He made the world.
Hidden behind the term "world" is the Greek word "aiwnas" meaning "ages." Paul indicates that God created the ages, which not only understands God's role as the creator of space and matter but also the creator of events. Adam was created to sin so that Jesus could become the savior of the world.
There is no doubt that God operates in “ages” or periods of time in which he completes stages of his purpose....the creation account attests to that. Each creative “day” was assigned specific works and each was carried out successfully and to his satisfaction within that time frame. God does his work in increments as he is highly organised in everything he does.
Yes. Paul discusses redemption in Romans 8, where he mentions that God subjected the world to futility, so creation itself looks forward to its own redemption.
God subjected the human world to futility “on the basis of hope”.....the object lesson would seem futile to many as the life programmed into us was not the life we had to live......everything in us screams that it’s all wrong!......including death....because we were programmed for everlasting life in peace and security, in paradise....but the life we got was the complete opposite!
Without the hope of God achieving his end goal, the futility ends in the death of us all for now. But how does it end ultimately? What God purposed in the beginning, is achieved in the end......lessons learned, and all rebels and those who love wickedness will be removed from both realms where God’s children serve his interests rather than their own. No rebel will ever be able to derail God’s purpose for his creation again. Precedents are set so that any who think that their will is more important that God’s, will never be allowed to continue to influence others.
The lake of fire will never go out of existence as a receptacle for them.....nothing in the lake of fire survives.
Since death is an aspect of futility and God subjected the creation to futility, then God designed death into creation.
What a very smart God did, was create beings who have free will, but whom he could control.
Free will can be either a blessing or a curse, depending on which way it is used or abused.
Every evil on this planet is the result of the abuse of free will. Death is the only thing that can combat that unfortunate choice if it is abused. So even the heavenly beings, even though they are not subject to death as we humans are, can still be eliminated from existence if they choose to disobey as satan did.
In his wisdom, God used the rebellion to teach a much bigger life lesson.....one that would have far reaching effects into the future. The fact that it is taking so long is a reflection of who needs the life lessons the most.....us puny humans, (who can only do damage down here on earth) or the powerful spirit beings in heaven who can wreak havoc on a much larger scale? This lesson is played out in Universal time, not earth time. (2 Peter 3:8)
surely die
"surely die" literally means "dying you shall die". Whether Adam was good or bad, whether he was obedient or disobedient, Adam was going to die physically. God means to say that Adam would experience evil, suffering, heartache, disappointment, and other negative things such as these his entire life until he dies.
Not so.....death was only mentioned as a punishment for disobedience.....living forever in mortal flesh was what God offered them....and he provided the means to do so. We are not programmed for death...it is as foreign to us now as it was when Cain killed his brother. Intense grief follows the death of a loved one.....that is not natural.
The presence of the Tree of Life is clear evidence that eternal existence was not inherent in nature but sustained by God. As soon as God removed the "Tree," death and futility became a reality.
Yes, we were created as mortal beings with all the things that sustain our lives thoughtfully provided in abundance. Creation itself is proof that this earth was supposed to be a beautiful place, and we are designed to live in paradise.
Where do people go for their vacations? Is it not to all the paradisaic places on earth that profit off tourism? Paradise was never meant to make selfish people rich.....but it depends on the leanings of the human heart to want to go there even for a short (but expensive) vacation.
There is a bigger picture, but you seem stuck on a few faulty pixels that don’t reveal it.....widen out in your view...the big picture makes so much sense. What God purposed for us in the beginning is restored in the end, thanks to a God who loved us enough to send his precious son to rescue us from the disobedience of our first parents.
Imagine if Eve had simply told the devil to ‘get lost’......imagine if no one had ever eaten the forbidden fruit? What then?