If God intended us to have perfect relationships, why do they so often go wrong? Why are joy and fulfillment so elusive? Why is it such a struggle to find God? The answer is that God’s original intent has been thwarted in a tragic event that Christian theologians refer to as the Fall.
The Fall was a mortal, self-inflicted wound that occurred when the first created man and woman misused the freedom God gave them. Although God made humans for the very purpose of loving Him and bearing His essence, He did not force Himself on them. The man and woman were free to choose God and all the joy, love, fulfillment and ecstasy He brought to them. Or they could choose self and go their own way without Him on a path infested with all the pain, alienation, sorrow and death that would result from alienation from God.
Tragically, a day came when the couple listened to the voice of an adversary who deceived them into choosing to go out on their own. God honored their choice. He withdrew Himself from their lives and left them alone to find their own way. Without God, they were alienated from their purpose and lost their significance. It took humans only a few generations to lose virtually all awareness of God’s existence. Individual selves staked out their own territory and fiercely protected it, pushing themselves apart. Their focus on self fostered the pride, selfishness, alienation, anger and hatred that has infected the human family for the rest of its history.
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