Under God, the Law and the prophets are summed up under two great commandments, with the second one being that we love eachother as we love ourselves.
Now we know from reading the Scriptures that things didn’t work out that way from the get-go, from just after the Garden of Eden to the present time. We often ask, Why in a world created by God, would we have hatred and other sins, among people? Why did God not provide a world in which no hatred and other sins can be found? And that said, is He to blame for the sin that exists in the world?
Let’s look at the last question. What did God create according to Genesis 1? He created the heavens and the earth, He gave the earth water and life, and He created a man and a woman. Did He create Satan, who stands for the sin of the world? Genesis 1 doesn’t answer that question. But after Adam ate of the Tree of Knowledge, we have this intriguing passage, Genesis 3: 22- “Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become LIKE ONE OF US in knowing good and evil.’” Where did the “us” come from?” The Bible doesn’t say who created “us.” And we have to presume that Satan, who tempted Adam and Eve through the serpent, is one of the “us” too. It would seem then that God had no part in creating Satan, the master of sin.
Could God, being God, destroy Satan if He wanted to? That question can be addressed another time, but for now, the Satan and his sins have existed from the beginning. Jesus in John 8:44 says to a group claiming to be Abraham’s offspring, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” In other words, Jesus says, in effect, ‘No sirs, you are not from Abraham, rather, you are from the devil, who from the beginning tried to destroy that which God had created, including man.’ At this point in history, the sins of the world have existed side-by side with those who strive for righteousness, and as Satan has tempted Jesus, is constantly tempting God’s children.
And the Bible tells us that we were conceived in sin, not that giving birth is a sin, but rather we were born in a world of sin, thanks to Satan. As hatred is a sin, we were born into a world of hatred. It would appear that God let things get out of hand by allowing for hatred to spread throughout the world, alongside those whom God commanded to have dominion over the earth and whom God in that quest manipulated the inhabitants of Babel to spread out in the world.
It seems that things would be a lot simpler if God destroyed Satan before creating Adam and Eve, so that sin wouldn’t exist in the world. But for whatever reason, He didn’t, and we are stuck with him, forever being tempted by him into the sin which causes some people to hate eachother. And so for all of us it is a struggle to avoid being lured into hating eachother when Jesus has made us realize that the Law and the prophets have commanded that we love eachother.
Now we know from reading the Scriptures that things didn’t work out that way from the get-go, from just after the Garden of Eden to the present time. We often ask, Why in a world created by God, would we have hatred and other sins, among people? Why did God not provide a world in which no hatred and other sins can be found? And that said, is He to blame for the sin that exists in the world?
Let’s look at the last question. What did God create according to Genesis 1? He created the heavens and the earth, He gave the earth water and life, and He created a man and a woman. Did He create Satan, who stands for the sin of the world? Genesis 1 doesn’t answer that question. But after Adam ate of the Tree of Knowledge, we have this intriguing passage, Genesis 3: 22- “Then the LORD God said, ‘Behold, the man has become LIKE ONE OF US in knowing good and evil.’” Where did the “us” come from?” The Bible doesn’t say who created “us.” And we have to presume that Satan, who tempted Adam and Eve through the serpent, is one of the “us” too. It would seem then that God had no part in creating Satan, the master of sin.
Could God, being God, destroy Satan if He wanted to? That question can be addressed another time, but for now, the Satan and his sins have existed from the beginning. Jesus in John 8:44 says to a group claiming to be Abraham’s offspring, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” In other words, Jesus says, in effect, ‘No sirs, you are not from Abraham, rather, you are from the devil, who from the beginning tried to destroy that which God had created, including man.’ At this point in history, the sins of the world have existed side-by side with those who strive for righteousness, and as Satan has tempted Jesus, is constantly tempting God’s children.
And the Bible tells us that we were conceived in sin, not that giving birth is a sin, but rather we were born in a world of sin, thanks to Satan. As hatred is a sin, we were born into a world of hatred. It would appear that God let things get out of hand by allowing for hatred to spread throughout the world, alongside those whom God commanded to have dominion over the earth and whom God in that quest manipulated the inhabitants of Babel to spread out in the world.
It seems that things would be a lot simpler if God destroyed Satan before creating Adam and Eve, so that sin wouldn’t exist in the world. But for whatever reason, He didn’t, and we are stuck with him, forever being tempted by him into the sin which causes some people to hate eachother. And so for all of us it is a struggle to avoid being lured into hating eachother when Jesus has made us realize that the Law and the prophets have commanded that we love eachother.
