If God is so loving and forgiving and all that, why didn't He just forgive Adam & Eve? - John

Dear John,

Simply:  "It would not be right or fair for God to just forgive everyone.  There is a penalty that must be paid for doing wrong.  The penalty for sinning against God is death, eternal death.  But God loved us so much that he sent Jesus, His only Son, to pay our penalty.  Jesus did this by dying on the cross, in our place."  Question 41 from 'Over 200 Questions Children ask about God and the Bible' (c) 1997 Tyndale Publishing

To put it a little more intricately, allow me to say that you are not the only person who has ever asked that question!  St. Anselm, a saint from the 11th century, asked the same thing. In his pondering he realized a couple of things ... 

1.  If God is the all perfect, all just, transcendent, One whom we are to honor in every way, then humanity - who demonstrated, and continues to demonstrate, that we are not perfect - must make an atonement to Him, the all perfect, all powerful, all just, transcendent God  if they are to ever be able to approach Him.
2. If God is all just, then God cannot allow for a wrong to go by unpunished.  Not punishing a wrong would be unjust.
3.  Only a human can atone for humanities' sins.  ie:  a dog can't atone for humanity's sin because a dog isn't a human.  A cow can't atone for it.  An angel can't either - because an angel isn't human either.  Only a human can represent a human.  Think about that like this:  An American can only be represented by an American, not a Chinese person, not an Egyptian, not a Russian.  Same goes with being human.
4.  However, a human can never reach the perfection required by God because humans aren't God.  They are not on the same level as God.  So, whoever makes the atonement also has to be able to deal with God as an equal.  We don't have anyone who meets that requirement.
5.  Hence, God, in His great LOVE, made a way for us to be able to be forgiven.  In His all knowing ways, He prepared for the very happening of sin and planned on becoming human so He could atone. - and that's where Jesus fits in!
6.  Jesus meets all the requirements.  Jesus is totally human - and so can represent us in front of God.  Jesus is also totally God - and so can approach God as an equal.  

And all of that lets us realize that although God didn't "just forgive everybody,"  But, He made it so that we could all be forgiven ... we just have to ask for the gift of forgiveness that Jesus made possible for us to receive.     

Doesn't that make God even greater than you thought!