Sometimes "free will" sucks. The end result of sin (when it has completed its course) is death. God gave us free will as a gift so that we could choose to love because without choice we would just be robots. Love always gives a choice. He created all things "good" and created humans for companionship because He wants us to know Him...Who alone is the source of goodness and life. He entrusted all that He created to be good to human beings to maintain through right relationship with Him and told them to take dominion in the earth and bring it under His authority (His good Kingdom rule of righteousness). Adam and Eve chose instead to give their power over to Satan's influence (evil) by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good AND evil thus inviting evil into the earth to coexist with all that God created to be "good". Now sin flourishes in the earth through people who choose to exercise their "right" to know and to do good and evil.
Fortunately God had a plan of redemption through His Son, Jesus, who came to earth as a human being to live a sinless life (choosing only good) and through the knowledge of the perfect love of the Father became the ultimate sacrifice for sin so that we could be reconciled to God in right relationship (because He is loving AND just...a just God cannot allow sin (evil) to continue without a penalty but a loving God cannot be unforgiving towards those who repent of their wrongs. So in Jesus we have a way to have the penalty of our sins paid for and to come back into right relationship with a living and good God who gives us a life of goodness for eternity with Him who choose to surrender to His authority. We are adopted into His family through a spiritual “rebirth”. We then, also have the honor of being His representatives in the earth to make Him known to those who don't know His goodness and through obedience to His rule (as revealed in His word, the Bible and by the indwelling power of His Holy Spirit which He gives to us when we choose to accept Jesus' life exchanged for ours) we become His ambassadors in the earth while we are here to bring His righteousness (His "rightness") where we can because of those that our lives touch and influence. We endure with Christ in suffering for a little while on earth looking forward to eternal life with Him and doing His work while we can to bring as many as possible with us into Glory (Heaven)!
And THAT is the true meaning of Christmas!
