stovebolts
Member
I would like to discuss the topic of death and how it serves God's good purpose because I believe death is God's abounding grace and wrapped in unending love.
Genesis 2:15-17 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
We often like to look at the command as a consequence, and I think this is a healthy view. Freewill means we can do anything we want, but Freewon't puts healthy boundaries around our impulses, desires and urges. As a result, Freewill also includes Freewon't. We are free NOT to do things that can harm us. In short, Freewon't litigates the consequences of an action. It's our ability to say, "Im not going to do that because it will cause harm."
In the above command it is stated clearly not to eat from the tree of knowledge, for in that day, you will die. In that day, you will bear the consequences of your action which will linger all the days of your life. There will be repercussions for your actions that will be passed down from generation to generation because we teach our values and traits to our children, who in turn teach them to their children. In That Day, the harmony Adam and Eve experienced with their surroundings would be seen in a whole new light. In that day, their relationship with God would be viewed much differently.
We see then that the action of Adam was evil when he willfully disobeyed God. Adam knew better, but he acted on his Freewill without restraint. His relationship with his wife would never be the same and their relationship with God would never be the same. They would bear the consequences of a shattered relationship and look at the world a whole new way and one doesn't have to look to far to see how we have gone from tending to this world, to exploiting it. The same can be said of relationships.
So what good purpose does Death serve? We see that disobedience to God is really an act of evil. And what is evil? Evil is that which tears down and destroys. It is destructive and causes pain, suffering. We like to think of evil as these huge horrendous acts of violence, but in reality, it can be a subtle as eating from a tree you know you shouldn't eat from because it violates trust, and without trust a relationship isn't in harmony and becomes broken. Evil changes the world around us and how we view the world around us..
Death is a picture of something coming to an end. It will be no more. Death, is the end of evil and it is a picture that evil will not reign for eternity. The days of death are numbered. Death is not immortal.
1 Corinthians 15:25-26 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
The former things are gone, evil will be no more. Death has served it's purpose and evil will not reign for eternity.
1 Corinthians 15:21-23 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
The man Jesus died on the cross, and the man Jesus rose from the grave. Baptism is a picture of joining in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. (Romans 6:2-7). It is a picture that we are freed from death and one day, free from evil.
Death, is part of God's grace because without death, there would be no end to evil. Evil would reign for eternity and we would be void of any hope for a better world. And though death can be painful, it is good and serves God's good purpose because through death, we have an eternal hope.
Genesis 2:15-17 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
We often like to look at the command as a consequence, and I think this is a healthy view. Freewill means we can do anything we want, but Freewon't puts healthy boundaries around our impulses, desires and urges. As a result, Freewill also includes Freewon't. We are free NOT to do things that can harm us. In short, Freewon't litigates the consequences of an action. It's our ability to say, "Im not going to do that because it will cause harm."
In the above command it is stated clearly not to eat from the tree of knowledge, for in that day, you will die. In that day, you will bear the consequences of your action which will linger all the days of your life. There will be repercussions for your actions that will be passed down from generation to generation because we teach our values and traits to our children, who in turn teach them to their children. In That Day, the harmony Adam and Eve experienced with their surroundings would be seen in a whole new light. In that day, their relationship with God would be viewed much differently.
We see then that the action of Adam was evil when he willfully disobeyed God. Adam knew better, but he acted on his Freewill without restraint. His relationship with his wife would never be the same and their relationship with God would never be the same. They would bear the consequences of a shattered relationship and look at the world a whole new way and one doesn't have to look to far to see how we have gone from tending to this world, to exploiting it. The same can be said of relationships.
So what good purpose does Death serve? We see that disobedience to God is really an act of evil. And what is evil? Evil is that which tears down and destroys. It is destructive and causes pain, suffering. We like to think of evil as these huge horrendous acts of violence, but in reality, it can be a subtle as eating from a tree you know you shouldn't eat from because it violates trust, and without trust a relationship isn't in harmony and becomes broken. Evil changes the world around us and how we view the world around us..
Death is a picture of something coming to an end. It will be no more. Death, is the end of evil and it is a picture that evil will not reign for eternity. The days of death are numbered. Death is not immortal.
1 Corinthians 15:25-26 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
The former things are gone, evil will be no more. Death has served it's purpose and evil will not reign for eternity.
1 Corinthians 15:21-23 For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
The man Jesus died on the cross, and the man Jesus rose from the grave. Baptism is a picture of joining in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. (Romans 6:2-7). It is a picture that we are freed from death and one day, free from evil.
Death, is part of God's grace because without death, there would be no end to evil. Evil would reign for eternity and we would be void of any hope for a better world. And though death can be painful, it is good and serves God's good purpose because through death, we have an eternal hope.
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