Lesson No. 30 

Lesson No. 30 God's Purposes for Man

Happiness and eternal life: Given the facultative characteristics with which the human being was created and considering God's attitude towards them through His infinite goodness. As we study in His moral attributes, it has been established that they were conceived with the purpose of living eternally happy on earth.

This is why they were created with the necessary capacity to contribute to their own happiness and that of their fellow humans. Endowed with the knowledge of God's will by means of the light of reason, that is, knowing through their conscience the laws of God when He had not yet given them written law, but only in their heart and conscience. Thus confirm the Scriptures, according to the declaration of the following passage:

Romans chapter 2: verses 14 and 15: “For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another”.51

In short, the human being was created with all the foreseen conditions to be happy on earth, even with the optional right to live eternally. For this, the Creator placed upon them the condition of submitting to the obedience of His divine command, as declared in the following Scripture passage:

Genesis chapter 2: verse 16 and 17: “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die”.51

Although this passage does not expressly state that man was created with the optional purpose of eternal life, it is inferred by the warning God gives concerning the forbidden fruit, as He says: "The day you eat from it, you will die".

So, if they had not eaten from that tree, they would never have died. Clearly, this does not mean that man was created immortal, but with the option to be. Which he could not achieve because of his sin, as we will see in the following chapter.

Free will: From the previous biblical quote and others we will study on the original sin topic, in the next chapter, arises the theological concept of free will, meaning that the human being was created with the characteristics of a free agent: with free will to choose between good and evil without being compelled by some external force. God could have given man a radical order forbidding him to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, however, let us see how He says: "...for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die". A matter confirmed, as we will see in Genesis chapter 3: verse 6,51 where it can be seen how the first man and his wife acted according to their own will by eating from the forbidden tree.

The fact that humanity lives in a constant state of anxiety for freedom is logical proof that man was created with free will.

Another consistent proof is that our thoughts and feelings are truly free, so no one can subject them to someone else's will. However, not always man wisely chooses what he wants to do. That's why God manifests His divine justice to him because, besides having created him with the qualities of a free agent, He does not leave him without warning, but clarifies the consequences that he would reap from his free choice.

Moreover, God does not leave His creatures abandoned in failure but comes to their aid always respecting the principles of their free will. We will confirm this in chapter 5 of this treatise, where it is clearly reflected how He provides man with a means to redeem him from his sinful condition so that he may attain eternal life, through Jesus Christ.