Heaven... to sin or not to sin

socoolbishoy

I've been asked this question.... can you guys help me out. "...if heaven is a place of NO sin...then how did the devil become...the devil. I mean, how was he able to have sin while he was in heaven? Wouldnt that mean that heaven really does have sin in it? also adam and eve sinned in heaven."

fadidanial

Hey,

Well, I don't think I can answer this 100 %, but I'll give it a go. Firstly, adam and eve did not sin in heaven, they sinned in paradise a.k.a the Garden of Eden. There is a difference between heaven and paradise. God's Kingdom is in Heaven and that is where he dwells for eternity. God did not always dwell in Paradise. In fact, he used to "visit" adam and eve which tells us he was not always there in paradise.

Here is how I see the devil connundrum. We, as humans, are made in the image of God. We are fashioned to be perfect, immortal beings. However, on Earth we are under the influence of satan and all that is evil. If we choose to listen to these influences, we sin. If we make it to heaven, satan has no power there. Without the negative effects of satan, our true pure nature shines. That is why we say heaven is a place without sin, because God dwells there and satan cannot stand to be in the same place as God.

I'm not really sure as to how satan could have become satan if he was in heaven. Here is what I came up with. From what I can piece together from my not-so-often ventures to sunday school, angels were not created infallable. In other words, angels like humans, had to choose between good and evil. Satan, one of God's angels, was not content being 2nd rate, in other words, he was jealous of God's power and wanted to be better than God. Thus there was a "battle" in heaven between supporters of Satan and supporters of God. Lucifer was banished from God's prescence for his pride in presuming he could be greater than God. That is what causes satan to be so jealous of us. We have the ability to obey God here on earth and enter heaven after death. The devil can no longer return to heaven, and he is jealous of our opportunity, and thus he tries his best to seperate us from God. I guess the point is that angels, just like humans, had to choose God. Those that chose him became angels (Michael, Gabriel etc..) while those who rejected the authority of God were banished and became devils (Satan, beelzebub etc...). Hope this clears some of it up, although, I'm pretty sure not everything I've written is completely correct.

P.S. Reading this over, it sounds a lot like some hollywood movie, so keep in mind, movies might have tainted my understanding of the fall of satan.

cremedelescremes

[quote author=Fadi D link=board=1;threadid=1384;start=0#msg22788 date=1112132366]
From what I can piece together from my not-so-often ventures to sunday school


just wanted to say that i sensed a humbleness in you..thats good!

pureplaya434

i dont really know if this is relative to the topic or not
abouna once told me that the reason the devil cannot repent is because he fell by his own accord noone tempted him but we sin because we are under the weight of temptation

aghape,
chris

emprocious

I think that's the bigest evidens ever.... for the love of god
for the simplly of god and the kindness of god
he give the freedom to the all even..... to sin ....in his heaven