god promises a paradise
Continued….
What Was God’s Original Purpose for Man?
“Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.”
God created Adam and Eve to enjoy a happy life on earth and to care for their beautiful home. He gave them a measure of his own qualities, so they could reflect his standards in how they lived. They could explore the whole planet and take pleasure in everything it offered. In addition, their children would have been born into perfect conditions.
God offered the first human couple the chance to live for ever in a Paradise earth. They could spend endless time learning more about him and appreciating what he made. They could also pass the same hope on to their children.
What guidelines did God give to Adam and Eve?
Adam and Eve could enjoy life as part of God’s universal family, as long as they respected his standards of right and wrong. He explained how to use their freedom in the best way and warned them about what would happen if they chose to ignore his direction. If they followed his instructions, they would keep perfect life for ever. If they insisted on their own way, they would bring suffering on themselves and lose their lives. In the same way, freedom of choice always brings responsibility for our decisions and actions.
What went wrong?
First, Satan rebelled against God. After that, Adam and Eve chose to listen to Satan instead of their Creator. As a result, they sinned, lost perfection, and began to die.
How did Adam and Eve’s actions affect us?
Once Adam and Eve sinned, they could no longer pass perfection and the hope of everlasting life to their children. So sin and death entered the world. In contrast with God’s original purpose, all people die because of sin. This leads to an important point, what exactly is sin?
