“Zero temptation because I love my son,” McDowell said. “I see the horror of what that would do.”
McDowell quickly drew the parallel to our time in heaven.
“It’s like the veil is lifted, our nature is transformed, and we see sin for exactly what it is, and the temptation is gone,” he said.
McDowell said, “We can logically sin [in heaven], but we never would in the presence of a holy God.”
Sean McDowell: Why Didn’t God Just Create the World in Heaven in the First Place?
McDowell asked why, if there’s no sin in heaven, did God not simply create the world in heaven to begin with: a world without sin. He said that heaven isn’t where “freedom is removed but where temptation is gone.”
McDowell explained God did start with a “heavenly state at the beginning, and we screwed it up.”
Those in heaven have chosen to be with God and have an awareness of the depth and true nature of their sins, according to McDowell. Jesus forgave, we repented, and we chose to be with Jesus.
“I don’t think it works that way where God just sets up the system, puts us in his presence, and we never sin,” explained McDowell. “I think he tried that. It’s called the Garden of Eden.”
