Is the problem that God is trying to solve us getting the gift of paradise or us keeping it? What does the evidence say? Lucifer. The gaggle of angels who follow Lucifer. Eve. Adam. The Prodigal Son. All were given the gift of life and the gift of paradise simultaneously. Yet, they all fumbled the ball. They let the gift of paradise slip through their fingers. The evidence tells us that the problem is in us keeping the gift of paradise not in us getting it.
To increase the probability of us keeping the gift of paradise when the gift of paradise is delivered to us - and its delivery is ineluctable, God inserted a delay between the gift of life and the gift of paradise. It is a short delay, However, during the delay, we come into intimate contact with the sour truth of the Valley of Tears. The sour truth plays rough. It bites. It chews us up into bits and pieces and spits us out. Furthermore, its tongue is as sharp as its teeth. Its tongue fills every nook and cranny of the Valley of Tears with virulent anti-God propaganda. The anti-God propaganda blames God for our dire predicament in the Valley of Tears. It presents a powerful challenge to the notion that God exists and that God loves us. As we stew in the sourness of godlessness like pickles in a barrel of toxic brine, the sweetness of paradise slips from our minds. We rapidly approach the brink of despair (Matthew 27:46) (Psalm 22) (Isaiah 53).
Indeed, our experience in the Valley of Tears is harsh medicine. However, it works. So God prescribes it. The prodigal son will never return to the pig sty and neither will we. Having put our fingers into the flames, we know that the fire is hot. Once burned, twice shy. When the gift of paradise is delivered to us, we will keep it. We will not fumble the ball. We will not allow the gift of paradise to slip through our fingers. We will not repeat the original sin of our parents, Adam and Eve. The harsh but effective medicine solves the problem of us keeping the gift of paradise.
The Good News of Great Joy
God plans to deliver the gift of paradise to us just as he delivered the gift of paradise to Adam and Eve. God will not be less generous with us than he was with them. Adam and Eve were the first beneficiaries of God’s love for us. They were not the last. God’s philanthropy did not end with Adam and Eve; God’s philanthropy began with them. This is good news of great joy - very good news for us indeed.
Perversely, we run away from the gift of paradise.