Have you ever wondered why didn’t God just destroy Satan when he sinned or Adam and Eve when they fell? Why allow sin and all its consequences to continue on. The saint of course knows that for whatever reason God did this, it has to be a good one because God can do no wrong. Nothing suggests an unregenerate heart like holding God to our depraved standards and when we don’t understand his ways having the audacity to question what he has done. This probably doesn’t get done more than when people consider why God allowed sin and suffering (sin’s consequences) into existence and to continue.
I won’t pretend to know all the reasons or even to be sure that the one I offer now is correct, but I think that the Bible implies it at least. The Lord could have wiped Satan and humanity and sin out from the outset. He didn’t need us to be happy and would not have lost or missed anything if he did. But if we consider the arguments of Romans 9, we might conclude that there would have been aspects of his glory that would not have been displayed had he not let sin continue and this alone is a good reason for him to have done what he has done.
Had he wiped out sin from the start and threw Satan and Adam and Eve into Hell, he would have displayed his power over them and his justice in punishing sin but what would not have been established? Who was right. Sin’s whole point is that we can be happy and fulfilled doing our own thing and not God’s. That led to Satan’s fall and man’s. By allowing sin to continue for a time (even a long time) gives the moral universe the opportunity to see and experience the misery of living for self and not for God. As sinners continue to reject what God says about reality and try feverishly to be happy apart from him, they continue to slide into a deeper moral abyss and in the process become more and more miserable. Thus God is vindicated in the directives he gave Adam in the Garden and the essence of his law, namely that life consist in loving God with all our heart. His Word stands true throughout human history and sin’s lies are exposed with each generation. Surely we are without excuse.
He even has created much in the physical universe to remind us of the futility of life apart from God. Does not your stomach remind you of this everyday? It is a hole that must be filled with physical things constantly. For a while it is full and satisfied and we have an illusion of contentment but within a short time it asks for more. The same can be said for pretty much any other fleshly need or enjoyment that we can experience. Truly, nothing satisfies like Jesus. There will never be a need that he doesn’t take care of fully and this will be fully realized in glory where the whole concept of want, dissatisfaction and need are forgotten.
The wisdom of God is displayed all around us whether it is in your body or on the local news. True life is only realized in knowing and having Christ.
I won’t pretend to know all the reasons or even to be sure that the one I offer now is correct, but I think that the Bible implies it at least. The Lord could have wiped Satan and humanity and sin out from the outset. He didn’t need us to be happy and would not have lost or missed anything if he did. But if we consider the arguments of Romans 9, we might conclude that there would have been aspects of his glory that would not have been displayed had he not let sin continue and this alone is a good reason for him to have done what he has done.
Had he wiped out sin from the start and threw Satan and Adam and Eve into Hell, he would have displayed his power over them and his justice in punishing sin but what would not have been established? Who was right. Sin’s whole point is that we can be happy and fulfilled doing our own thing and not God’s. That led to Satan’s fall and man’s. By allowing sin to continue for a time (even a long time) gives the moral universe the opportunity to see and experience the misery of living for self and not for God. As sinners continue to reject what God says about reality and try feverishly to be happy apart from him, they continue to slide into a deeper moral abyss and in the process become more and more miserable. Thus God is vindicated in the directives he gave Adam in the Garden and the essence of his law, namely that life consist in loving God with all our heart. His Word stands true throughout human history and sin’s lies are exposed with each generation. Surely we are without excuse.
He even has created much in the physical universe to remind us of the futility of life apart from God. Does not your stomach remind you of this everyday? It is a hole that must be filled with physical things constantly. For a while it is full and satisfied and we have an illusion of contentment but within a short time it asks for more. The same can be said for pretty much any other fleshly need or enjoyment that we can experience. Truly, nothing satisfies like Jesus. There will never be a need that he doesn’t take care of fully and this will be fully realized in glory where the whole concept of want, dissatisfaction and need are forgotten.
The wisdom of God is displayed all around us whether it is in your body or on the local news. True life is only realized in knowing and having Christ.
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