I know its a rough question
But again the verses you quoted and your explanations, is fine. I don't have an issue with them. But they do not seem to answer the question, Im asking rather its tells me what is going to happen after evil is already here.
Remember though that evil was not here before humans invited it into their lives. God didn't bring it to mankind, he tried to keep it away from them. They asked for it....they got it, and brought it on their children.
Yes, but these or the possibility for these must have been created by someone? I don't have a problem with you example of equal opposite. But as with life and death, God created life, but he also made it possible for us to die. In the beginning, Adam and Eve before they sinned could live forever right? But God told them that if they ate from the tree, that they would die, so I assume God made it possible to die as well. So the same question is what I ask about good and evil?
OK....with free will, came the possibility of choosing something that was wrongly motivated, just as happened in the beginning. A rebel angel influenced wrong thinking in the first humans....but who inspired the original rebel to go against the Creator's order? As a free willed being, he apparently got to envy the worship that was given to his Creator and wanted it for himself. He dwelt on that wrong inclination and allowed it to corrupt his thinking. He acted on it and made himself a "satan" (resister) and a "devil" (slanderer). You can't be a god without devotees, so with the creation of man came an ideal opportunity to make his move.
Angels are not immortal either for the same reason that humans aren't. God had to have control by being able to eliminate those, who through misusing their free will, would make life hard or even impossible for others. Cooperation and respect for each other, as well as for those in authority are the very basis for a peaceful society. God is the Sovereign authority.
If we were robotic, without free will, God could have made us immortal, but imagine if all the life that God made, lived forever? What kind of a world would we have if all the cruel and evil despots down through history didn't die?
If God hadn't given us free will, then he could have made us immortal....instead, he offered us everlasting life to be enjoyed as long as everyone stayed within the parameters that God set. We can get carried away by the thought of "freedom".....but when one person's freedom encroaches on another's, trouble and conflict is never far away.
Because just as in the Garden of Eden, God created it the way he wanted it, so he could make plants grow in patterns that formed like Botanical gardens. Remember God created the plants before man, and he saw it was good.
And remember that God made plants to grow, yet they normally have a lifespan, like the animals do. Botanical gardens need tending because unmanaged growth would spoil the order. It would end up looking like a wilderness, which has its place, but an ordered garden requires a caretaker to maintain the order, just like humans need order so that society can function.
But people do not choose to be homosexual do they?
People don't choose any genetic abnormality. I have a nephew with a severe case of Tourette's Syndrome. He doesn't choose to offend people with his tics and foul language but he has had to learn to live with them. I just wish others would understand that he can't help how his Syndrome manifests itself. Homosexuals OTOH do have control over their actions, whilst not being able to eliminate their inclinations. Pedophiles too have abnormal sexual leanings and they can control them with help. What you can't do is feed the inclination. Many pedophiles feed their sexual fantasies by viewing child pornography. Whatever you feed grows.
If a Christian has homosexual leanings, they cannot feed their inclinations if they want to be morally clean in God's eyes.
A diabetic in a candy store is moments away from a health crisis if he/she gives in to the craving for sweets. Best to avoid the candy store....right? This is what the Bible recommends.
Homosexuals are not unacceptable to God, but homosexual sex is unclean in his eyes. After all, the sacred seed of life is not to be placed in a sewer.
This is a different issue, So you think we ought to start beating children in schools again, so we basically solve violence with violence? or do you think other things could explain the behavior of these children?
Did I say that? I was pointing out that what is acceptable in one era can become unacceptable in another. We don't see slavery being promoted by Jesus, even though it was common in his day.
Some people today live as slave under their boss and gets beaten, which we condemn. Most people that have a job today in a civilized country, is not allowed to be beaten by their boss, and he/she would be thrown in jail for such thing. So they are not slaves in the way you talk about it. As they can freely leave their job if they want. What they are truly slaves of, are the system that might force people to work meaningless jobs with poor salary and security etc. The boss simply exploit that, because they have enough people to choose for, so its a failure of the system, that encourage "slave" like conditions, yet it is not the same as what is described in the bible.
Different era, different "norm"...just another kind of slavery.
I know things are very different from country to country. In the US for example, wages are low and many slave for little income; in service jobs, they have to depend on tips to supplement a meagre wage. It is not unusual for people to have to work several jobs in order to make ends meet...if that is not a form of slavery, I don't know what is.
i have heard this before and I work with the assumption that the devil is in control. But still you don't explain how to get out of it?
The Bible explains that in allowing the devil a free hand, it was for an allotted time. God has promised to step in with the removal of satan's entire system of things, and the introduction of his kingdom to replace it. (Daniel 2:44) God will evict all bad tenants and allow those who have proven worthy, to be granted citizenship in that kingdom. These are the "sheep" and the ones evicted are the "goats" of Matthew 25:32.
Should we follow the rules of the Catholic church, so we allow the Pope and the cardinals to guide us to live correctly and according to God will, would that solve it? And if not, how do people know what rules to follow.
The Catholic Church with its pope and cardinals is the last institution on earth that I would say represents Christianity. Like the Pharisees, they don't follow God's laws but follow man-made traditions.
Follow the Bible.....something they distort to promote their errors.
Lets take an example from the real world. Lets say that we agree that Devil is in control and we want to fight him. So who should explain the rules to the Jews of how one ought to live according to the bible, or should they just figure this out themselves?
The Jews have as much information about God's means of salvation as anyone else. They choose their own way of reading scripture. But the thing is, it is God who grants understanding of his word. John 6:44 tells us that God "draws" those in whom he finds a good and obedient heart. Conversely, he can 'repel' those who don't. (John 6:65) It is God who opens the door to those knocking. But he does not grant access to just anyone. He can read the heart, not just the thoughts.
Matthew 15
1 Then the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying,
2"Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."
3 He answered and said to them, "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
4 For God commanded, saying, 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'
5 But you say, 'Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God"--
6 then he need not honor his father or mother.' Thus you have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition.
So Jesus ask the scribes and Pharisees, why they don't follow Gods commandment 'Honor your father and your mother'; and, 'He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.'
OK, as I mentioned, he was quoting the law which was still in force when he said that. When Jesus ended the law, we find no mention of encouraging any harshness in the form of slavery practised in the day. In fact a runaway slave named Onesimus became a Christian and his Christian master was encouraged to treat him like a brother, not to punish him. (Philemon 15-16)
The punishment of slaves was appropriate for the day....it is inappropriate for our time, especially when slavery still exists in many poverty stricken countries even now.
As the world becomes more civilised, we have a right to expect that barbarity would be eliminated, but it still exists because humans do not learn the lessons of the past. Some religious cultures have not progressed since the Biblical era. Their thinking and actions appear to be barbaric compared to western thinking.
According to the Bible, God's kingdom will "come" ready or not, so we have to be ready for the judgment that precedes it. Just calling yourself a Christian is not going to sway the judge. We have to be found "doing the will of the Father". We have to be spiritually clean, and at peace with God and each other. (Matthew 7:21-23; 2 Peter 3:11-14)
Bring it on......I can't wait!