Before anything existed, there was God—perfect, holy, eternal, and completely self-sufficient. Out of His love, He chose to create. He created mankind in His own image, not because He needed us, but because He desired to share His life, His love, and His truth with us. We were created to live with Him, through Him, and from Him. He was to be the source of everything we needed.

God created human beings with both a mind and a heart. Because of this, we could think, reason, love, and choose. Love cannot exist without choice, so God gave humanity the freedom to choose Him or reject Him.

God already knew what humanity would choose. He knew we would desire independence instead of dependence. He knew we would want to define good and evil for ourselves rather than trust Him. Yet, because love cannot be forced, He allowed that choice. Satan became the means through which that choice was presented. God did not create evil, but He allowed temptation so humanity could freely decide whether it would trust its Creator or seek life apart from Him.

That choice changed everything.