Do physical bodies die because of Adam's sin?

[Pancho Frijoles]

If you believe GOD creates evil things then we are at odds for I believe evil can only be created by the free will of a person and GOD is LIGHT which destroys dark, it does not create it.

I do share that belief, my brother.
Perhaps I am not understanding you right.
Animals cannot choose between good and evil, so they cannot be wicked.

 

[TedT]

I do share that belief, my brother.
Perhaps I am not understanding you right.
Animals cannot choose between good and evil, so they cannot be wicked.

That is only true IF animals could never choose by their free will but if they could choose and chose to be evil and then were given bodies and minds to engage in the evil they chose, where is the problem? The devil sows the evil spirits of the evil one into this world, Matt 13:39, but it doesn't really say they were all sown into the human lineage, eh?

The "every worldly spirit was created on earth" theory fails again....sigh.

 

[synergy]

We can discuss that in the thread within the forum of soteriology.
I would like my Muslim and Jewish brothers to recognize that Jesus gave his life in sacrifice in the cross.
I would like them to share the theology I embrace… But I am not a man of theology.
If they are crucifying the old man and being born to a new man, they are participating in the cross and resurrection of Christ, even if they don’t know it. What I will do is to praise God for their existence,

That is the part some Evangelicals miss from the cross and the resurrection: the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ is powerful enough to have an effect over the people despite their theological disagreements. Bahá’u’lláh says that at the time of Jesus death, “all created things” were infused with a special power of God. When He says “all created things” which includes all men.

“Know thou that when the Son of Man yielded up His breath to God, the whole creation wept with a great weeping.
By sacrificing Himself, however, a fresh capacity was infused into all created things.”

*********

Bahá’u’lláh missed out on many things Christ and the Holy Spirit did to the natural world and to our human nature, besides creating it of course. Here are a few thoughts off the top of my head. There could be more:

1. Christ healed human nature by becoming man: This is central to Christian theology. By the Incarnation, Christ took on human nature, sanctifying it and restoring it to its intended dignity.

2. The Holy Spirit tore the sky at Christ's Baptism: The Gospel of Mark (1:10) vividly describes the heavens being "torn open" when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove. This act declares the breaking of barriers between heaven and earth, ushering in a new era where God's Spirit is actively working in the world, pointing to the fulfillment of God's kingdom.

3. Christ healed the natural world at His Baptism: Christ's Baptism in the Jordan is often understood as a sanctification of the waters and, by extension, the natural world. It’s through the waters, representing creation, that it was healed and made holy by his presence, preparing the waters to become the means of grace in Christian Baptism.

4. The Transfiguration of Christ's Human Body at his Transfiguration. That's the glory that awaits us and our bodies at our Resurrection.

5. Through Christ's Cross and Resurrection, he healed our brokenness caused by sin, offering humanity a path to Reconciliation with God and a share in the Divine Life.

What if this Christmas you go out to seek your Jew brother ant tell him/her:
“I just want to tell you that Jesus was born, lived and died for you even when you disagree with me or don’t understand what that means.
I want to tell you today that Jesus was raised from the dead so that you can live a new kind of life, even if you disagree with me on any thing I’m saying. I know you love Hashem ( or Allah, if a Muslim) and I want you to know He loves you back with infinite love”.

If they show interest in learning more about Jesus, tell them more about his love, his suffering, his victory… in your own terms, humbly, not from a position of exegetical superiority (as sometimes I do, in my stupidity).
If they don’t show any interest, bless them all the same.
Forgiveness and regeneration is not your responsibility. It is God’s. Trust Him. He will do what He knows is best for each of his children.

Sounds good.

 

[Studyman]

That is only true IF animals could never choose by their free will but if they could choose and chose to be evil and then were given bodies and minds to engage in the evil they chose, where is the problem? The devil sows the evil spirits of the evil one into this world, Matt 13:39, but it doesn't really say they were all sown into the human lineage, eh?

The "every worldly spirit was created on earth" theory fails again....sigh.

Perhaps you might consider what God did actually say, and then base your knowledge of God's creation based on HIS Word and not your own musings.

Gen. 1: 24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Clearly there is a distinct difference between God's Creation of animals, and God's creation of "MAN" that was to have dominion over the animals.

It seems prudent to point these Biblical Truths out, when discussing God's Creation.