Monday, January 30, 2023
I am going to present a very controversial lesson today. One that should make a Christian grab their Bible and do a lot of studying. I found a person who presented the first part and although they think they are right because they put some scripture in their lesson…what happens (in my opinion) is that they don’t use true context to explain it. You can’t just grab some verses and make it say whatever you want it to say. Context, context, context! So, before you say…oh that sounds good or right you need to study this subject for yourself and not take things out of context. I have seen this subject presented before so people are reading this and some believe it without truly finding the truth in this matter.
Their story: As a Christian, life becomes a lot easier once we take God at his word. Nevertheless, many find it difficult to do so. One area of great difficulty concerns the origin of evil. Christians find it difficult to believe the God who is love is behind all the evil we see in this world? We would rather be diplomatic and attribute it all to the devil.
However, the devil is merely the servant of God. God says categorically he is the author of evil: “I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7). Amos echoes this: “If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it? (Amos 3:6).
Note: (So stop here please and yes, you will read this in those spots of the bible…but again…who was talking, why were they talking, who were they talking to, what was the culture and so on. The who, what, when where and how?)
Their story: Nothing good or bad happens outside of the will of God. The devil initiates nothing. He only does what God permits. (Job 1:6-12). “Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come? (Lamentations 3:37-38). Thus, Job asks his wife: “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:10).
Note: Who, what, when, where, and how? Yes, the devil does evil and God will only allow so much to be done. We don’t always understand why God allows evil or one person such as Job to go through what he did go through and we think that is a horrible thing and in our mind it surely is, but God knew what he was allowing and he knew that Job would make it through no matter what the devil tossed at him. God sees everything so He knew Job would get through this and even be better. We might not understand but God doesn’t have to tell us everything.
Their story: Indeed, God takes issues with those inclined to limit him to one-dimension: “It shall come to pass at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and punish the men who are settled in complacency, who say in their heart, ‘The LORD will not do good, nor will he do evil.’” (Zephaniah 1:12).
Note: God is God Almighty. He knows who is doing what, when they will do whatever it is, and He knows who will also confess and change their life and who won’t. We are all tested on this earth. We don’t like to be tested that is for sure, but we will be. God does bring judgment upon people and He has that right. He is the creator and judges perfectly where we, as humans do not, and can not because we don’t have the entire picture or see the heart of those being judged.
Their story: The devil did not just happen: God created him. He was not God’s mistake; God cannot make a mistake. God created the devil to be a devil. Jesus says: “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. Offspring of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things?” (Matthew 12:33-34).
Note: In my opinion…this one is wrong. Yes, God created the devil, but he created him good and as an angel, and for a period of time that we don’t know he was a good angel. However, there was iniquity found in him and he wanted to be not only like god but be God. God, of course knew who and what the devil was going to do, and he made plans even before the foundation of this world and took it all into account. The devil is pure evil. He hates God the creator. Pride got in his way and he chose to do things that ought never to be done. He had a free choice in heaven and he chose against God. (more later) He was kicked out of heaven with a number of angels he swayed to see things his way. The devil is a liar, a thief, and a murderer. He wants to destroy us, our family, our marriage, and everything else he can. We will be tested, tried, and tempted to do wrong, but we can overcome.
Their story: Popular Christian theology says the devil was created good, but he became evil. In short, he diverted from the purpose that God purposed. That is impossible! Nothing deviates from God’s purpose. The counsel of God is immutable. His will is always done. Paul says: God “works all things according to the counsel of his own will.” (Ephesians 1:11).God is emphatic: “My purpose will stand.” (Isaiah 46:10). “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.” (Isaiah 14:24). The psalmist says: “The plans of the Lord stand firm forever.” (Psalm 33:11). So where do Christians get the fallacy of a devil created good who then deviated to evil? The scriptural backing for this error is found in Ezekiel 28:1-19 where a lamentation of the king of Tyre is said mistakenly to be about Satan; and Isaiah 14:12-23, where a proclamation about the king of Babylon is also said incorrectly to be about Satan. In actual fact, in Ezekiel 28, the king of Tyre is compared to Adam and not to Satan. It was Adam who was in Eden, the garden of God. (Ezekiel 28:13). It was Adam who was perfect in all his ways until iniquity was found in him. (Ezekiel 28:15). It was Adam who was cast out of the mountain of God. (Ezekiel 28:16).
Note: Adam, it was said, was created perfect until………… So in regards to the satan… The answer lies in the freedom of choice that God gave to His angelic creatures. God could have created them so that they cannot sin. They would not be able to choose right or wrong because they would be “programmed” to only do right. God didn’t want a bunch of robots. Had God done this, there would be no meaningful relationships between Him and His created beings. But instead, God created them with freedom of choice so that they could choose to respond to His love and trust Him or choose to disobey. Sadly, Lucifer chose to use his freedom to rebel against God and thus became known as the devil or Satan.
How could the devil who was created perfect go wrong? The answer is pride. “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor” (Ezekiel 28:17). Satan started to think too highly of himself because of all his gifts, he started to crave the honor that was bestowed on God for himself. Isaiah 14 is another chapter that we can draw clues from concerning this and in verses 13 and 14 it says about Lucifer, “For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’” Lucifer wanted the honor that should only go to the Creator. He wanted it so badly that he was even willing to fight against God for it. Revelation 12:7-9 reveals the fact that there was an actual war in heaven “… Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Satan was cast out of heaven and found a stronghold on earth after he successfully deceived Adam and Eve. Now he, along will all of the fallen angels who are now known as demons (Revelation 20:2) are trying their best to make sure that they deceive as many humans as they can. They want to hurt God, who loves humans and gave Himself for them, and the best way they can do that is to continue the rebellion against Him here on earth and take as many as they can down with them because they know their time is short; they will be destroyed in hell fire (Matthew 25:41). That’s why Peter warns us to, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
Jesus overcame Satan, and Jesus has offered us the help that we need to overcome Satan, too. God is infinitely stronger than the devil. If we unite ourselves with the Savior, we can overcome every sin (Philippians 4:13).
Their story: The devil, on the other hand, was never perfect. God created the devil to be devilish. He says: “I have created the waster to destroy.” (Isaiah 54:16). Jesus also says the devil has always been devilish: “He was a murderer from the beginning.” (John 8:44). So, God did not make a mistake with the devil. The devil and his works are part and parcel of the will of God. As a matter of fact, the role of the devil is crucial in God’s plan of salvation.
Note: I think the words above on the prior note explained this one.
Their story: So why did God create the devil, and why does God create evil? God creates evil that we might know and appreciate the good. If we don’t know darkness, we would not appreciate light. If we don’t know evil we would not appreciate good. If we don’t know sickness, we would not appreciate good health. In short, God creates evil that we may know him: the good, merciful and compassionate God. For this reason, God creates times and seasons of good and evil. Solomon says: “To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pull up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-4).Unlike man, God does things in twos: “The LORD makes poor, and makes rich: he brings low, and lifts up.” (Isaiah 2:7). The psalmist says: “God has spoken once, twice I have heard this: that power belongs to God. Also to you, O Lord, belongs mercy; for you render to each one according to his work.” (Psalm 62:11-12).If God speaks once, it is absolutely essential to hear him twice. This is because the first time might be the expression of his power: but the second time will be the expression of his mercy. Remember: God’s mercy ultimately triumphs over God’s judgment. (James 2:13). “For God does speak- now one way, now another- though man may not perceive it.” (Job 33:14). God’s second often brings his first into sharp relief. While the first might reveal the wrath of God, the second reveals the grace and mercy of God. Accordingly, the first man was Adam the sinner but the second man is Jesus the righteous. God first gave the law through Moses, where the wages of sin is death. Then he revealed his grace through Jesus, where the gift of God is eternal life. Make no mistake about it, God is a killer: “The Lord sent a plague on Israel, and seventy thousand men of Israel fell dead.” (1 Chronicles 21:14). Don’t romanticise Jesus out of this either. Listen to his words: “I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill her children with death.” (Revelation 2:22-23).
Note: I think the person who wrote this needs to do a lot more studying and again…who, what, when, where, why, and how. Why did God destroy those people? He is judge and justice, and they had done wrong. God has the right to do whatever. He killed those of Sodom and Gomorrah, created the flood to destroy evil, and there is no better judge ever. God sees the hearts of man, and knows what they do and what they are capable of doing. If we all do not accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior there is no hope of getting to heaven. God absolutely knows the choices mankind will make and because He does…He will bring about whatever necessary He needs to do.
Their story: However, unlike man who kills in order to destroy, God kills in order to make alive. Therefore, expect God to redeem life out of death: “The LORD kills, and makes alive: he brings down to the grave, and brings up.” (1 Samuel 2:6). “He bruises, but he binds up; he wounds, but his hands make whole.” (Job 5:17-18). That is the beauty of our lord Jesus Christ. He creates evil in order to redeem perfectly from it. He kills in order that the redemptive works of God may be revealed. (John 9:3). Now you can understand why Jesus stands in glory as: “the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25).
Notes: Humans need spiritual insight to understand what and why God does or does not do something. God never needs our permission to do anything. There are things God kept secret from the foundation of the world which can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit to some especially those that could patiently wait upon the Lord. Some people can’t handle all the truth at first. Some might not ever this side of heaven be able to fully understand the choices God makes. Evil was not created. It is an idea of how to corrupt what is good. God’s claim that He kills and makes alive is an expression of His ultimate power showing that He can’t be known as God with limits. God’s ability to handle evil does not make evil His idea just the same way you cannot claim that a medical doctor is responsible for a disease because he uses an antibiotic (bacterial) to fight bacterial. God is just able to turn everything to work for His purpose. Although God is not evil, and although He permits certain people and things to happen He doesn’t want evil in this world. He knows the outcome. He knows who will love and who will reject Him. He knows the evil that is in the heart of a lot of people out there. He does permit evil. He does permit trials, tests, and temptations to come our way.
What kind of person are we? Will we overcome or fall for the lies of satan and go down that road? In reference to Job in the bible, the devil was said to have sought audience with God and asked his permission to test Job, but God, being the creator of all spirit and beings listened and permitted the devil to tempt Job, on condition that he doesn’t touch his life. In other words the devil was not allowed to kill Job. My point is God “allows” evil, but is NOT responsible for them. Scripture says that when God finished His creation, He saw everything and declared it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Many Scriptures affirm that God is not the author of evil: “God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13). “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5) No. Scripture says that when God finished His creation, He saw everything and declared it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Many Scriptures affirm that God is not the author of evil: “God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone” (James 1:13). “God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Corinthians 14:33)—and if that is true, He cannot sin any way be the author of evil.
Occasionally someone will quote Isaiah 45:7 (KJV) and claim it proves God made evil as a part of His creation: “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things” (emphasis added). But the New American Standard Bible gives the sense of Isaiah 45:6-7 more clearly: “There is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.” In other words, God devises calamity as a judgment for the wicked. But in no sense is He the author of evil.
Evil originates not from God but from the fallen creature. I agree with John Calvin, who wrote. . . the Lord had declared that “everything that he had made . . . was exceedingly good” [Genesis 1:31]. Whence, then comes this wickedness to man, that he should fall away from his God? Lest we should think it comes from creation, God had put His stamp of approval on what had come forth from himself. By his own evil intention, then, man corrupted the pure nature he had received from the Lord; and by his fall drew all his posterity with him into destruction. Accordingly, we should contemplate the evident cause of condemnation in the corrupt nature of humanity-which is closer to us-rather than seek a hidden and utterly incomprehensible cause in God’s predestination. [Institutes, 3:23:8] It is helpful, I think, to understand that sin is not itself a thing created. Sin is neither substance, being, spirit, nor matter. So it is technically not proper to think of sin as something that was created. Sin is simply a lack of moral perfection in a fallen creature. Fallen creatures themselves bear full responsibility for their sin. And all evil in the universe emanates from the sins of fallen creatures.
For example, Romans 5:12 says that death entered the world because of sin. Death, pain, disease, stress, exhaustion, calamity, and all the bad things that happen came as a result of the entrance of sin into the universe (see Genesis 3:14-24). All those evil effects of sin continue to work in the world and will be with us as long as sin is.
First Corinthians 10:13 promises us that God will not permit a greater trial than we can bear. And James 1:13 tells us that God will not tempt us with evil.
God is certainly sovereign over evil. There’s a sense in which it is proper even to say that evil is part of His eternal decree. He planned for it. It did not take Him by surprise. It is not an interruption of His eternal plan. He declared the end from the beginning, and He is still working all things for His good pleasure (Isaiah 46:9-10).
But God’s role with regard to evil is never as its author. He simply permits evil agents to work, then overrules evil for His own wise and holy ends. Ultimately He is able to make all things-including all the fruits of all the evil of all time-work together for a greater good (Romans 8:28).
New Living Translation
“It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.
New Living Translation
And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else.
One of the often-used excuses for rejecting the God of the Bible is if God is omnipotent (as the Bible teaches), and since evil exists in the world (as everyone can see), then God must be the author of evil or incapable of preventing it. Either way, such reasoning insists, that kind of God is not worthy of worship. The most precise description of the all-consuming character of the Creator God is that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). There can be no impurity or inconsistency within the nature of the Godhead. The holy separateness of the Creator is such that no thing, no concept, no act, no thought can ever cause a break within the absolute light of our eternal God.
Final note here: I did not write 90 percent of this. I did, however, think that this subject needed addressed when I read it. I hope this helped. If it did great…if it didn’t…then study this topic further because God will give His children the answer when they are diligent to study His word. I do want to say to a few people who want to also claim that God killed their child/spouse/parent etc…that God is good. My son was killed several years ago which devastated me. I tied to blame God because I didn’t yet know certain things. My son came to me the night after which he was killed and said, “Mom, I am okay, I am just sleeping.” His body slept but his spirit was with God. Another thing was as I said I was really in bad shape after his death. I didn’t want to live and planned to take my own life. I was at the point/moment of this when God spoke to me so clearly… “I did not kill your son.” It was so clear it was almost a shout out loud. Well, I didn’t do it. I went home and put the TV on and there was a well known pastor on TV and he said he had a message for someone. That he was given this message and had no idea who it was for. He said, “God says that He did not kill your son.” Wham!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We all think we know so much and know so little. God is so amazing and good. Why my son died I guess I won’t get to know until in heaven, but I know I will know then even if God doesn’t come out and tell me. I also know there is pure evil in this world and the devil does all he can to destroy people and their life. None of us has all the answers nor will we, but we, by the word of God can know a lot.
So I offer up this lesson…not and you don’t ever have to agree with me because no one has to agree with me or my opinion. I try very hard to just tell the word of God. God speaks for Himself. He doesn’t need my opinion or help but can use me to accomplish whatever “His will is”. I am just an instrument. I am not putting down here on this lesson who wrote what because in my opinion they were deceived. I just put this down here because I want you to search out the truth for yourself and you find that through God and His word. We don’t know everything but when we study the word of God we will answers to many things we didn’t understand. Trust God to show you the truth. Don’t fall for the lies that are out there.
Now may God, our creator bless you, draw you to Him, teach you, guide you, and bless you in so many ways.
God bless you.