PROCLAIM

Then... WHY?

"If God knew Adam and Eve were going to eat the fruit, since he's oh-so-all-knowing, why'd he plant the tree in the first place?"

This question was given to me during cross country practice in Autumn, 2017. I answered honestly. I told him I didn't know. When I got home, I pondered over it for a while. I eventually prayed for God to answer this question; my own faith depended on it.

And then it popped in my mind.

He wanted us to choose Him-- not be forced to love him! He still planted the tree, even though He knew we would disobey Him. Because that was our choice. It was our decision to make. He accepted that.

God was crushed that we wouldn't openly choose Him, but He didn't let us rot in a sinful grave. He had a plan to redeem us, all the while giving us a choice in the matter.

In the Old Testament, people had to do works to commit to God. To have their sins forgiven, they had to sacrifice animals, ect.

God had to wait for the right time before sending His only begotten Son, Jesus. Eventually, that time came, and Jesus Christ of Nazareth came to this world. He lived a sinless life and preached the Gospel ("good news"). Jesus was the Messiah from the Old Testament prophecies. He died on the cross as the final sacrifice and made a new testament (testament = promise = covenant). We now have eternal life in heaven as long as we take up our own crosses and follow Him (John 3:16).

This is not where the story ends. Sin is still rampant, and there are many people who are so remote they don't know who Jesus is. This is the why the Gospel must be preached to people across the globe before the end times (Mark 13:10), so everyone can take part in this covenant of redemption.

Once the Gospel has been preached, the end times will commence. I'll have some chapters on the end times later.

All people will have a choice: God or Satan. When the final stage is over with, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. We'll finally live as God designed us to.

This is why He still planted that tree. God had a redemption plan in store for us, where we will, in the end, live with Him in harmony. All we have to do is choose whether we want that for ourselves.