Hi Dan,
And if they were always taught the truth in life they may be less appreciative to Gods true LOVE. And maybe because of this FEWER people would have some sort of connection with GOD. Am I way off in my thinking?
I think you are on the right track.
Titus 3:3 For we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
The whole human race has been given a physical existence so as to experience good and evil (the tree of life). This age is the first stage/part of the process of being brought towards immortality and it is temporary. But it is an absolute necessary part of the process, we must first live in this world and be deceived, corrupt, dishonorable, weak to the pulls of the flesh, a sinner, this is the dark backdrop we all must experience. But God promises us this is not the end of it.
Here is an email that speaks about this present evil age we are living in.
http://bible-truths.com/email3.htm ------------------------
God created evil for a purpose. So naturally He will not make evil inoperative at every turn in the road or there would have been no purpose in creating it in the first place.
Evil serves many noble purposes. One of which is a back drop for good. Good cannot be understood or certainly not appreciated without a backdrop of evil. Evil makes good appear even better and is certainly much more appreciated.
Evil is necessary for the production or development of good. You cannot name one virtue that is not in some way produced by the resistance to some form of evil.
All knowledge is matter of contrast and relativity. One cannot know what light is unless he has been acquainted with darkness. One has no conception of large unless he also knows of things that are small. Up is only up in relation to down. Life is the opposite of death, etc. To understand and fully appreciate all of these things, there are many necessary experiences to go through. God creates and puts us through these many things in the development of godly character.
All of these evils can be likened to the creation of a beautiful building. Ugly scaffolding is necessary in the construction of this building. It is ugly and serves no purpose other than in the actual construction of the building. When the building is completed, the scaffolding is torn down and discarded. It serves no further purpose. All evil will be discarded one day. And the last enemy, DEATH, will likewise be ABOLISHED FOR EVER (I Cor. 15:26) and God will "ALL in All"!!!
------------------------------------------------------------
mercy, peace and love
Kat