Jesus My Lord and Savior
Jesus has changed my life and I want the world to know how much he loves them.
Did God Create Evil?
I had a young student ask me that question the other day at our youth group. She was being honest when she asked me “Did God create evil”. It caused me to pause and to think carefully about how to respond so that she would understand. God is a good and loving father. God did not create evil and sin, those are something that our enemy Satan is responsible for. She was trying to process when sin was introduced through the Serpent because God created everything.
This made me think about giving her a good response so that she could understand but this morning it made me think that others may be just as confused. No God did not create evil or sin. Evil and sin were introduced in that moment when Eve ate from the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. But it was Satan that brought sin and evil into the world.
Yes God created everything including the angels. Yes Satan was an angel that was cast out of heaven. But this I know God is good and loving. God is constantly fighting to win us back into relationship with him. Just as Jesus said “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed.” The same would be true for the Kingdom of Heaven as for the Kingdom of Darkness. God did not create sin and evil just so that his glory could be shown when it was overcome. No just as Jesus says “For who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger – someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house.”
Our strong and mighty God is more powerful than Satan, and it is because of this that sin and evil can be overcome. It is the light of our powerful and mighty God that puts out the darkness that sin and evil linger in. It was pride and a desire for power that caused Satan to be cast out of heaven. It was not because God created evil or sin.
I may not have all the answers and the only one that does is the Holy Spirit. But this I do know, God is Good and loving. God created man so that he could have a relationship with us. That relationship was broken with sin. But ever since sin entered the world God has been trying to bring his children back into right standing with himself. God introduced the law and the 10 commandments after rescuing the people of Israel from Egypt. This was done to bring freedom, but as it says in Romans 8:3-4 “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”
Yes the law of Moses was unable to bring the salvation we needed because of our sinful nature. But when we allow the Holy Spirit to guide our lives it leads us to life and peace. The control of sin is broken, and we change our thinking not because we are forced to but because we are children of God, and we desire to walk in right standing with the Father. I don’t know about you, but I know that this is true. When I was allowing my sinful nature to control my life it brought so much suffering into my life. But when I started a relationship with Jesus that all started to change. It was not anything that was forced, but a gradual change from within. I stopped thinking about sinful things and my thoughts changed to Godly things.
I also know that God does not desire for us to be punished for doing things that are wrong or sinful, rather that is the consequence of our own actions. God does always give us the option that will provide a better outcome and keep us in right standing but it always really comes down to our free will. How will I handle my free will? Will I allow the Holy Spirit to guide me in making good and wise decisions with my free will, or will I allow the enemy to guide me in making poor choices and unwise decisions with my free will? I once was a slave to sin, but now I am a child of God. That is my declaration that I make over myself.
When you choose to follow Jesus then you have become a child of God. Yes you are no longer a slave to fear or sin. But you are now an heir of God’s glory. When you choose to follow Jesus you start to change, you find that shift in your thoughts. It is a gradual change but it can be a radical change as well. We have a powerful and mighty Father in Heaven. He is the God that makes impossible suddenly become possible. He is the God of miracles. He is a loving and caring Father that chose you and I long before anything was even created. Yes you were chosen before creation.
Ask Holy Spirit to help you have a deeper understanding of the goodness of Father God, and the truth will be revealed to you. Holy Spirit will take you through the word and will reveal the truth to you. Remember those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. But those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things. “For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.” But if you belong to Christ then you have the Spirit of God living in you. The Spirit gives you life and freedom. It is the power of Christ that helps you to overcome your sinful nature and to put your sinful nature to death.
Jesus My Lord and Savior 