Dave Vice

I finally figured out how time travel works.

Leave Los Angeles on April 10 and fly to Auckland, New Zealand.

You can depart on April 10 and arrive on April 12.

Then, after enjoying your trip, leave Auckland at 11:00 PM on April 15 and fly back to Los Angeles.

You arrive at 5:00 PM on April 15.

Think about that.

You leave New Zealand at 11:00 PM and land in California six hours before you took off.

No flux capacitor.
No DeLorean.
No wormholes.

Just a plane, the Pacific Ocean, and the International Date Line messing with your brain.

I’ve decided that if I ever travel to New Zealand, I’m not telling anyone when I’m coming home. They’ll think I’m a time traveler

Why Did God Create Man in a Contested Environment?

God created man in a contested environment because loyalty cannot exist where there is no real alternative.

If there is no opposing voice…
No competing will…
No possibility of refusal…

Then what you have is not loyalty.

You have programming

1. Loyalty Requires a Real Choice

From the beginning, the scene was not neutral.

A rebellion had already taken place.
A challenger had questioned God’s authority.
The environment was already contested.

So when God said,
“Let us make man…” (Genesis 1:26, ESV)

He wasn’t creating in a vacuum.

He was placing humanity into a world where:
• Two claims exist
• Two paths exist
• Two loyalties are possible

Without that tension, the word loyalty has no meaning.

2. Humanity Became the Answer

The rebellion wasn’t just disobedience—it was a claim:

“I can rule better.”

God did not crush that claim immediately.

Instead, He answered it.

He created man:
• In His image
• With real agency
• Able to choose

Now the question became visible:

Will a created being remain loyal to God under pressure?

3. Why Not Make It Safe?

Because a safe environment produces untested loyalty.

And untested loyalty can always be questioned.

Satan said of Job:
“Does Job fear God for no reason?” (Job 1:9, ESV)

That’s the accusation:

Loyalty isn’t real unless it’s tested.

So God allows:
• Pressure
• Loss
• Temptation

Not because He is careless—

But because:

Tested loyalty is proven loyalty.

4. Eden Was Not Neutral

Even in Eden:
• The tree was there
• The serpent was there

God did not create a sealed environment.

He created a real one.

A place where:
• Trust could be given
• Or withdrawn

5. The Risk Was Intentional

God knew:
• Man could fall
• Suffering would come
• Redemption would be required

And He created anyway.

Why?

Because He is not after compliance.

He is after willing loyalty—
from those who could walk away, but don’t.

6. The End Reveals the Purpose

At the end of the story:
• Evil is judged
• Satan is removed
• A new creation stands

But the people there are different.

They are not untested.

They are:
• Proven
• Refined
• Loyal by choice

God created man in a contested environment so that loyalty to Him would be real, chosen, tested, and undeniable.