Another "Aha" Moment

Another "Aha" Moment

An atheist asked me on twitter why God caused the Korean Ferry to sink or allowed it to sink and I cited free will and human choices, human error.  As I walked home yesterday after that twitter conversation, I asked the Holy Trinity about that very issue, the suffering and for some reason the Holy Spirit brought me back to Noah, the stench of sin and the Covenant made.  I felt that was significant, but I had to meditate on how, and I felt it connected to the whole free will, sin and sin nature, as well as God's character.  How does it all intertwine?

Let's start with God's character, which is perfect holiness, justice etc... Since he is a God of his word and law, when he first made the plan for the world, humanity and had foresight of would would likely happen, but also the solution, through Christ, and went through with creation, he couldn't go back on his plan.  His perfect holiness, being a God of his word meant that the plan had to go forward as voiced to the the angels who were witnesses to the plan.  He could not go back on his word in terms of the plan for the universe etc... once it was made, not the core of it.  That's crucial to realize, so free will must always be honored by God, our free will, natures free will, even the corruptive sin aspect of humanity and nature after the fall, despite the consequences.  Our free will to act, be and do stupid, as well as destructive with all the consequences that come with it have to be allowed to a great extent by God, or he would be violating his own laws.  If he did that, then he would then not be in any position to pass judgement not through Christ or through any means.  Hence, his character demands he honor our free will to the fullest extent possible and not micro manage our lives and the universe, so he will allow things to happen, though he will often use our stupid and sinful actions and those consequences to bring us to our senses, and will use those to bring us closer to him, or home to Christ, to repentance, understanding we are sinners and require redemption.

The sin nature and the Noah Covenant, what does that have to do with it all? Well, a lot it seems.   God doesn't cause tragedy, the sin nature which entered humanity and corrupted all things causes tragedy because we end up making unholy, undignified and impure choices, horrific choices.  We make choices that are destructive to ourselves on any number of levels, as well as others and society as a whole, motivated by selfish pleasure, ambition, greed, sloth etc... and like in Sodom and Gomorra eventually the stench is awful reaching the high heavens.  However, God made a sacred vow to Noah that he would not destroy the earth and the creatures of the earth, and he lifted the curse that was on the land.  The land gave forth fruit, it could be cultivated, animals could graze and now they would also provide sustenance, as humanity was weakened by great sin having penetrated the earth, even if Noah had been found righteous.  Because God gave his sacred word not to destroy the earth and the creatures of the earth, even when the stench of sin, as it is now, reaches the high heavens, he will not directly destroy it or humanity, as he can not by his character break his vow.  However, that does not mean that he still does not allow us to suffer the consequences of our own foolishness, our own sin, our own stupid.  Unfortunately, in our foolishness, sinfulness and stupidity, we are not the only ones who pay the price, others do as well.  Until Christ comes, and only the Father knows the time of that, not even Christ, or the Holy Spirit, only the Father, sin will create foolish and stupid, as a result of the sin nature, thus creating the wages of sin, which are chaos, destruction and death, on many levels.  God can not and will not back down on his solemn vow and will not destroy all of humanity as he did before.

Actions, choices, and decisions have consequences for ourselves and others, whether we like it or not and if we act, do and live in sin and stupidity, then we create those kinds of consequences for ourselves and others.  We have to suck it up, but even more horrific, so do those affected, maybe through no fault of their own, but because of our sin and stupid.