Our fallen nature, suffering is not what God planned

I am continuing a reflection on things that we can learn from looking at the creation stories from the Book of Genesis. You may recall that we are doing this in response to a question from the Pharisees, Jesus repeatedly tells His audience to go back the beginning if we really want to understand what He is teaching.
The first thing that I think we need to address is why we should reflect on what humanity was like at the beginning of creation and before the Fall. Do we reflect on this long-gone reality so that we can pine for Paradise Lost? No! There are a couple of reasons why it is good to reflect on the original creation.
First, it is vital for us to understand that this fallen world in which we live is NOT the world as God had planned. Our fallen nature and the suffering that we endure is NOT as God had planned.
Second, I think it is vital for us to properly understand the freedom of our first parents. Many people see that faculty as too dangerous for humans to have. People reject the idea that a loving God would give His children such a powerful and dangerous faculty. I mean, look at the havoc caused by us having free will.
But, God is Love, and He wants us to love Him in return. He does not want servants or slaves. He desires us. He wants us to return His love. 
The hard, cold, sobering reality is this: we can only love God in return if we are free to reject loving Him. 
Yes, God could have keep us out of trouble by not giving us free will, but then we would have been toys for Him to play with, rather than sons and daughters who can love Him. 
— Pat Arensberg is the Director of the Office for Evangelization and Family Life. Email him at [email protected] 
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