No Warm Fuzzies. Where Does Evil Come From?

In face of the great evil we all see and feel in the world, I felt compelled to write a blog on the origin of evil. Now, you may be wondering, like the rest of us today, about how such great evil can happen in the world. A mother killing her children. ISIS raping young girls and setting people on fire. General rioting and looting that goes way beyond protesting. Racism. Child abuse. Child trafficking. Government corruption. The list goes on. In fact, you may be like many who wonder how evil can exist if there is a God in heaven.

Well, let me say this, and I hope it makes sense. Evil would not exist if God didn’t exist.

Shocking? Am I saying God is evil? No. I am stating the opposite. God is the opposite of evil.

Did God create evil, you ask? No. I do not believe God created evil. He didn’t have to. Let me explain how this works.

The creator God, as described by himself in the Bible, is many things.

God is light. 1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

God is truth. John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

God is love. 1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

God is patient. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

God is forgiving and merciful. Daniel 9:9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him;

God is powerful. Joshua 4:24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God.”

God is a creator. Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

God is giving. God is healing. God is our helper.  Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength,
    an ever-present help in trouble.

All of these qualities are embodied in our Lord and our God. When he created the world and when he created man, he created everything in himself (Christ), through himself and for himself. All things were created in the atmosphere of everything God is. We were created to exist in a pure world, full of love, hope, truth, light, power, creativity, and more. Doesn’t your soul yearn for this life? God has written eternity on our hearts. We ALL, everyone of us, hungers for this atmosphere that the universe was birthed in. 

John 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Colossians 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

When God created the angels, and when he created mankind, he made us with eternal spirits. He made us like him. Because we are like God, he gives us authority over our own little space, he gives us power to “rule” in our own bodies here on earth and to make our own decisions. This authority is given to us sovereignly by God. He gave this to Adam and Eve, the first two people in all creation. Not only did they have life, they had the ability to make a decision to follow God. God set them up in the garden and Eve took up house keeping there, while Adam showed her around all that The Lord gave them dominion over. In that place of perfect peace, in that place of security and love, they were given 1 boundary. They were given 1 rule.

“This is where your authority stops, Adam and Eve. You can eat anything you want. It’s all yours…except this one tree.” 

See, God, in his sovereignty exercised his right to put boundaries over Adam and Eve’s authority in the garden. They had everything they could ever want. A perfect spouse. Eternal life. No sickness. No death. A fulfilling and stimulating job. All they needed to do was obey this one restriction: “Do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”

Well, that seemed like not a big deal. They had no desire to overstep that boundary line and they gladly accepted God’s free gift of life, relationship and the beautiful untainted creation. Well…until Lucifer entered the picture.

LUCIFER

So, where did Lucifer come from? Satan? The greatest evil? Well, that’s a good question. God created him. Did he create him to be evil? No. He created him to be perfect. He was the most beautiful, the most powerful, the most worshipful angel in all creation. Second only unto God himself, Lucifer led the angelic hosts in worship to the God of the universe. But, Lucifer desired something that wasn’t his. After leading worship in heaven for who knows how many eons, he decided that he wanted to ascend into heaven’s throne himself. He was done with God’s order of things and ready to create his own reality. 

Isaiah 14:12-15

New International Version (NIV)

This eternal soul, with authority from God to lead, used his authority and stepped into the realm that opposed God. Because God is perfect, truthful, loving, creative, healing, wonderful and faithful, the opposing realm is exactly what you imagine it to be. When Lucifer and one third of the heavenly hosts stepped into rebellion, they stepped out of everything that is pure and righteous and holy and beautiful. They became fallen, liars, hateful, destructive, hurtful, terrible, vengeful, and untrustworthy. 

Because God created them in his image as eternal beings, AND he created them from within himself, through himself and for himself, stepping outside of God’s will put Satan and the fallen angels (now demons) into a counter reality, opposing God in the spirit realm. Now, a war broke out in heaven. It was the great war between good and evil, right and wrong, holy and profane. Satan lost and he was hurled down to the earth with the rest of the rebellious spirits. 

His goal has been to deceive humanity (the opposite of God’s truth is a lie), from the time he tempted Adam and Eve, to this present day. See, when Eve was tempted and chose not to live in God’s truth, humanity fell into a state that opposed it’s creator. Adam and Eve used the authority God gave them over their lives to break God’s law and to side with Satan.

So, you see, all of creation is in a battle between good and evil. The evil is simply the opposition to good. It’s not an opinion, like this ice cream is good and that ice cream is not so good. The battle between good and evil is an intense battle. In our time, there are people who want to blur the lines between good and evil. They say that much is just perspective and opinion. Well, I do agree, in as much as the fact that Satan’s perspective is one that is in rebellion and war against God. He is angry, and his rage influences his opinion, too.

Revelation 12:12 “But woe to the earth and the sea,
    because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
    because he knows that his time is short.”

 But, what about evil in people?

Satan’s opinions or perspective does not change the fact that he is operating in the power of sin and death, in very opposition to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The best way for him to oppose God is to go after, deceive and attack God’s most precious creation, the human race. He is doing everything he can to keep us separated from God with our sin and separated from each other, as well.

Sinfulness now reigns in mankind, because Adam chose sin and the day he sinned, all of humanity experienced a spiritual death. God said to Adam and Eve, “The day you eat of it, you will surely die.” They died spiritually. The only way to overcome the evil in our hearts and the spiritual death in our souls is to accept a sacrifice for the death in our lives. Someone has to die for our sin, because death is the curse of the fall and the very opposite of dwelling in God’s life is dwelling in death. So, Jesus went through this for us, because it was his father’s will. The supernatural, creator of the world submitted his life to death on a cross, so we can be free from sin and death.

You now have a choice to make. You, too, have been given authority over your life by God. You can choose life in the son of God, Jesus Christ, or you can choose the death of walking away from a relationship with God. God does see the sin and evil in the world and he is not wringing his hands, unsure of what to do. He is an omnipotent God. All powerful. All knowing. He made a plan from the very time that sin entered the world, when it stepped in through Adam’s rebellion. When he pronounced the curse on sin, he warned the devil that his days were numbered,

“And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15

God’s plan was prophesied. The seed of the woman (Jesus) would crush Satan’s head. Jesus Christ, the son of God, came to die in our place and for our sin. All the evil of all time and all the sin from the beginning of creation was thrust upon him on the cross. He held up under the weight of not only our sin, but our pain and or sorrow.

Jesus is perfect and he is the author of all Creation. The Son of Man, who knew no sin, became a sin offering for us. Because he wanted to and because he could. The Bible says he carried our griefs and bore our iniquities. He bore the pain of the abuse you suffered. He bore the shame of those things you did that no one knows about. He bore the weight of your burden and he counted your tears and felt your heart breaking as he hung on the cross.

The only way to be made right with God is to use the authority of your little life to trust in his one and only son, who died on the cross for your sin and rose again from the dead on the third day to overcome the power of death and evil in your life. He not only rose from the dead, but he ascended into heaven, after appearing to over 500 people at one time. He promised he would return again, next time to judge the quick and the dead and the sons of men.

How to enter God’s life and turn from evil:

1. Repent. Turn from your sin.

2. Acknowledge to God that while you do your very best to do right, wrong and sin are still with you and you need him. Let God know that you are sorry for your sin.

3. Trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection for you. Tell Jesus you are sorry and that you want to trust him for life and for forgiveness. Ask him to forgive you and raise you up with him.

4. Ask God to fill you with his Spirit. God will make your spirit alive in Christ. He will fill you with his Spirit.

5. Now. Follow Jesus Christ. No longer live in opposition to God. You trust in The Lord. Read his Word (The Bible), so that you can know right from wrong and his plan for your life. The more you read and pray, the more your spirit is built up and strengthened to overcome all the powers of the evil one and to bring God’s healing power with you wherever you go!

6. Find a Bible believing church that is full of love, but still teaches you to repent from sin. Attend weekly and develop relationships with other believers who are following Christ.

In closing, evil exists because good exists. Evil is the opposite of good. Hate is the opposite of love. We need the power of God at work in our lives to breathe life into us, since we live in a world that is opposed to everything of God. Now, God wants to put a new heart in you. Everything that God is, he has made you through Jesus Christ, when you enter into a relationship with God through faith in his Son. When we are in Christ and not opposed to him, we are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control! We are no longer enemies with God, but his friends!

If you were encouraged by this blog, and you want to know more about Jesus, please comment. You can also share this with others, who may be struggling with understanding evil and wanting answers for the heart in a desperate time we live in. In these evil times, it is possible to live without being deceived by the world. Trust in Jesus!