"Did God create all things? For someone who believes in God, the obvious answer is yes; however, there are some who say (particularly hard line Calvinists) "if God created all things, then it follows that evil must have been created by God too" (see blog #30); however, evil is not a thing like a rock or electricity. Evil has no existence of its own, instead, evil is defined as the absence of good. When God created the world and everything in it, all that He created was good. And one of the good things that God created was mankind who had the freedom to choose the good that God created or the freedom to reject it. In order to have a real choice, God allowed mankind and His angels to choose good or to reject good. After His creation was complete, the Lord saw everything that He had made, and said "behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31)
Perhaps a further illustration will help: If a person is asked "does darkness exist"? The answer would likely be yes; however, technically or scientifically speaking, this is incorrect. Darkness is a void. Albert Einstein defined darkness as the absence of light. Another way to put it, is that darkness is not a property, but light is. Einstein's definition works in the realm of physics, and is an excellent illustration of how evil works in the spiritual realm; thus from a biblical perspective. Evil is the absence of good. God did not create evil, rather He allowed for the absence of good, which in turn allows for evil to happen. Allowing something and creating something are two completely different things. If God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, then both mankind and His angels would be serving God out of compulsion and obligation, not out of choice. God did not want robots that simply did what He wanted them to do because of their programming (Read Blog #6 - Divine Robotics). God allowed for the possibility of evil so that we can genuinely have a free will and choose whether or not we want to love and serve Him. As finite human beings, we can never fully understand an infinite God (Romans 11:33-34). The essence of God's love is based on choice. Having a choice does not mean that we are the authors of our own salvation, for salvation is of God, and God alone, but God allows us the choice to freely accept His love or reject it. For more on this topic. please read the comment section of this blog.
"If God did not make the devil do it, then who did? More simply, who made the devil. The biblical answers to these questions are: God did not make the devil and He did not make the devil do it. Rather God made a good Angel called Lucifer, who became the devil by his own free choice to sin".
Sometimes we think we understand why God is doing something, only to find out later it was for a different purpose than we originally thought. God looks at things from a holy, spiritual and eternal perspective. We look at things from a sinful, earthly and temporal perspective. Why did God put man on earth knowing that Adam and Eve would sin and therefore bring evil, death and suffering on all of mankind? Why didn't He just create us all and leave us in heaven where we would be perfect and without suffering? These questions can not be answered adequately on this side of eternity. What we can know, is that what ever God does is holy and perfect and will ultimately glorify Him. God allowed for the possibility of evil in order to give us a true choice in regards to whether we worship and love Him. God did not create evil, but He allowed it.
Regarding the video below. I am not certain if it is a fact or fiction, but it is an excellent illustration of the simple truth that God is not the creator of evil.
Just because God can do something
doesn't mean He will do it.
Please see the related blogs: #25, #30 & #31
Albert Einstien defined very simply He simply said "Darkness is the absence of light". Another way to put it is that darkness is not a property, but light is. Darkness is simply the absence of this light.
ReplyDeleteHis definition works, both physically (in physics), and pychologically/spiritually/emotionally
Apologetics Press:
ReplyDeletehttp://apologeticspress.org/articles/2172
Q. The text of Isaiah 45:7 seems to indicate that God “creates evil.” Is this correct?
A. In Isaiah 45:7, the prophet wrote of God: “I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am Jehovah, that doeth all these things.” On occasion, unbelievers appeal to this verse in an attempt to involve the Bible in a moral difficulty, since the text seems to suggest that God “created” evil. How should a Christian respond to such a charge?
First of all, the verse can have no reference to moral evil (wickedness) for such is opposed to the infinitely holy nature of God (Isaiah 6:3). Jehovah is a “God of faithfulness and without iniquity”(Deuteronomy 32:4). He is “not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness” (Psalm 5:4). Nor can it be supposed that this verse has to do with Jehovah’s original creation, for at the termination of the creation week, the Lord saw “everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).
The context of Isaiah 45:7, along with several passages of similar import, reveals the truth of the matter. Jehovah—through the prophet Isaiah—prophetically announced to King Cyrus of Persia (a century-and-a-half before the monarch’s birth!) His intention of using this pagan king as an instrument of His holy will. Within Isaiah 45:1-7 is a majestic affirmation of the universal sovereignty of the Almighty God; indeed, there is none like Him (vs. 5). He thus affirms: “I form light, and create darkness [i.e., control nature]; I make peace, and create evil [i.e., exercise control over the nations]; I am Jehovah that doeth all these things.”
Notice how the word “evil” is used in obvious contrast to “peace.” Isaiah simply was stating that Jehovah has the power to cause peaceful conditions to exist, or to bring about evil (i.e., destruction). Consider another verse. God warned the Israelites that if they made an alliance with Egypt, He would bring evil upon them [i.e., punishment (cf. Isaiah 31:1-2)]. Again, in describing the coming judgment upon ancient Babylon, the prophet declared: “Therefore shall evil come upon thee; thou shall not know the dawning thereof and mischief shall fall upon thee; thou shalt not be able to put it away; and desolation shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou knoweth not” (Isaiah 47:11). Thus, the evil that God sent was a desolation—a desolation due on account of their wickedness!
Scholars have observed that “evil” can be used with a purely secular meaning to denote physical injury (Jeremiah 39:12), or times of distress (Amos 6:3)—which is its significance in Isaiah 45:7 (see Harris, et al., 1980, 2:855).
REFERENCES
Harris, R.L. G.L. Archer, and B.K. Waltke, (1980), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago, IL: Moody).
What Must One "Do" to Be Saved?
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite verses in the Bible is Ephesians 2:8-9 which says "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast". Another favorite is Galatians 2:21 which says " I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing! Salvation is a gift that can not be earned. We just have to believe (accept it) pure and simple.
When it comes to the gift described in Ephesians, many Calvinists have a difficult time of accepting the idea a person can choose to accept or reject God's gift. Because if a person is given a choice to believe and put their trust in Christ then salvation would depend on their own works which Calvinists believe gives a person the power over their own salvation, which in turn becomes a work and ultimately detracts from the sovereignty of God; thus, Calvinists claim the gift described in Ephesians is not salvation, but rather faith. The subtle change from salvation to faith changes the entire meaning of what the gift mentioned in Ephesians represents. This change is necessary to support the teachings of John Calvin and what Calvinists believe.
The basic problem for the Calvinist is a failure to see that God could sovereignly give a person the power of genuine choice. … Giving a person the power to make a choice need not diminish God’s control over His universe. 'Being omnipotent and omniscient, God can so arrange circumstances as to keep a person’s rebellion from interfering with His purposes. In fact, God can and even does use a person’s free will to help fulfill His own plans and thus be even more glorified."
Furthermore, Calvinists have a difficult time accepting the idea that a person must put forth any effort in order to receive God's gift of salvation. . The idea is since God’s grace cannot be earned or merited, then anyone who claims that human effort is involved in its acceptance of the gift is in error. Clearly, though, many scriptures indicate that man’s efforts are not always categorized as works of merit.
To help illustrate this point, consider the following scenarios: If a friend wanted to give you $1,000,000, but said that in order to receive the million dollars you had to pick up a check at his house, take it to the bank, sign it, and cash it. Would any rational person conclude that this gift was earned? Of course not. Even though some effort was exerted to receive the gift, the effort was not a work of merit.
Similarly, consider a young boy who is on the verge of drowning in the middle of a small lake. If a man heard his cries, and then proceeded to save the boy by running to the edge of the lake, grabbing an inner tube, tying some rope around it, and throwing it out to the young boy who was struggling to stay afloat, would any witness to this event describe the young boy as “saving himself” (or “earning” his rescue) because he had to exert the energy to grab the inner tube and hold on while being pulled onto the bank by the passerby? No. A gift is still a gift even when the one receiving it must exert a certain amount of effort in order to possess it. The New Testament leaves no doubt that the grandest of all gifts (salvation through Christ—a spiritual gift that was in God’s mind “before the foundation of the world”—Ephesians 1:4; 3:11) is not the result of any kind of meritorious work on the part of man. The apostle Paul stressed this point several times in his writings.
John 1:12 "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God"
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the gift of salvation that God extends to the whole world (John 3:16), there is something that must be done on the part of the individual. They must receive the gift, and this is done by believing in Christ and Christ alone for thier salvation. When the jailor at Philippi, asked "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" (Acts 16:30), notice the response from Paul and Silas, they did not say “There is nothing for you to do. ..just wait, and the gift of faith will come to you.” But instead they responded by instructing the Philippian jailor and his household to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31).
John 3:16 is just one verse, but I believe it contains the essence of the Gospel message "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life". God's gift of salvation is for the whole world, it can not be earned. We just have to believe, and receive His precious gift, pure and simple!