Source of Evil

Of all enigmas of man, and there are many, one of the most perplexing is the proclivity to blame God for bad things while refusing to acknowledge the existence of Satan. Why is it so hard to see that an adversarial being exists in the spirit realm?

It is not just that men like Adolph Hitler and Osama Bin Laden have lived or that evil men have always existed, but there are such destructive factors in nature. How could a loving God with all power create tornadoes, hurricanes, deserts and poisonous animals?

Koala bears may look cuddly but they are neither bears or cuddly. Teddy bears, created in the image of the sometimes vicious Koala, are warm and fuzzy toys for children. Why didn’t God make the Koala like that? Or did he? So much of what is good in creation has been corrupted. Is it possible the Koala was made as cuddly as the Teddy bear but someone corrupted the nature of what was created to be a child’s pet?

Isaiah prophesies a time when the wolf will dwell with the lamb; when a child will play with snakes; when a child will lead a lion. (Isaiah 11:6; 65:25) But the question is, “If God intended the lion and lamb to eat together, why doesn’t it happen today? Has something happened to corrupt creation?

If the desert was created to blossom like a rose, why doesn’t it happen now? God pronounced creation good on the day it was completed. What happened? Who corrupted the environment and the nature of animals?

When Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles he said Jesus must stay in heaven until the “restitution of all things.” (Acts 3:21) Restitution means restoring something that was formerly there and was lost.

But the biggest loss was the innocence of man. When the first two humans were placed on the earth, they were pure and innocent. Someone influenced them and the world has never been the same.

There have always been evil influences. There are forms of government that incline toward man’s baser instincts. After World War II many people wondered how otherwise kind and generous neighbors could become Nazi officers who performed heinous crimes against innocent people. When evil men centralize power into authoritative governments the possibility of evil is almost limitless. When it happened at the Tower of Babel, “...the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”(Gen 11:6)

The sad fact is that most humans can be influenced to do evil things. Once when a community rejected Jesus his disciples were angered. James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy the village but Jesus chastised them saying, “You don’t know what spirit you are of.” (Luke 9:55)

There is a spirit of evil influence. John writes in the Book of Revelation that this evil being has “deceived the whole world.” (Rev. 12:9)

Monday the Church of God will celebrate the Day of Atonement. This is the day that pictures, prophecies if you will, a time when the being that has influenced the world to do evil will be imprisoned for all eternity. No more will he have access to humans to corrupt what God has created to be good. Finally the environment will be clean, the nature of animals will be gentle, and the nature of human beings will be incorruptible.

Until next time,