan and the angels that followed satan's rebellion, to cease to exist to prove Himself/God is right.

At this point Tony Evans used this illustration. Suppose there is a mayor of a city and he leads the city and desires certain things be done. Now there is a councilman who goes onto TV and declares the mayor does not know what he is doing. The mayor is unjust and unfair and shouldn't be mayor. Should the mayor(who really does know what he is doing to benefit all the people) at that point because he knows that this councilman will bring havoc to the city "get rid" of the councilman. It would save alot of time and trouble in the long run. If the mayor does "get rid" of the councilman, there would still be an unanswered question as to if the councilman was right. I mean the people left in the city would have a lingering doubt in the back of their heads about what the accusations were and if they could have an ounce of truth. Remember the main accusation is, the mayor doesn't know what he is doing.

So bring this to God. Satan says God doesn't know how to run the universe. Does God annihilate satan and tell the angels who were faithful satan was wrong so I "got rid" of him and his cohorts. Without the proof of why satan's accusation was wrong it would merely be God's word against satan's and doubt would linger with the remaining angels.

So God chooses to prove another way that satan's accusation is wrong and at the same time God would demonstrate something about Himself that even the angels(fallen and faithful) didn't know.

God would create a race of beings(mankind) who were lower than the angels in power and knowledge) and through these beings God would prove once and for all that He knows what He is doing and He alone is God and as such only He and the knowledge and power He has is capable of running a universe.

So he makes Adam and Eve whom He loves dearly, and satan knows this. They are made with free will(remember without the power to choose there is no ability to love). satan finds he has access to these beings, he is not kept from them so he seeks to destroy those whom God loves. See satan already knows what rebellion brings, a seperation from God. How does he know this because it happened to him when he rebelled. So if he/satan can cause these humans to rebel against God then once again God doesn't know what He's doing plus he will be driving a spike into the heart of God over these beings God loves.

Now this is very important, Adam and Eve could have said no to satan's temptation and remain faithful to God. But once again here is the doubt that satan threw up to Adam and Eve. God doesn't know what He's doing. He's keeping you from something, something that will make you like God and you'll be a God. Remember that's what satan wanted, to be God and he found out noone can yet he still had this imbedded in him that these puny humans will fall for the same trick. So Adam and Eve could ahve talked to God about this accusation and yet this doubt about God drove them to disobedience, and brought instant spiritual death and eventual physical death.

Now satan not only rebelled himself and God didn't annihilate him, but satan has caused another one of God's creations to be seperated from Him/God. See satan knows God cannot be with sin and these beings that now committ sin. But God literally wants to be close to them and live among them.

More proof that God doesn't know what He's doing? No, because God is going to solve the problem of this seperation between Himself and mankind because of sin. He eludes to the plan for the salvation of mankind already in Genesis chapter 3 and then puts it throughout the Bible. So for 4000 years a world filled with sin is in existance and pain and suffering is brought about because of it. So it appears God does know what He's doing. Without God at the helm and mankind trusting in the fact that God's decisions are the right way to live, the earth and the universe is a wreck.

Then God does something that the angels did not know He would do and it reveals the depths God would go to gain back mankind. Sin brings death and seperation from God. So how does sin and the death and seperation it brings be atoned for and at the same time mankind be brought back to God in fulness. God is just and justice must be carried out, and His word says the soul that sins, it shall die.

How does the problem get solved. God Himself(Jesus) leaves heaven and comes down to the earth and in Jesus' death on the Cross has every single sin act ever committed and that will ever be committed, placed on Himself as if He actually did them. There was a transfer of sin. It was transfered to Jesus and in return the righteousness of Jesus was given to us. Sin was paid for and brought the penalty God's law says it deserves.

But just like Adam and Eve made a decision/choice to disobey God and start the problem. Each individual must make the choice to believe and place their faith in the solution, Jesus.

Heres even a better question for you.

God makes a garden...creates man, puts him in there with a tree he made, of which he eats (Adam) & therefore is punished with genetically modified seeds (weeds) from Monsanto (heheh)

as for the question...continue to look at the gods who came down and destroyed babel after their gentic project started thinking for themselves, and then ask yourself...whats goin on?

peace

dalen

[edit on 28-5-2006 by dAlen]