Originally posted by OptimusSubprime
reply to post by rhinoceros
The answer to your question is... SIN. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God they created sin, and when they created sin, they also created imperfection.
Mankind's sinful nature is the root of all pain, suffering, death, disease, etc... Man, being the arrogant creature that we are, has ever since
tried to proove his equal standing, or in some cases, superior standing with/to God through science, but it is impossible for an imperfect, sinful
human being to create something that destroys the product of his own sin. The only way sin can be overcome is through the grace and salvation of
Jesus Christ.
This is the correct answer.
Man was created in God's image, and was created perfect (without flaw). When Adam and Eve sinned through breaking God's one and only given law,
they brought sin into the world. Sin is pervasive, and has affected everything around us. Romans says that "creation itself groans, awaiting
redemption...".
Likewise mankind is now "desperately wicked, and deceitful beyond all things". This is not to suggest that there is no good in man at all - we
still bear a faint glimmer of the reflection of the divine - but that image has been corrupted through sin. This is why we have sickness, it's why
we have disorders, it's why we have degenerative mutation, and so on. None of these things were part of the original condition of man... and
obviously neither was the need for immunisation etc., because there was no sickness or disease.
The Bible says, however, that the day is coming when Jesus Christ will restore all of these things. For now, He waits - to allow as many as possible
to hear and respond to the gospel (good news) about Jesus. The Bible teaches that this problem of sin is the fundamental issue at the heart of man -
and the one thing that separates us from being in a relationship with God. Essentially, all efforts to reach God are fruitless and pointless, because
sin prevents us from ever making that connection.
Only here, only in Christ, is that problem solved. The God of Christianity is not a God who demands that we grovel and beg and pray and do good deeds
to try to impress Him - He is a God who sends His own son to take care of a problem we could never possibly solve ourselves.
So Christ, "being in very nature, God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing; taking upon Himself the
very nature of a servant, and becoming obedient unto death... even the death of the cross."
This is the difference between Christianity and world religion. All world religions essentially have a single thread: "You want to reach God?
You'd better work for it, son."
In Christianity, it isn't man that reaches out to God - it's God that reaches out to man... and does so in a way that isn't some intangible
spiritual mumbo-jumbo... but a historical, verifiable truth. That Jesus Christ lived, died, and was buried... and on the third day, rose again.
That same Jesus will come again - and will restore all things. No more sickness, no more disease, no more sorrow... no more immunisations.
"Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved", the Bible says. ...and it really is that simple. The work's already done - Jesus
Christ has paid the cost to fix the problem inherent to the heart of man. ...all we have to do is allow Him to step in and fix it.