We are nonexistent until born, then why all the concern for salvation after we begin to exist? -- A LIGHT DELIGHT!

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Date Posted: 15:39:28 09/23/08 Tue
Author: Anonymous
Subject: We are nonexistent until born, then why all the concern for salvation after we begin to exist?

Would it matter if we didn’t exist at all? Or, did we have an identity before we existed? We learn God is good and the source of all existence, please explain how evil exists.

These are certainly interesting questions. First, I think it is fair to say that Scripture has nothing to say about pre conception. But it has a lot to say (from Genesis to Revelation) about after conception and birth. It seems to be God’s intention to bring us into relationship with him through Jesus so that we can be his image to the world that he has created and through us the world can also come to have relationship with him. I am not aware of Scripture saying anything about “if” it matters if we never existed.

Here are a couple of beginning thoughts on the source of evil. Sin was present in the universe before the Fall of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3:1f.; cf. John. 8:44; 2 Pet. 2:4; 1 John. 3:8; Jude 6). The Bible, however, does not deal directly with the origin of evil in the universe, being concerned rather with sin and its origin in human life (1 Tim. 2:14; Jas. 1:13f.).

The book of Jubilees (a book written around 150 BC) is a rewrite of Genesis 1 through Exodus 12 with a distinctive interest in presenting Torah as an eternal law inscribed on heavenly tablets, obeyed by the angels and the patriarchs themselves before Moses received the law on Mt. Sinai. Thus Abraham, Isaac and Jacob observe the feasts of Tabernacles and Firstfruits and the Day of Atonement (see Festivals and Holy Days: Jewish). The story of Jacob and Esau is intensified to the point that Jacob kills Esau, rather than being reconciled to him, stressing the contemporary tension between Jews and Idumeans (Edomites). Like 1 Enoch, this book locates the origin of evil in the revolt of Satan (see Belial, Beliar, Devil, Satan) and his angels rather than in Adam’s inherent weakness (cf. Paul and 4 Ezra). Jubilees looks for a return to strict Torah observance, which will precipitate a return to the enjoyment of pre-flood longevity, even to the destruction of death itself. (See Dictionary of New Testament Background).

Scripture does not seem to have an interest in answering where evil came from, only that God has solved the problem in the life of Jesus.

http://drwinn.com/2005/11/11/why-is-salvation-important/

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