ANSWER TO QUIZ
First of all, we are in a fallen world.
God never intended us to be in
a state of “fallenness,” as we call it,
a “state of original sin.”
Rather, God’s original intention was the original state of original innocence,
a state of pure happiness and oneness
with God and one another.
What happened? For us to be able to truly love God and one another, we needed free will. True love of God and others is an act that each person freely gives and freely chooses.
In this, God gives us the option of turning away,
of choosing not to fully believe His words and trust Him.
Our first parents made that choice not to believe or trust His entire word - and this is personal sin.
Its effect is separation from God, and this separation by our parents meant the loss of what God provides:
life, happiness, unity, harmony, health, fulfillment, etc.
So disease, disorder in nature and even death are now a part of our existence. We weren't made for it, but it is what humanity chose by using free will to walk away from God.
Their fall sometimes causes great suffering for us. Furthermore, all people still have free will
which means others can sin against us and cause us pain. And, sadly, all of these realities affect children.
But the story would not be complete
if we didn’t speak of the answer God gave!
God, the Father chose to come down to this fallen state
to reestablish a relationship with us all
by sending His Son into the world.
God the Son took on our fallen human nature, entered into every kind of suffering we can endure, and even died.
But, as we know, death did not have the final victory.
God the Son conquered sin and death by rising again!
We now have the ability to unite ourselves to Him so that we can also share in that resurrection.
So God’s answer
was not to destroy
human existence after we fell.
Rather, He meets us in this fallen state
to elevate us even higher than our first state.
As for the innocent who suffer (especially children),
God loves them more than we will ever realize.
In Heaven this will make perfect sense.
But for now we must constantly look for signs
of that love and recognize the countless ways that
God reaches out to them in their need.
