Did God Want Adam and Eve to Fall?

If God allowed Satan in the garden. Did he want Adam and Eve to fall best is one of the questions will be answering on today's edition of core Christianity hi this is Bill Meyer along with pastor Gabriel Sanchez and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day as our phone number 8833 the core that's 1-833-843-2673. And if you get our voicemail. Feel free to leave us your message and we try to review her voicemails once a day. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram or twitter accounts and you can always email us your question at questions at core, Christianity.com burst up today let's go to Mike calling in from Edmonton, Canada. Mike what your question for pastor.

Israel and calling reading your and in chapter 1B of Christ being the word of God. Verse 14 John beheld the only begotten, full of grace and truth down to verse 17 says for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. My time in the word of God come to understand that grace is not unmerited. Actually, it is merited. For Christ himself warned the grace of the father for us, so that through faith in Christ. We have earned through Christ.that we have a good summary for God. My question to you is, is the grace of God only effective on those who place their faith in Christ and how does God appropriate his grace and his allies of people, Christian, non-Christian, and how to do those who place their faith in the work of Christ on our behalf.

How do we appropriate God's grace in our lives a lot their love that you're digging into the Scriptures and great questions. Mike, thank you for calling. Always good to get new first-time callers first but with regard to what what you're quoting from the Gospel of John, and especially what he says in verse 17, the law was given through Moses's grace and truth came through Jesus Christ it really interesting there.

John seems to be echoing the language, its use throughout the Old Testament to refer to God's steadfast love and faithfulness. His covenant love the Hebrew word I said, and in what John is emphasizing here is that in Jesus we see the manifestation. If you will of God's covenant love the word made flesh incarnate for us for our salvation. And then we think about grace. Specifically, it sounds to me like like some your question is, is thinking about the definition of grace grace throughout throughout the New Testament. In particular, is something that God gives to people who have not earned it. In fact, I've heard some people describe grace is God's D merited favor because what we deserve. As a result of our our sins's death is God's judgment and curse and instead of giving us what we do deserve that is what we have merited Mike death and judgment. God gives us grace in his son Jesus. And so the way in which the grace of God is appropriated in our lives is through Christ through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ accomplished for us and then applied to us in time by the Holy Spirit, and how does God apply it to us in time by the Holy Spirit through the proclamation of the gospel to the preaching of the word of God, faithful preaching of the word of God through the ordinances that Jesus gave we sometimes refer to these as means of grace, baptism and the Lord's supper places where the Lord is powerfully working by his spirit to apply the benefits of what Jesus did to us for us now.

I appreciate the way you were you were saying you know it's not that we merit God's grace. It's that we receive essentially what Christ has one and sometimes a way in which people have talked about this. This is referring to the obedience of Jesus. The active obedience of Jesus that is his fulfilling the law of God perfectly in our place. Obeying the father at every turn perfectly loving the father perfectly loving his neighbor as it were, and and yet still coming under our curse. Our judgment because of our sins and we receive the perfect righteous life of Jesus, the merit of Jesus. If you will, in our justification is imputed to us. Christ's righteousness is given to us. Then again, it's by grace because we don't deserve that this or that.

That's the way I would I would articulate those things that is some really good stuff there and it is effective for those who believe sometimes we talk about God's common grace that is this idea that God is just good. He gives good gifts to everybody about what were talking about redemption and the application of Christ's redemption to an individual it it's it's for the believer it's it's effective by the grace of the Holy Spirit. For those who trust in Christ. God bless thank so much for your question Mike, excellent want expert to get into God's word. We always appreciate that when our listeners take the time to really ask those questions about Scripture and then give us a call and that you like it was a call you can call us anytime and leave us a voicemail 833-843-2673.

That's 833. The core let's go to Jerry and Fort Wayne, Indiana, Jerry, what your question for a real I like to know why Jesus healed and healed by man twice Jerry you are referring to that seen in the Gospel of Mark in Mark chapter 8 beginning in verse 22. I believe I'm just gonna read it. They came to Bethsaida and some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him and he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him. He asked him do you see anything and he looked up and said I see people but they look like trees, walking. In other words, he doesn't see too clearly. Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he opened his eyes and his sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. He sent him to his home saying do not even enter the village okay what's going on here, by the way, when I take off my glasses. People do kinda look like trees, walking around, I can sympathize with this guy but what's going on did Jesus just not have enough power. The first time to heal this guy. Well, no, I don't think that's the case throughout the Gospels. It's absolutely clear that Jesus can just speak in an individual is healed, so there's something here there.

There's a lesson to be learned. Some people have pointed Jerry to the idea that will maybe maybe the healing was in proportion to this individual's faith.

There are places in the Gospels were Jesus.

As you know, according to your faith may be done to you and so some of said will maybe this guy just didn't have enough faith the first time in and then his faith. Faith was bolstered. The second time that kind of thing II don't know that that's the best way of looking at this. I think that what you have here is a is it really took place. But it's it's also a sort of parable of sorts for the disciples own lack of clear vision. Their lack of seeing Jesus clearly for who he is a good, seems like throughout the Gospels. They have a hard time understanding effect right before this Jesus has to help them out. He says when I when I verse, verse 18. He says having eyes, do you not see, and having ears, do you not hear and do you not remember that he talks about these two miracles that he did sort of interesting parallel that right like that the two healings right here in verses 22 and following the Jesus was just talking about these two miracles that he did with with feeding multiple multiple people is when I broke the five loaves for the 5000, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up this item 12 in the seven for the 4000, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up and they said to him.

Seven and he said to them to you not yet understand. So it seems like at this stage of the gospel of Mark, the disciples they're not clearly seeing things that are not clearly understanding who Jesus is, its blurred vision, if you will, and many of us. Many people today can have that sort of blurred vision when it comes to Jesus, but Jesus is leading his disciples into a clear understanding effect right after this what you have. You have Peter in verses 27 following confessing Jesus as the Christ. So again I think what what's happening here is that this healing.

In one sense, is a picture of the lack of understanding the blindness. The disciples have and had at that point, but they're being led into more clarity and so it's certainly not that Jesus just wasn't able to because because at that.

I really know throughout the gospel CD doesn't need any help. And so he's trying to teach us and is trying to teach his disciples there something and so that's what I would say about this text.

God bless Jerry thanks Derek this is Cora Christianity with Pastor Israel Sanchez.

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Core, Christianity.com/inner core that's core Christianity.com/inner core and learn more about joining that wonderful group of people that we are so thankful for. Let's go to voicemail that came in earlier this week. This is joy all-knowing on all powerful didn't know what was going to happen with Adam and Eve when he allowed what he spent two precious them. It appears to me that I would know that many with all and that they would not be able to withstand. They might have been obedient here is now telling one. Not that God them to follow and so he allowed Satan to come and pressure them like that. I question God and want all the rest of the world to me and spend think they were obedient. Up until God allowed Satan to delete it.

He is in full control. You want this to happen to his creation. Thank you Joy thank you for that question in and question that I think a lot of people ask my children have asked this question, you know, why did God let Satan do what he did indeed God if he knew that mankind was in a fall into two sin did God want that to happen.

Why did God allow that to happen. A couple of times use. You use the language of God wanting this may be God wants us to be an sinner wanted Adam and Eve to fall, as though he took pleasure in it is as though this was you know a good part of his plan. That kind of thing I think we have to distinguish here. You know that the prophet Ezekiel said that God does not delight or take pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn and repent.

The psalmist in the book of Psalms in Psalm chapter 5 says that God is not a God who delights in wickedness. Psalm chapter 5 verse four. You are not a God who delights in wickedness, evil may not dwell with you. And so we have to understand first and foremost, who our God is. He's not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness and evil in sin. We know that he's sovereign and that he allowed Adam and Eve to fall. But that doesn't mean that God was coercing them, or that he was putting you know the serpent in the garden as a as a as a stumbling block. God called them to keep to tenant and guard the garden if you will, and they chose to disobey God's word. They could have obeyed, you know, according to the commandment of God, but they made a decision left to the freedom of their wills to sin and as a result of sin entered the world, and I don't think sin again according with the Scripture says is something that that God delights in or rejoices in its something that grieves him our sins as believers grieve the Holy Spirit. So how do we make sense of this, God is all-knowing, and yet he allowed this to happen and so typically what what we say is God did not permit anything to take place in his good world that he had not already determined to fix to solve to bring healing. So while God allowed mankind to do this. God is always in control and God is always in the in the business of bringing at bringing about redemption, restoration, healing, that's precisely what he did there in the garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, and in particular, you have the promise in Genesis chapter 3 verse 15 that the seed of the woman Jesus Christ is going to crush the head of the serpent that God was going to send his very son, so that our sins might be forgiven because God is not delight in sin. He delights in goodness in righteousness. It's what he calls us to an end.

So God didn't want it in the sense that EP took pleasure in it, but he did allow it. According to his sovereign purposes and he also purposed to bring about redemption through it and that's what we can experience that's what you can experience by placing your trust in Jesus Christ and experiencing the forgiveness of your sins.

Thank you: I meant this score. Christianity, with Pastor Israel Sanchez's we have a YouTube channel. If you want to check us out on YouTube that you can watch our program live every day at 11:30 AM Pacific time, which translates into 1230 Mountain 130 Central or 230 Eastern time. Just check out our YouTube channel and you can send us a message through the YouTube channel as well. In fact we receive this message from one of our YouTube listeners or viewers.

What is the difference between speaking in tongues and praying in tongues. Well, so there's a lot to this question.

There is essentially 100 just taking a step back. We know that these gifts the gift of tongues. Gifts like the gift of prophecy were very clearly a part of the apostolic age, you see them you know practice in places like the book of acts in the book of first Corinthians, and so there's a debate in the church today about whether or not these gifts have an ordinary place in the life of the church. Local churches now personally my view which I think is is based upon what the Scriptures teaches that these gifts ordinarily are not a part of the life of the church that they were given for a time, especially as a confirmation to the proclamation of the gospel. I think there's evidence of this in the book of Hebrews chapter 2 verse four. And that ordinarily God is not doing this so that we have your profits walking around the church and people speaking in tongues and prophesying, but I recognize that there are Christians who love and believe in Jesus, who differ with me on this.

With regard to what the gift of tongues was or is and the difference between praying in tongues and speaking in tongues.

I don't think based on what Paul said in first Corinthians 14 and even what we see in X chapter 2 that the gift of tongues but I don't think that there's any difference between praying or speaking in tongues because I think when an individual was speaking in tongues. It was speech directed to God even in the book of acts what the people heard what were the people declaring the wonderful works of God, and in other words, was almost as if they were praising God in these other languages. The disciples were praising God in these other languages, which in turn led the people to to begin to ask questions and Peter was able to preach the gospel there on the day of Pentecost. And so I think they are next. It was prayer or praise to God, and I think that fits we see in first Corinthians chapter 14 where the apostle Paul talks about that that the gift of tongues as these.

These prayers offered up to the Lord in an unknown language and so I don't think there is a dry think I think the legitimate gift of tongues is always her was always directed toward God and so on that since there wouldn't be a difference thank you for that question again. The passages that you want look at and especially dig in deeper. First Corinthians chapter 14 that's where Paul has his extended discussion or teaching on the gift of tongues and also the gift of prophecy. Douglas ask for that intro. By the way, we just want to mention we have an opportunity for you today to join our inner core.

Those folks that support this program on a regular basis because they believe in what we are doing on a daily basis. We are no presenting the core answers to those core questions that people have about the Bible and the Christian life. You can learn more about joining the inner core by going to core Christianity.com/inner core.

What, here's an email that came in by the way, you have an email question you consented to a set questions at core, Christianity.com, and Tom asks this question a drill. He says I've been reading about Noah and my studies and one of the phrases noted comes from Matthew 24 verses 36 to 39 marriage is brought up in the text and marriage is something God smiles on and blesses but why would that be something to be pointed out in Noah's day. Yeah. What exactly is Jesus doing here in Matthew 24. Let me just read the text we can get the context here. Verse 36 of Matthew 24 concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the son of the father only for as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man that was being emphasized. This is not a comment in particular on the goodness of marriage. If you will because you're absolutely right. Tom marriages is a good gift that God gives something that should be honored by all the authors of the Hebrew says this in Hebrews chapter 13 and so that this is not Jesus you know minimizing marriage or downplaying if he's making a specific note about how the people living in Noah's day prior to the coming of the flood simply were not expecting the judgment that was coming or going about their lives like everything was normal fine. You know they were getting married get engaged taken trips so on and so forth and and they weren't aware of the fact that God's judgment was coming in. Jesus is in the same way when the judgment comes on the last day it's going to be like that you know they're going to be people who were just going about their lives, marrying and giving in marriage not aware at all of what God is doing or or the calls to repentance that they should have heeded then, so it in that sense, Tom.

This is why Jesus is bringing this up.

It's not again as a way of saying the people were bad in that day you know they were there were getting married in marriage is a bad thing. It's it's they were clueless and the sad reality is today.

There are many people who are clueless who live their lives completely, irrespective of God's grace, his work in the world we breathe the air that God gives us. We enjoy the common grace gifts that God bestows upon us life breath. Good food health. You know that what we can give thanks to God for but the sad reality is is so often we don't give thanks to God for those things and there is coming a day when each and every one of us will stand before the true and the living God and give an account to him. And Jesus is talking about that day there in Matthew 24 and we are called friends you are called to receive his grace now to experience his mercy in your life to trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins.

And when you do you experience that grace and are united to Jesus by faith. Thanks for listening to core Christianity request your copy of today's special offer.

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