JDL - Direction Thirty-five - Why Things Are Not Now Perfect (The fall into sin)

The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:14-19 (ESV))

In the beginning God . . . that is the way everything important should begin. In the beginning God created, out of nothing (ex nihlo). God created and when God created, He created in perfection, as He is perfection. At the end of each day of creating God said, “It is good.” and at the end of all creating, at the end of the sixth day, God looked at all He had created and said, “It is very good.” Nothing that God created was bad or had any flaw in it. All that God created, out of nothing, was indeed, very good.

If God created everything very good, then why do we live in such an imperfect world? Either God did not create everything perfect, or perhaps God is not perfect Himself. Maybe God is just not powerful enough to keep bad things from happening. What is God’s problem?

As human beings, especially as sinful human beings, we tend to have a problem understanding God and especially understanding Him when He does not fit into our preconceived notions of logic. When we get to the point that we do not understand, the problem is not with God but with us and our faulty logic and misunderstandings.

Yes, God did create everything perfect, holy, even out of nothing. Unfortunately, soon after God created humans perfect and holy as well, He placed them in His garden and gave them only one instruction to not eat of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Perhaps it was because they were so naive, only knowing good, that they believed the serpent; after all, they did not know what a lie was; they only knew good. Yet, that would amount to just another excuse for their sin. There is no excuse for any of our sins. We are conceived and born in sin, and we daily add to our sinfulness. There is no such thing as an age of accountability because we are accountable for our sins from the day of our conception (Rom. 3:10, 23). Thus, the importance of Holy Baptism and Confession and Absolution.

Although God created a perfect world, we now live in an imperfect world. We live on the sinful side of the fall into sin. And until Christ returns to create a new heaven and a new earth, we will continue to suffer in this world of imperfection. Thanks be to God that He has overcome this problem. The sin that separated us from God has been paid. Jesus’ suffering and death brought us back into a right relationship with God the Father. And with our relationship with God the Father restored, with His help, we can work on restoring our relationships with each other as fellow Christians in the body of Christ.

While we are on this earth and in this world, we will continue to live in imperfection. Jesus has paid the price for that imperfection, and He continues to work with us in and through us to be the people He would have us to be. Even though we constantly rebel against Him, He continues to remain faithful and work with us. And thanks be to God that once in a while He does get through to us, and we are directed by Him to do the good works which He has prepared in advance for us to do.

Think About
How does humanity explain pain and suffering? How does this compare to the explanation in God’s Word? Who do you believe?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for creating all things out of nothing, perfect and holy. Thank You for forgiving the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden and for sending Jesus to forgive us. Forgive us when we have doubts and strengthen us through Your Word to give an answer, not only for the reason for suffering, but also for the joy in Your salvation and for Your working out the best for us in all things, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.