God’s Victory Over Evil

Even before God created man, His created beings (Angels) were allowed to have choice. For without the power of choice, any created being would be operating on a pre-program. Those beings that existed before mankind however, lived in His presence and the choice was an easy one. But given eternity, eventually one (Lucifer/Satan) made the choice to go astray.  If God’s response was just to annihilate those who chose evil, that wouldn’t be true victory because it would still leave questions about His justice and it wouldn’t be true freedom of choice. But evil (sin) must be given an appropriate penalty by a righteous God, otherwise He would not be righteous; and that’s also what identifies evil and separates it from good [1]. So God out of His wisdom and love devised a plan to gain total victory over evil and sin. He made man on earth with limited access to Him and put a forbidden tree in his environment that he was not to eat from. Satan also had access to man and enticed him to eat (true choice with input from both sides). When man ate from the forbidden tree, sin and evil entered into this world. When sin happens it brings about death. Death is the consequence for sin [2]. Death means separation from the body, and separation in our relationship to God, which is another type of death, for He is the Source of life.

But God did not turn His back on His creation; He sent His Son to live as a man amongst the sin and evil. Jesus then paid the price for sin out of His love for mankind by being crucified on a Cross [3]. By doing this, He has won an eternal victory over evil [4], because no evil being can ever point an accusatory finger at God saying that He keeps Himself or His beings sheltered (brainwashed). He also demonstrated and affirmed His great love for those He created in His image.

God is Holy, which means He is completely good. There is no impurity of evil in Him. He will not allow any trace of evil in His Kingdom (Thank God!). Because He loves us as His children, He chose to make provision for our wrong choices (sin), so we can enter into His presence. Jesus, pure and holy, gave His life by dying on the Cross and took the punishment of sin (death) upon Himself. He cancelled out the curse of death. His life for our death.

Prior to the first sin, Adam and Eve were not self-conscious “the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” [5]. Who they were as people was so identified in their relationship to God and the Garden that they had no need to look to themselves for value. The original sin in the garden involved lust (a form of selfishness), and self-promotion [6]. The self-promotion aspect of the sin was their desire to be like God [7]. These are the ingredients of every sin since. In fact, our desire to be on the throne of our own life is at the root of most of our sins. What this has done is created an Identity/ego problem. We are all striving to be “somebody”. This is what the Bible calls “idol” worship, trying to find our value outside of our relationship with God. By being disconnected from our true value that we have from our creator, we try to find value for ourselves. The problem with that is that it will never fully satisfy, and it creates divisions among people as it will cause criticalness, judgmentalism, prejudices, jealousies and not to mention, feelings of superiority. These attitudes lead to violence, hate, and wars.

As a result of sin we have evil in this world; but we also have good. God’s Kingdom is about giving, loving, and accepting. Whenever an act of good is cited here on earth, it always involves sacrifice, giving, or an act of love. Satan is the originator of evil. His system is based on self promotion and selfishness [8]. Whenever there is an act of evil there is selfishness or self promotion behind it. All of us are capable of both, but it boils down to the choices we make. The Bible encourages us to choose the God of Heaven (Joshua 24:15).

We are all affected by sin and evil throughout our lives. And some of you have been touched by the darkest evil. But, our hope is not in this world and you can live a redeemed life and find purpose by accepting God’s forgiveness and getting strength from Him to forgive those who have hurt you and to make life better for others [9]. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” [10] That was said by a man (the apostle Paul) who was scourged five times (whipped 39 times across the back), beaten with rods three times, and on one occasion, thrown stones at until presumably dead.

God is good, don’t let evil cloud your eyes. Evil is not of God. God is using this world to overcome evil once and for all [11].
Of all the religions of the world, Christianity provides the clearest explanation of evil and also offers the best solution. Christianity offers the best prescription for society. If you are not a believer, I encourage you to investigate the claims and historicity of the Bible.

Our hope is not in this life, but in the One who has overcome sin and death [12] and invites us to accept Him [13] as our Lord and Savior [14] to spend eternity with Him as part of His love filled Kingdom.

[1] Hebrews 2:2,3
[2] Genesis 2:17
[3] Colossians 2:14
[4] Hebrews 2:14
[5] Genesis 2:25
[6] Genesis 3:6
[7] Genesis 3:5
[8] Isaiah 14:12-19
[9] Romans 12:21
[10] 2 Corinthians 4:17
[11] 2 Corinthians 11:24-25[12]Colossians 2:15, Ephesians 2:7
[13] John 16:33
[14] Matthew 11:28
[15] Romans 10:9