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To: bondserv
He forfeited that dominion and brought on the curse when he chose to disobey the Creator's direct commandment.

Before Adam ate of the tree he had no knowledge of good and evil. How then could it be evil of him to eat the tree?

By rejecting the pardon, we can no longer have fellowship with God because evil is not in God's character.

Why do we require a pardon for behavior we cannot avoid? You dance around this question and never answer it. I am beginning to suspect that you don't have an answer.

Being a loving Creator He has provided a remedy that costs nothing for us.

It is simply not true to aver that Christianity is a cost-free option. In any case, the cost is not really relevant unless you are proposing Pascal's Wager, which fails on a number of logical counts as far as I am concerned.

...or we are placed in a place where none of His goodness will reach. No more breezes to cool us down. No more sunsets to inspire the feelings of personal value for life. No more love and camaraderie. All of these things are outcomes of His love for us...

How is denial of these things an outcome of His love for us?

and the reason we have no excuse for rejecting Him.

Why do we need an excuse for rejecting Him? The use of the word "excuse" implies that to reject God is evil, but you have not yet established that fact.

231 posted on 02/18/2005 1:16:19 AM PST by Thatcherite (Conservative and Biblical Literalist are not synonymous)
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To: Thatcherite
Before Adam ate of the tree he had no knowledge of good and evil. How then could it be evil of him to eat the tree?

Adam disobeyed a direct commandment of his Creator. Also there are three things relevant to this:
1. Satan deceived Eve into believing it was OK to eat the fruit.
2. Adam was not deceived by Satan -- by implication he was not present -- and therefore Adam was the one credited with having disobeyed (it may be that Adam joined in eating the fruit out of love for Eve, knowing her fate).
3. Satan knew that a forfeiture of the rulership of earth by Adam would result in Satan gaining dominion (and Satan has ruled the world system ever since resulting in the evil that is so evident in our history).

Why do we require a pardon for behavior we cannot avoid?

There are many ways to tackle this question. The simplest answer probably has the most truth to it. When Adam ate the fruit he became aware of evil. This knowledge opened him up to the temptations to do evil, the pinnacle being pride. This knowledge has been passed down to all of his descendent's. Adam and Eve's newfound pride immediately manifested itself in shame. Cain's pride caused him to murder his brother.

So, Adam's disobedience in eating the fruit led to our sin nature. Much like we all receive genetic characteristics from our parents, we are descendent's of Adam which passed on a sin nature (Jesus being the only exception not having the seed of man, being the seed of woman).

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

How is denial of these things an outcome of His love for us?

Considering the cold deadly universe we live in, recognizing how God sustains our world is wisdom.

Mat 5:45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

236 posted on 02/18/2005 10:15:45 AM PST by bondserv (Sincerity with God is the most powerful instigator for change! † [Check out my profile page])
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