Adam, meet Eve; Eve, Adam ...

I think there's a misunderstanding here, and it involves the use of the term "perfect" to be equal to the phrase "without sin." When I write that God is "perfect," I am using that term in an attempt to describe the indescribable -- the Holiness of God. But to say that Adam, initially without sin, was "perfect" and therefore equal to God is beyond what I was trying to convey. Adam was created with the ability to disobey God and therefore sin, but that does not mean that he was created sinful. I believe the decision to disobey God was entirely within the realm of Adam and Eve's free will. Had they resisted the serpent and trusted in God alone, they would have continued to be without sin. But in no way would they be "Holy," for there is only one who is "Holy," and that is God himself.

Note: I've heard some radio ministers suggest that the decision to sin was not Adam and Eve's to make, that in fact God willed them to sin to place mankind into a state of sin. I do not agree with that line of reasoning.

There is a mystery around the apparently competing doctrines of predistination and free will. I don't claim to understand it all, nor can I effectively communicate how the two can coexist. But here's what I will say, and I've made this point before: the doctrine of free will is an essential part of God's selfless gift to us. It's difficult to explain, but in my mind and in my heart I have this realization that God created us with the ability to obey or disobey so that in obedience we would then experience the greatest realization of his glory. I have had a fractional sense of this at times when I have truly "given up" and submitted to God; in those moments the peace and security of being in his hands is incredible. Had God created us without the ability to be disobedient, we would have no notion of that; we would never know the experience of freely-chosen obedience.

I really wish I could articulate this better ... in the middle of all this is the fundamental issue of why God created us. Many -- wrongly, I feel -- think God created us (and the angels) so God would have this throng of adoring creatures. But that, I feel, paints God in a very selfish light, as if he needs the adoration or craves it. It's hard to reconcile that picture with the idea of Holiness. But if the reason God created us was so that we could share in God's perfect love -- the flow of benefit is him to us, not us to him -- then it makes sense in my mind. And as I mentioned, the only way to fully realize the benefit is to freely choose the benefit. Hence our having been created with the ability to choose to obey God.

I've probably made a hash of that ... if so, I apologize and ask the Lord to forgive me. My desire is to somehow convey what I feel has been revealed to me: the incredible beauty of obedience freely chosen. I am, unfortunately, a terribly stubborn man and I don't live what I see right before me.

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Here's a question to chew on ... this question was asked of a radio minister by a child; a simple question but unbelievably profound:

If Satan saw God face-to-face, and experience the full measure of God's Glory, why did he then choose to disobey God?