“Why didn’t God just kill off Adam and Eve, and be done with it?”

Steve Brown:
Why didn’t God just kill off Adam and Eve and be done with it? The answer to that and other questions on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
If you think laughter isn’t spiritual, or that faithfulness to God means conformity to Christian stereotypes, then this program probably isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for honest, Biblical answers to honest questions, welcome to Key Life. Here’s our host, author, and seminary professor Steve Brown, along with Pete Alwinson from ForgeBibleStudy.com.

Steve Brown:
Hi Pete.

Pete Alwinson:
Hey man. How you doing?

Steve Brown:
I’m doing really good, as a matter of fact, do you, you’re doing, have you finished your audio version of your book?

Pete Alwinson:
Hey, you know, we finished doing it, but it’s still in production, and it should be coming out soon.

Steve Brown:
So you’ll let us know when.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah. Will let you know.

Steve Brown:
That’ll be good. A lot of, a lot of people who are not readers and some people just don’t like to read.

Pete Alwinson:
I know. It’s amazing.

Steve Brown:
Will love this audio version.

Pete Alwinson:
I hope.

Steve Brown:
It’s like, but read it first and then you can review it, by listening to the audio version.

Pete Alwinson:
You’re a smart guy.

Steve Brown:
I know that. Need the money, that’s what it is. That’s Pete Alwinson, and go to a ForgeTruth.com A lot of great video and audio and blogs and wisdom. And you’ll be glad you went there. And as you know, Pete comes in every Friday and we spend Fridays answering questions, and have done that for years. We do love getting your questions. You can dial 1-800-KEY-LIFE anytime you want, and record your question. And sometimes we put your voice on the air. Or you can write to

Key Life Network

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And Canada

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Or you can email us at [email protected]. And if you can help us financially, please do. By the way, if you text us at 28950 and follow instructions, you could help us financially there. And we understand that a lot of people can’t, and when you do help us, it enables us to touch other lives of the people who can’t help us. So you become sort of a, and I promise we squeeze every dime for the glory of God. We’re a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC Canada. And those are organizations that oversee our books to make sure that we were ethical. But we were ethical before they came along, but they put a checkmark by it. So if you can help us, if you can’t, we understand, say a prayer. Pete, you say a prayer and we’ll get to these questions.

Pete Alwinson:
Alright, let’s pray. Oh, Father what a good time it is, just to stop for a minute and to come into your presence. Thank you, Lord that we don’t have to play a game or a wear pseudo masks or play roles before you. But we come before you because you’re the one that knows our soul. You’re the lover of our soul. And we worship you and praise you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And Lord Jesus, you have done everything necessary to secure our righteousness and to present us Holy and blameless, before the throne of the just and Holy God of the universe. And so we’re yours. We belong to you. We’re glad to give ourselves to you. We want to follow you, Lord. And, we need you in every way, to keep our minds not giving into the culture, but going and staying in step with your Holy way for our life. Lord Jesus, thank you that you call us, to a narrow way, that is always best for us, and honors and glorifies you. Lord, you know us, be with our pastors and teachers and leaders and priests and worship directors this week-end. What an important role they play, as they consistently lead us into the presence of the Triune God. So, glorify yourself through them. We commit them to you, and ourselves to you, right now. In your Holy name, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Steve Brown:
Amen. Pete, let’s first go to our phone lines.

Caller 1:
Why couldn’t our Lord, God get rid of Adam Eve and Satan, because he destroyed the whole world, when He saved Noah, his wife, his three sons and three daughter-in-laws?

Steve Brown:
I don’t know if I’ve ever heard that question before.

Pete Alwinson:
Put quite that way, no.

Steve Brown:
I would say to the person who asked that question, He didn’t destroy Adam and Eve, because he knew, that thousands of years later, he wanted you to ask that question. And, if He had destroyed Adam and Eve, you wouldn’t be here. And the question would never be asked. And I’m being facetious, of course. Because God has a plan.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, no doubt. I mean, could he have, could he have set things straight, right away? Could he have started over? Right. Of course he could. He could have, but he had a, he had a longer term plan, this is the mystery of God outside of time and the mystery of his infinite plan that we don’t understand, the incomprehensibility of God at this point. We don’t know, but one day we’ll be able to find out, I think.

Steve Brown:
That’s true, and by then, we won’t care.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah.

Steve Brown:
You know, but there is, you gotta, you gotta amaze, I wish I were a fiction writer, I’m not, I tried my hand at that and bombed so, but that’s a great story. You know, you look at this story, which would not have glorified him if it had been, let’s all join hands and play in the Garden of Eden forever and love God. That’s not a story, that doesn’t glorify anybody, that doesn’t bring praise and angels singing at all. And so God’s purpose, at least one of them, was that he might be glorified in our redemption, and in that redemption, which is an incredible story,

Pete Alwinson:
Absolutely.

Steve Brown:
runs throughout the entire Bible. You begin to see that God wasn’t playing games. He was emphasizing who he was and why we were created. And Adam and Eve, if he had killed them off, that never would have happened. Now in terms of Noah and that bunch, he had another something to teach, and it’s been taught ever since it’s happened. And so it had a pedagogical reason for it, and Noah and his family, and a bunch of others with them, family members were saved from it. And so God was demonstrating something really important about wrath. And about repercussions of sin. So that was a part of that magnificent story.

Pete Alwinson:
God reveals himself and his grace and all of his attributes and all that. And why doesn’t he come back and clean up the mess right away? Well, I mean, he wouldn’t have, he wouldn’t have met Steve Brown. You wouldn’t have met him.

Steve Brown:
And he likes me lot.

Pete Alwinson:
You know, he really does. I’m going to ask him about that, but, no, he loves you, he loves me. And, and, and the patience of God in, in the second coming is redemption for those that are still his.

Steve Brown:
When the Scripture says it’s not his will that any should perish, it’s not a theological statement. It’s a statement about God’s heart. And, his heart directed toward his creation, in which as you pointed out, he is glorified. This is an e-mail Pete. Whenever we take communion, the preacher says that we shouldn’t take communion, if we’re living in unrepentant sin, or we’ll be drinking God’s judgment on us, this makes me kind of anxious. What exactly is unrepentant sin? How do I know if I’m guilty of it, and should avoid taking communion?

Pete Alwinson:
You know, I really appreciate that question, because I think that you cannot avoid what is said there in the text of Scripture about communion.

Steve Brown:
It’s scary.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah. Paul says, you’ll be eating and drinking judgment unto yourself.

Steve Brown:
And, a number have died.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right.

Steve Brown:
So, look around next communion service and see you dies.

Pete Alwinson:
Could, could be you, I’m not sitting near you, but you know, seriously, I would say at this point, what is he saying about unreal, he’s really saying that to people who are playing fast and loose, with the gospel of grace, I’m saved by grace through faith alone, but I’m going to still sin in this way, knowingly and unrepentantly, because, He’ll forgive me, maybe, you know.

Steve Brown:
So, it’s an attitude,

Pete Alwinson:
It is.

Steve Brown:
and not so much, because some of the sin, he hasn’t even revealed to you yet. So, you haven’t repented of, because God likes you and he’d kill you, if you showed you how bad, that was what Jack Miller used to say, cheer up, you’re a lot worse than you think you are.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah.

Steve Brown:
So, everybody goes to communion with unrepentant sin.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. And, unrecognized sin.

Steve Brown:
In that sense.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah. Or, unrecognized yet sin. I mean, we all do.

Steve Brown:
Yeah.

Pete Alwinson:
He’s really talking to those who are consciously playing a game with God, I think.

Steve Brown:
Yeah, I do too.

Pete Alwinson:
I’m saying don’t, don’t play that game.

Steve Brown:
Don’t fiddle with him,

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right.

Steve Brown:
because this is God, and he doesn’t mess around with it kind of thing.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right.

Steve Brown:
You know, do you think sometimes, you know, for years when I grew up, when we had communion, I hated it, because they did all the liturgy and it meant we’re going to go another 45 minutes in the service. And I was a kid, and I didn’t, but the older I’ve gotten, the more important communion really is to me, a sense of his presence, a reality there that I can’t even explain, and a place to go where I’m known my sin, my failure.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right.

Steve Brown:
And my pastor reminds me, that I’m forgiven.

Pete Alwinson:
It really is that grace forgiveness, that comes through.

Steve Brown:
It really is.

Pete Alwinson:
It really is a means of grace communion, and something is going on through the Spirit, through faith,

Steve Brown:
Yeah.

Pete Alwinson:
that is more than just a mental remembrance of what Jesus did.

Steve Brown:
And, I would say to the person who sent us this e-mail, if you’re anxious about it, you’re cool.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah.

Steve Brown:
I mean, you would never have even asked the question, if you were an unrepentant soul,

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah.

Steve Brown:
taking communion with that attitude, I’m going to get away with whatever I want to get away with.

Pete Alwinson:
That’s right. That’s right. Good point. Good point.

Steve Brown:
Yeah. That’s a good question. You, well, you said before you should disagree with your pastor at least once a month. Doesn’t Paul tell Timothy to revere your leaders and to not accuse them of stuff.

Pete Alwinson:
Yeah. Steve, how do you answer that?

Steve Brown:
Because, I’m not telling you to make an obscene gesture to your pastor.
I’m telling you, you ought to disagree with him occasionally. Because, you need to do that and he needs to hear it. But if you go with, your pastor is ugly and his mother dresses you. And how could he say something so stupid? That’s not Godly. I’m not suggesting you do that,

Pete Alwinson:
Right.

Steve Brown:
but to say to your pastor, could we talk about an issue you talked about? Cause, I’m not sure I understand, but I think I disagree with you, and I don’t much. So, let’s talk. That’s the kind of thing I’m talking about.

Pete Alwinson:
And how does that, how does that help us as Christians, have a healthy relationship with our pastor?

Steve Brown:
Well, first it makes us authentic. You know, I, you know, I don’t know if I agree with Jesus about everything, but I’m wrong when I do, but, and so it makes us authentic. It makes us real, and it creates a fellowship that goes deeper than the superficial. That’s adequate.

Pete Alwinson:
Perfect.

Steve Brown:
Hey listen. Before I become imperfect, let me say. Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.