It is widely understood that God is not a fan of sin. He is not okay with people making choices that hurt others and go against the way that He has commanded us to live for our own (and others) betterment.
So why would God allow sin to enter the world in the first place?
The reason boils down to the value and significance that God wants our choices to have.
Imagine... If you had a long term partner, and they said they loved you, you would feel pretty good about it. They are making the decision to love you.
But how would that feeling change is you found out that every time that person said they loved you, I was paying them $100? Would that statement be cheapened?
Or how would you feel if you discovered that your boyfriend or girlfriend was actually a machine that I programmed to love you? Would you feel cheated if you discovered they could make no other option?
Now imagine that I had $50 in my hand. Would you want it?
I have the choice to give it to you. To be generous. God will not force me to do it, nor will he stop me if I choose to do so.
But, I can decide to keep my money and, instead, punch you in the head. I can choose to be cruel, not kind. God will not force me to do either, but He also won't produce a magical force shield around you if I lash out in violence.
God will honour my decision. This is true if I decide to give you money, help the poor, punch you in the head, or fly an aeroplane into a building.
This gives my choice significance and value.
So... What has this all got to do with the question of sin's origin?
God did not design us as machines. We have freewill to choose how we will live and who we will follow. We can either love God and live for Him or reject God and live for ourselves.
When God gave humanity the power to choose, He took the massive risk that they would choose to rebel against Him. And this is how sin was birthed. God gave humanity a choice and then honoured that decision.
People choose to reject God, not embrace Him. He give them a choice on how they wanted to live. For, in doing so, He gave their selection significance and value.
We can only freely choose to love God if we have the equal opportunity to do the opposite.
Graham, thanks for your thoughts on this topic. I've been thinking about this lately and wouldn't Adam and Eve still have had the choice as to whether or not to love and serve God even if the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" never existed? Curious as to your thoughts on the matter.
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