If God is perfect then why is His creation imperfect? Genesis 1: 27 says that “God created humans beings in His own image” and Genesis 1:31 says “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.” However, man was created with a free will and the ability to choose to disobey God. If God lives outside of time and can see everything, then why would he make something that would defy him and sin? Why did God have to cleanse the Earth and start it all over again?
Imperfection had to come from somewhere. II Samuel 22:31 says “As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless”, and God created the world with His words, so His creation should be perfect. Satan was present as a serpent in the Garden of Eden to tempt Adam and Eve and give them the chance to decide whether to obey God or not. God did give Adam and Eve free will, but if they were perfect creations they still should have picked to ignore the temptation. The path they chose led to a world full of sin and toils which God eventually cleansed with the flood. Now He chose Noah and his wife to populate the Earth. If God believed this would result in a better world, why didn’t He create Adam and Eve to be more like Noah and his wife?
A common reasoning to Adam and Eve’s sin is that the Serpent convinced them to take of the fruit and go directly against God’s will as stated in Genesis 3:1-5. When the Serpent deceived them it warped God’s perfect creation and planted sin into their nature. This fulfills some questions as to God’s perfect design, but raises others at the same time. Many argue why God even allowed the Serpent, commonly believed to be Satan, in the Garden of Eden in the first place. Perhaps it was that God wanted Adam and Eve to be forced to make a decision to follow or disobey him to see where their hearts are[i].
In the Potter’s Hands[ii] by Marybeth Stafford is a good representation of the relationship between God and humans. God is often portrayed as being a potter and we are the clay. God created Adam out of the ground and formed him into His image. However, when mankind fell into a pattern of sin God took his creation and remolded it as a potter recycles his clay when he doesn’t like the result of his work the first time. He doesn’t give up on people though, and instead takes them and reshapes it to get the desired result.
Personally, I believe that God is perfect and that at the beginning of the world everything God created was perfect as well. I believe that God is omniscient and knew what would happen when He allowed the Serpent to tempt Adam and Eve. God also gave them the gift of free will to let them decide for themselves whether they would obey God or the Serpent’s lies. God loved Adam and Eve very much. But He wanted them to express their love for Him by making the choice to obey Him. Being forced to do that wouldn’t show their genuine love for God. I believe that God knew from the beginning that He would eventually have to cleanse the world of sin, but that He allowed man to continue in his ways for a while to show them that it was their decision and to give them the chance to change their ways. Eventually mankind had dug itself into such a hole of sin and lust that God decided that He needed to start things fresh and give mankind a new chance to make the decision to love Him.
References
i Website: Why did God put the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden?
http://www.gotquestions.org/tree-knowledge-good-evil.html
ii Website: Marybeth Art
