The Seed Blog: Anything For Love...

Did God know there would be sin in the world. We see so much hatred, selfishness, and violence all around us. Have you ever honestly asked yourself, "Why would God allow some of the craziness, the horrible sin, the atrocities we see all around us, to exist in this world?" Have you ever wondered why He didn't just start over as soon as sin entered this world, rather than letting this happen?

Do you think He was caught by surprise when Adam and Eve sinned on that day in the Garden? Think about this a moment and let it sink in. Do you think our Omniscient God was caught unaware, "by this turn of events that messed up His whole plan?" Do you think that He had to come up with an emergency response? A plan B? Did the Father look at the Son and say,
"Oh gosh, we've gotta do something quick, he's ruining everything!" Of course, God was not caught unaware or unprepared, but that would mean God had to have known it was coming even before He began creation, wouldn't He? Revelation 13:8. Was the foundation of the world laid before sin occurred? Yes. 1 Peter 1:18-20. Scriptures clearly tell us that Jesus Christ was prepared as our Redeemer long before the first sin was committed.
Now understand, that just because God always knew there would be sin in the world, does not mean that He wanted it, or took pleasure in it. If He always knew that Satan would bring this horrible disease into the world, the question screams even louder, "Why would He plan to allow things to unfold this way?" Well, before we dig any deeper, please consider this one simple fact: if He had not, you and I would not even be here today would we? His love for us—everyone that He already knew intimately (even before we arrived), was too priceless to abandon at any cost. And believe me, as much as it is costing us, it has cost Him infinitely more. Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10. As awesome as that fact is, the complete answer to this question goes so much deeper than we will ever understand this side of eternity. Yet, His Word has revealed much of the answer to why His Plan allowed for sin from the beginning. The Scriptures tell so much more than most of us see and understand, simply because we are not looking for the answer. And finding at least a partial answer to this question is very important. One, because of the pain that sin has caused all of us, and two, because the answer reveals the very Essence of who He is, and who He wants us to become.
He allowed sin in the world to teach us, and all of Creation, what real love truly is, and to teach us how to love others. 1) God allowed sin to come, for all of Creation to see the horrible destruction that selfishness and pride will bring: James 1:14-15. Allowing the pain and horror of Satan's rebellion to take its natural course, has given all of Creation a true taste of the poison that is sin, and the smoke from the pit of hell itself will smolder for eternity, reminding us of the consequences of hate and selfishness. 2) God allowed sin to enter the world to show us His true goodness, humbleness, and passion for us.
Have you ever gone through a really difficult time, and truly learned who cared about you, by how they put themselves out to love and serve you in need? Jesus proved to us that He was a God willing to serve us, and sacrifice for us, in ways that we could not even imagine. He showed us that true love isn't about comfort and complacency. He showed us that it is not about what we can expect from the ones we love. He showed us that love is only real when we are giving, serving, trusting, and persevering: Mark 10:45. He showed us that love is only real when we are willing to put the one we love above our own wants, needs, and comfort. He showed us that to truly love, you are willing to go to where they are, not demand they come to you: Philippians 2:6-8. You are willing to share what they feel, because you want to understand them, and share their experiences: Hebrews 4:15-16. You want to live for them, take joy in making their lives better, not just be catered to and served: Isaiah 53:4-5. 3) God allowed sin to come, in order to forge a relationship through the fires of trial and testing. Jesus has shown us unbelievable love when He has gotten nothing in return [no love, no pleasure, no gain]. When He has had every reason to give up on us; when He has received nothing but pain and anguish for loving: Luke 23:33-34. He has shown that we cannot shake His love and devotion, through the trials and tribulations of our sins: Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:38-39. It was Jesus' moments of unbelievable pain and torture that showed me His love most. His moment of agony in the Garden, choosing unbelievable sorrow and pain for my sake. How He has loved me all the years I gave nothing in return. How I've let Him down so many times, purposefully, and yet He is still there, totally in love with me. These things have shown a side of Christ to me, that I would never have known without the pain that Satan brought to our world—a love even the angels in Heaven are curious to look into. (1 Peter 1:12) He wanted to forge a relationship that could only be brought about in this world of sin, as He stood with us, and FOR US in the face of accusations and adversity, as He died to remove our guilt, and now stands before His Father in our defense of what He died to give us. He wanted to forge a relationship that could only be real if given a capacity to reject, hate, and hurt instead. He wanted to win our love, not conquer us, not demand it. 4) God allowed sin to come, to show that He will never be ashamed or embarrassed to call us His own brothers and sisters—to call us His Beloved, even when we are wretched, ugly, hateful, and untrustworthy. He is still proud to call us HIS. He is still ready and willing to walk through anything with us, beside us: Hebrews 2:11-12. 5) God allowed sin to come, because it let Him show the worth that He truly places on us: 1 John 4:9, Ephesians 2:10, 1 Peter 1:18-19. How could we know the true worth He placed on us, unless we saw how much He was willing to pay to get us back? He gave everything that he had, down to His own life, blood from His veins, to keep us near Him. In all of Satan's hellish scheme to hurt us and take us away, He has helped us to receive the greatest Gift we could ever receive. Satan helped to show the absolute, undeniable evidence of how incredibly we are loved: the Life of God Himself: Hebrews 2:14-16. All the horrors and pain that sin brought, were not caused by God, and we can’t shake our fist at Him for what we helped bring into the world just because He let us use our own freedom for selfishness instead of love. Because it  has cost Him far, far more than it has ever cost us to allow this evil seed to sprout, yet, His was unwilling to pass up the pain and the agony sin brought; because of the worth He placed on those He stood to lose if He quit; because of the treasure He placed on our freedom to choose or reject Him, knowing it would bring great pain and loss. All the sin and ugliness of the world does not show the evil of God—just the opposite—it absolutely shows the best, the humblest, the most sacrificial essence of who He really is, and what we mean to Him, and it shows US, what it truly means to love another. Jesus Christ showed that He truly would do anything for love. There's only one thing He won't do: Give us up. Will you love Him with all the selflessness and sacrifice He loves you with in this crazy, costly world?