PERTINENT QUESTIONS, APT RESPONSES

Questions from a brother in Christ:

• When Jesus was crucified he said  "My God My God why have you forsaken me? why did he say this?

• When God created Adam & Eve, he gave them the garden of Eden to rule, but Adam and Eve sinned against Him. Did God knew those things will happen? That they will not obey and ate the fruit? what is the purpose of putting the tree in the middle of the garden?

Response by Pastor D:

1) Jesus had to go on the cross to suffer the eternal judgement of all mankind. So when He was on the cross He took all our sins upon Himself. At this stage, God the Father brought upon Him all the eternal judgement and punishment that was due to us. Just think of it - Jesus had to suffer God's punishment that was due to all men who have ever lived, including, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, etc, etc. It was at this stage that He cried out: "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

2) God knows in advance everything that is going to happen. So when He created Adam and Eve He knew that they would sin and disobey His commandment. The purpose of this very short earthly life is to test our faith and obedience to His commandments. So He put the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the centre of the garden, but He warned Adam and Eve not to eat its fruit, saying, "the day that you eat of it you will surely die." Adam and Eve failed God's test, because they believed the enemy and not God. This, in turn, led to all men being born with Sinful Nature, or in a state of Spiritual Death. But God had already planned the solution and the Savior of mankind. This is why 1 Peter 1:18-20 tells us that we have been redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus who was "foreordained before the foundation of the world." And Rev.13:8 tells us Jesus was "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." 

(Since Pastor shared them with me, i thought I'd share them with my readers too ... Be blest!)