#41 ·
Roger Smith5 said:You have expressed yourself beautifully once again! My sincerest compliments.
Not only did Jesus provide us with the ultimate example, but God Himself demonstrated His love by offering us the Lamb... truly, He serves as the bridge.
Jesus acts as both the Shepherd and the Lamb simultaneously.
Humanity did not cease committing sins even immediately following the death of Jesus... yet, original sin carried its own heavy price!
I maintain my belief that there exists both a place called Heaven and a state of being known as paradise.
Perhaps such a place is where souls go after achieving a certain level of enlightenment and spiritual evolution.
For it is not a northern or southern sin, but rather the Eastern original sin.
I cannot bring myself to accept the idea I heard that some locate Eden on Venus, though it might make sense given that the planet lies to the east. While Venus is currently a landscape of sulfurous fire, that matters little when one considers the spiritual archetype of that location. I am uncertain how I phrased that final thought... do you happen to know the origin of the term "Eastern"?
Yes, thank God, he did.
The term "original sin" is used because all other sins flow from that primary transgression, which is how God holds humanity accountable.
The first sinner was an angel who was beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful of them all. He led the worship in the spiritual kingdom, where they sang praises to our creator. Unfortunately, pride got the better of him; he became arrogant and claimed he would sit on God's throne and be just like Him. In doing so, he deceived one-third of the angels, and God cast them out of His kingdom. Today, that fallen angel is known as Satan, and his followers are called demons. Hell was created for him and his followers, not for mankind, yet unfortunately, people end up there simply due to their own spiritual inclinations, failing to accept the merciful gift of salvation.
Satan approached Adam and Eve—specifically, he targeted Eve—deceiving her with the thought that they could become gods themselves if they ate from the forbidden tree. That was the moment sin entered the world, as divine law was broken, causing an immediate separation between Adam, Eve, and God. Consequently, their bodies became subject to sin, their spirits died, and we are all their descendants, inheriting that original sin. To maintain a relationship with God, they had to offer animal sacrifices; that blood merely covered their sin so they could remain in fellowship with a God who always longed for His children and offered second chances. They weren't permanently redeemed from sin until Christ arrived. Therefore, those who are in Christ are no longer descendants of Adam through sin, but are instead part of Christ, who was without sin.
Some people struggle to grasp the purpose of these sacrifices, trying to rationalize everything through logic. But that is a bottomless pit, for He is unknowable. One can only please Him by placing one's trust in Him—through faith. And really, who are we to judge God?
Ultimately, Satan is the original culprit behind sin, and he remains the architect of evil today. He uses his spirits to tempt people by influencing their thoughts toward wrongdoing. Often, a person is unaware of this influence; they believe these impulses are their own thoughts, making it difficult to even recognize or resist them. However, someone who possesses the Holy Spirit can sense when something is being imposed upon them from that side, because the Spirit bears witness to everything through that internal voice we now call intuition.
I may have wandered off on a tangent, but I believe there is great value in dismantling Satan's tactics.