Adam's sin made mankind imperfect. Sin contaminated love, and is hatred. We sometimes accuse hatred of being severe, however, hatred has a scale - from no hatred to despise. Why so? Because the metrics of love are from no love to the love of God or agape-type love. Agape is the type of love which God can have - without contingency. An example is that God loved Adolph Hitler. How do we know that? "For God so loved the world" (John 3:16). We too are to love that immensely! Immense love without contingencies is agape-type love. Immense love is wanting that none should perish. Immense hatred is wanting that all should perish.
The former love - agape - is the prototypical love we should have: the entirety of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength. That's how God loves mankind!
The latter is lack of love and is despising others with all our minds, hearts, souls, and strengths. I would hope that only Satan would have that degree of hatred. Mankind falls somewhere in between. Profound hatred is depravity. Those who lack any love for God or others would be totally depraved. I can think of only one being, and maybe his legions, who are totally depraved. Depravity is corruption and evil. Totally depraved would be totally corrupt and totally evil. People are not totally depraved because they can make decisions. God by grace gave them that capacity. It is the gift of faith. Decision-making is using the gift of faith. We are not totally depraved because God is merciful.
Everyone who was born have sinned. (Rom 3:23). That includes everyone but Jesus Christ. Thus, everyone comes short of the "glory of God". What is glory? Being in the presence of God. The place of that honor is in Heaven where Christians will be glorified.
We think of God as glorifying us. Every scripture is on glorifying God. With poetic justice, we will only have incorruptible - glorified - bodies if we glorify God! Glorification is all about us, and is obtained by glorifying God.
Glorifying God is "bestowing honor, praise, or admiration" and being glorified is mankind's "elevation to celestial glory" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). The latter is living with honor in Heaven in the Presence of God. It is crucial to understand what glorification is because that is the "prize" that all men should seek. (Phil 3:14). The end goal on the timeline of men should be glorification. Those who do not desire that, are deceived; their end is corruptible flesh (1 Cor 9:25). Foolishness is not caring to be incorruptible. Eternal life is on the Christians' timelines, and eternal death on the timeline of those who live in iniquity.
It is to be noted, that at the time of physical death, the timeline goes away and both sinners and Christians are transported into the spiritual realm where there is no time. Forever is inexplicable and never-ending. Wise people should not want to go to eternity forever without knowing how they will spend the "time" there.
I remember the long hot summer days as a kid in Coatesville, Indiana. It seemed like they would never end, especially when I was baling hay in the hot sun. Those are thoughts of a child. The thoughts of adult Larry is spending forever in torment and tribulation. That thought made me seek hope because that which seemed to be will be reality. My life is the hope of eternal life. (Psalm 119:166). Not that I hope that I obtain, but that the reward of eternal life is the cause for hope - the affect!
The prize of eternal life is the time of salvation. We think of salvation as when we first believe. Totally secure is when the Evil is destroyed:
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. (Rev 12:9-10).When Satan is destroyed he can no longer harm or otherwise deceive anyone. He can no longer war against God nor His heavenly armies. That is salvation for the heaven and the earth - the pretender to the throne will die. Serpent... this is what death is, that is of which Eve was deceived!
Individual salvation is at the general resurrection when the body is glorified as incorruptible and rejoins the soul in the air. That event is the rapture, but also includes living saints. Thus, the day of salvation is when Satan can no longer harm those who remained faithful to God. That period of safety commences with regeneration or a re-genesis - back to how we were created.
What was that condition? Adam was sinless, but yet had free will. "Will" is mankind making their own choices. People are not automatons; preprogrammed to do God's will. Behaviors and thoughts must be done willingly. Adam and Eve looked at the forbidden tree and both sinned: Eve by deception and Adam willingly. Adam was credited with the sin because he hearkened unto his wife (Gen 3:17); not that Eve didn't sin but because Adam's sin was greater. Thus knowing the Law of God and breaking it consciously is a greater sin than doing it by being conned.
Because Adam sinned, we all have the propensity to sin:
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. (Rom 5:12)Therefore, if anyone says they are without sin they are a liar (1 John 1:8). Thus, life in this world commences with sin. King David validated that point testifying that he was "molded in iniquity" (Psalm 51:7). Thus, all individuals' timelines begin stamped "sinner" and everyone need to be reborn - made back as God intended. I like to say "to design intent" where God is the Designer.
I commented the last two days that the soul existed from before the foundation of the world. That is much like the Word who was there in he beginning, who later was born in the flesh. The Word was born without sin, but we were not! God didn't deserve to die and did; we do deserve to die but didn't. Jesus was born to die, and "whosoever" was born to live. God predestined us all to live forever:
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Rom 8:29).Who did God predestine? "Whosoever believes" (John 3;16). With foreknowledge, God knew who those "whosoevers" would be. God can "forget": "I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more" (Jer 31:34).
That is not because God is absent-minded or has dementia; it is because He is Almighty! He can do things which mankind cannot do.
Before the foundation of the world, even in the womb, God knew us. It wasn't our flesh which he necessarily knew, but our hearts, minds, souls, and strengths. Don't be confused; our hearts are attitudes not organs of the body. Those things are merely dust for Him because they can be re-genesis-ed.
The moment infants breath life by themselves, they are sinners - born in iniquity. Some time in their lives they must choose by exercising that God-given free will. If they diminish themselves and elevate God, they are born again or regenerated - back to design intent.
Like Adam, though, those born again still have the capacity to fail, and many will. God understands that because He suffered the Flesh. He is merciful because He experienced temptation first-hand. God will never leave nor forsake those regenerated because of grace (Psalm 37:38). God will preserve His saints indeed, but never against our own will. Satan imprisons; God will not. Free will exists until the day of salvation.
Each day that goes by - life - Christians get nearer that day (Rom 13:11). On our individual timelines, we exist with the capacity to have life breathed unto us (God's Holy Spirit) before we were ever born. That "capacity" is the void which we refer to as "the soul". Life begins, not when the newborn breaths, but when the soul is endowed with flesh. That begins at conception. Birth is merely the announcement of life!
Immediately infants begin to sin. We laugh at that but a pattern is in formation. Early on, that sin is instinctive or inherited from Adam. As children learn, they do wrong things by nature, and are also easily deceived. Infants are Eve's - they sin by deception. At some point, children become knowledgeable and can weigh truth - good and evil. When they willingly sin, they become accountable, just like Adam.
Only one thing will keep them safe from sin: quit trying to defeat sin by themselves and turn to God to deliver them from it! That time is regeneration. For those who endure to the end, they shall be saved (Matt 10:22). For those who keep the faith, it's as if they already have the prize. That is the assurance of salvation, and faithful Christians speak as if the reward is in hand!
Satan's demons try to prevent regeneration. They use deception. If they fail beforehand they continue on. They fight hard to regain those living in safety. Therefore, the timeline of life is tribulation since Satan never gives up. Death is a reward for those who endure lifelong persecution because they will no longer be in danger. Death is the time of salvation; that is unless one is raptured beforehand!
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