Dear James:
Thank you very much for your very well thought out discussion on perfection and sin. You have stated the facts correctly.
There are a couple of other things that I'd like to add for your
consideration:
In reference to Romans 8:18-25, Paul seems to be expanding on Jesus' statement from Matthew 5:9: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." This means that even with the corruption in this world, we, as peacemakers, can begin to free creation from its corruption.
This seems to be further amplified Matthew 5:48 where Jesus tell us:
"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Jesus also taught us to make this theme a part of our prayer life as He
stated in Matthew 6:10: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, on earth as it is
in heaven."
If we then tie this to Revelation 21:4, where we see that there will be no death in heaven, and the fact that today we have more than enough plant food so that no animals need to die so that we can live, and the fact that Jesus was the last and perfect sacrifice, we have the ingredients to restore the goodness of the Genesis 1:29-30 intent in the here and now. Thus, Jesus would be vegetarian (vegan), today.
In the Love of the Lord,
Frank
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