I find it interesting, that while a lot of people can discuss/argue over why someone was or was not pulled from the stream prior to being swept over the waterfall of destruction, no one will explain why there is a waterfall of destruction, in the first place.
" no one will explain why there is a waterfall of destruction, in the first place."
"A narrator should not supply interpretations of his work; otherwise he would have not written a novel, which is a machine for generating interpretations."
- Umberto Eco, Postscript to "The Name of the Rose"
I'm sure that if one does not believe there is a waterfall of destruction ahead, they would not be concerned with why there is one. And if, in fact, there is a waterfall of destruction ahead then the principle concern is not why it is there, but how does one avoid going over the edge. After you have been saved from going over the edge, you will have all eternity to ask the stream designer why he put that waterfall there.
But, the signs are posted. Ignore them at your peril.
Beacuse God is holy and righteous and man is not.
What is unholy can not dwell in the presence of the holy
You Stu,(like all men) are a sinner that can never stand in the presence of God .
The wages of sin ( the penalty due) IS DEATH .Rev 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
He did not fall into it or go over a waterfalls, he was thrown into it
God created in man something that can demostrate his fantastic glory. All of creation (apart from mankind) is glorious. However, trees, rocks and base animals, fall short of the ability to recognize and appreciate God's creative skills, and worship Him as He, the Artist desires and deserves.
Man was created so that he could do this and worship his creator.
However, Man must have the ability to reject God. If he lacks this ability, he is just another rock, tree, base animal.
God foreknew that man would reject Him and without the threat of the waterfall of eternal damnation, mankind would continue to ignore and reject God.
God also planned for the death of His Son on the cross for mankind's redemption - an even weightier reason for mankind to appreciate and worship Him.
Sometimes I struggle with this too.
You may get the response, "Because God wills it to be so, because God is God (you aren't), etc.", but while true, these kinds of comments don't really *explain* it.
I don't think any living human knows the full explanation to this one. (And if he claims to, don't trust him.)