10/21/2024 Word Count – 914 Reading Time – 4 minutes

To a great extent humans can be an unruly bunch. As individuals we each have our own agenda and tend to disregard the agendas of others whenever they impede our personal interests. For security and hunting efficiency we form packs, these packs become tribes, which become villages, cities, etc. All the while, we as individuals are advancing our own agendas and looking out for our own interests for the most part. An accumulation of this many individuals can lead to chaos in the absence of organization. If security and food gathering are the only concerns for the group it is manageable. But if the group wishes to grow in size, knowledge, strength and influence there needs to be direction that can supersede personal agendas when those agendas present obstacles to the common goals. Rules, regulations and laws form the guidelines that enable larges groups of people to work together toward a common interest.

God has had a goal and purpose for each of us since the beginning. He started with 2 people, Adam and Eve. Those 2 had only one rule to follow, don’t eat the fruit. Those 2 people eventually grew into a nation of hundreds of thousands. God provided laws to help those individuals progress toward His goal as efficiently as possible. What started as 1 rule for 2 people grew into 10 commandments for hundreds of thousands and that grew into 613 commandments in the Torah for the Jewish nation. In the Christian Bible the Book of Leviticus contains this content.

It can be argued that the primary purpose for this elaborate set of laws is to enable an interaction between God and mankind.  As the creator of everything and the Supreme Arbiter of justice one of the jobs God performs is being the source of, and the standard for, the purest good against which all actions in humanity are compared. Because God created this universe and all int it to fulfill His purpose it is His privilege and duty to provide the definition of good and its polar opposite, evil. In a nutshell good is anything that is favorable to God and evil is anything that is unfavorable to God.

With the massive responsibility of exemplifying the highest and purest good in the universe it is imperative that God remain pure and good in all things and in all ways. As a being whose nature is completely and intensely good, the presence of evil is abhorrent.

There’s not nearly enough information in the Bible about the fall of lucifer that led him to become Satan. Bible scholars generally agree that Satan was the most brilliant of God’s angels. Somehow his self-importance got the better of him and he, along with 30,000 or so of his angel chums, rebelled against the authority of God. This act of poor judgement got him and his pals kicked out of heaven and banished to earth.

One can conclude from this tale that evil existed in heaven. Perhaps it originated in Lucifer. We know that Eve was mislead by the serpent and many believe the serpent was Satan. In any case, Satan’s banishment to earth introduced a monumental influence of evil that grew from Eve’s disregard for the one and only law to her coercion of Adam to join her in sin, to the murder of Abel by Cane. Evil continued to grow in scope down through the generations and the original sin of Eve and Adam evil has become what seems to be a genetic trait in all humans.

Despite all this, humans still are cherished by God and are still a part of a big plan of His. He still desires a relationship with us. Unfortunately, our sinful nature makes it impossible for Him to tolerate our presence, which is a bit of an inconvenience for building a close relationship.

God’s laws are the means by which humans can approach God in our present form. By following the rituals and adhering to the commandments God has provided, we are able to develop a personal and intimate relationship with Him. Although we may not walk with Him in the cool of the garden like Adam did in the Garden of Eden, we will be able to immerse ourselves in His presence, which is an amazing experience. And, as we strive to adhere to the laws we move closer to the time when we can engage Him more fully and on a more personal level.

I am convinced that one of our more important purposes here on earth is to train our spiritual character. Anyone who has spent time building skills, strength training and learning to perform in an athletic competition or event understands that training can be uncomfortable. To grow we must push our limits. I once had a martial arts instructor who explained that we needed to practice the impossible in order to make the difficult easy.

In spiritual training, as in physical and mental training, we must challenge ourselves and learn to push ourselves beyond our comfort zone. Training to hone and enhance skills, strength and endurance in any endeavor is not random. Elite athletes follow strict regimens that encompass every conceivable aspect of their lives. The laws provided by God are not only to help mankind organize and survive itself. They form the training regimen for our spiritual conditioning program that will prepare us to perform at our highest levels in our afterlife if we are to fulfill God’s purpose for us.