Thus at the very beginning of The Story on this earth, the key elements of the battle that still exists were laid out in the events recorded:
1. The other-centered One creating a perfect creation in His image, which in the paradigm of freely-given love required the freedom of choice within the context of informed options.
2. The unexplainable choice being made, both by deceived unbelief and by open unbelief, to accept the lie about God and His image, and to live for self, even in the face of evidences of the truth (especially the word of truth).
3. The immediate results appearing of vulnerability, vain attempts at solutions, insecurity, and fear.
4. The unchanging other-centered One pursuing the estranged in concern (to restore), in inquiry and judgment (to educate), in faith (to convey evidence of what could be), and in hope (to promise a lasting solution).
5. The core essence of love thus showing itself in the humbling of self to condemn sin while justifying and reclaiming the sinner.
6. The core essence of sin revealing itself at the same time in the guilty ones by the spirit of exaltation in self-justification which always includes the inherent condemnation of others, ultimately the maligning of God Himself.
7. The true worship of God and the false worship of the creature self, leading to the laying down of life by the faithful, and the taking of life by the unfaithful, working out the principles of self-giving and self-seeking.
