An Explanation for the Current State of All Things

Being an answer to those who demand one.

I begin with the following set of beliefs based upon my experiences in a relationship with the God of the Bible: God is perfect, all good, true, and loving. He is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent, although sin has caused a separation between us. His Word provides ample evidence of this.

God created angels with the ability to choose between good and evil. Satan and his followers rebelled against God, and in doing so, caused God to experience evil. God foresaw this, but chose free will over eternal slavery. As a result, choice exists with consequences, but those consequences are sometimes delayed by God’s mercy. As a result, existence has meaning.

God then created us, giving us free will, like the angels, but placed us lower in the order of creation. This was done for our own benefit, so that we could experience redemption and be raised higher in the hierarchy of creation. We were made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), and the Son is the image of the Father (Col. 1:15, Heb. 1:3). We are meant to be conformed to His image (Rom. 8:29), and Jesus’ story is our story.

God knew that by giving us free will, we would be exposed to evil and temptation, just as He experienced it through the first rebels. He placed the tree in the garden with the intention of sparing us from the worst parts of the story until we no longer obeyed His one simple rule. Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was a way for us to experience evil without God being unjust (Gen. 2:8-9, 15-17, 3:1-7).

Because we are lesser beings, we cannot react to evil in the ways God reacts to it—with patience, love, and endurance without corruption. Therefore, God made it so that He Himself would pay the price for us to be freed from evil on the cross. Because He made us in His image and His story is our story, since Jesus encountered death at the cross, we would encounter death at the tree in the garden (Gen. 3:22-24).

God experienced loss and evil on our behalf, and we would know loss and evil on His behalf. He knew the pain of the suffering and death of His Son (Gen. 22:1-2, 9-12, 15-18). He knew, through Christ on the cross, the one thing He could never know otherwise: What it is to live as a mortal cut off from God and His love. This is why we should strive to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, and why we should seek to understand evil and appreciate good.

God, who leaves the 99 to pursue the one, saw us as we are here and now and chose to pursue us rather than some supposedly perfect version of us that might exist without the Fall, pain, or peril. He knew that the version of us that would exist in the future, because of redemption, trials, and tribulations, would be better than the imagined perfect version that might have been.

God designed a companion for Himself in us, as the Church, and this is why we are made in His image, so that when we see Him, we shall be like Him. We shall see Him as He is (Isa. 62:3-5, John 3:25-29, 1 John 3:2, Rom. 8:18-23, Rev. 19:6-9, 21:2-4, 9-11, 22:17, Rev. 3:9, Song of Solomon).

The Story has rules, and all stories echo and reflect His story. To gain a better understanding of this, readers are encouraged to check out the suggested readings listed below.

An Explanation for the Current State of All Things

Being an answer to those who demand one.

Suggested additional readings: