In Matthew 18:1–6, Jesus’ disciples asked him who the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven is. (We can presume an invisible paraphrase here saying, ‘after God,’ of course.). Jesus answers in Verse 4, “Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” So, Jesus infers that a child would be the greatest in His Kingdom.
In terms of the Bible, a child would be one who does not know sin and therefore hasn’t sinned in the context of Adam and Eve’s understanding. For, in tha sense, if someone does not know sin, they wouldn’t know enough to commit a sin. For a child, then, sin in any form has not entered its life so far, anyway.
Before Adam and Eve sinned, they were children who did not know sin. By the time they ate the forbidden fruit, they knew sin on two levels; they knew sin after they ate the fruit, and they learned that to disobey God, which they did by eating the fruit despite God’s forbidding them, is a sin.
Had they not sinned, they could have been immortal as would their offspring. In being immortal, it seems they could have lived indefinitely on earth. But because they sinned, God says to them in Genesis 3:19, “…you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Thus, as it says in Romans 5:12, “…just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Ezekiel 18:20 says “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father…the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” And since each offspring and succeeding generation has come to know sin and commit it, they are fated to the same mortality as Adam and Eve were.
It is rather plain that those who end up in God’s Kingdom enter with a free slate, whether it is a child who never sinned, or a sinner who was cleansed of sin. In God’s Kingdom, a child is greater than a former sinner because the child never sinned.
There’s somewhat of an irony herein Ezekiel 18:20 saying, “The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father…” Yet a child, who because of the sins of Adam and Eve, may gain Admittance into God’s Kingdom but he lost the possibility of immortality, that is, to live on the earth forever, because of Adam and Eve’s sins. But a sinless child has the consolation of being the greatest in God’s Kingdom.
In terms of the Bible, a child would be one who does not know sin and therefore hasn’t sinned in the context of Adam and Eve’s understanding. For, in tha sense, if someone does not know sin, they wouldn’t know enough to commit a sin. For a child, then, sin in any form has not entered its life so far, anyway.
Before Adam and Eve sinned, they were children who did not know sin. By the time they ate the forbidden fruit, they knew sin on two levels; they knew sin after they ate the fruit, and they learned that to disobey God, which they did by eating the fruit despite God’s forbidding them, is a sin.
Had they not sinned, they could have been immortal as would their offspring. In being immortal, it seems they could have lived indefinitely on earth. But because they sinned, God says to them in Genesis 3:19, “…you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” Thus, as it says in Romans 5:12, “…just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Ezekiel 18:20 says “The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father…the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.” And since each offspring and succeeding generation has come to know sin and commit it, they are fated to the same mortality as Adam and Eve were.
It is rather plain that those who end up in God’s Kingdom enter with a free slate, whether it is a child who never sinned, or a sinner who was cleansed of sin. In God’s Kingdom, a child is greater than a former sinner because the child never sinned.
There’s somewhat of an irony herein Ezekiel 18:20 saying, “The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father…” Yet a child, who because of the sins of Adam and Eve, may gain Admittance into God’s Kingdom but he lost the possibility of immortality, that is, to live on the earth forever, because of Adam and Eve’s sins. But a sinless child has the consolation of being the greatest in God’s Kingdom.
