Evil can be thought of as the absence of good. Another way to think of it is as the opposite of good. Some may say “bad karma”.
An evolutionary worldview
Evil would be fully expected in an evolutionary worldview, based on “survival of the fittest”, and “dog eat dog”, for each to get ahead individually. It would just depend on whether you were the ‘eater’ or the ‘eaten’.
However, based on a worldview with God as the law maker of what is truth and what is right, the definer of good and evil, then it all depends on the choices that we make. God has given us free choice, because he loves us, the people he has created.
“I love you”
In fact, we have to realise that in a world without choices, the true meaning of “I love you” would be lost. The ability to love others is void and meaningless without the power to choose. God wanted us to experience the reality of choosing to love him. Along with that gift, God knew the great risk was the possibility of evil. Our responsibility to act on that possibility rests with us, not God.
The hidden evil – “the prince of this world”
There is also Satan, one of the leading powerful angels created by God. Angels, as well as people, were given free choice by God. Satan chose to rebel against his creator, and led a rebellion with about a third of the lesser powerful angels.
God banished them out of his immediate presence, and they came to earth. Satan leads them in inciting and aiding people in rebelling with them against God. It is very interesting that Jesus called Satan, “the prince of this world”.
We can be the source of evil, along with Satan and ‘demons’.
When asked about something similar, Jesus said,
“What comes out of a person is what defiles them. [21] For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, [22] adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. [23] All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”
Mark 7:20 (NIV) (http://www.laridian.com)
We can choose to love and obey God, living to please him. Or we can choose to rebel, and live to please ourselves. God loves us enough to not force us to love him.
However, later, God will be God, and we won’t be. Now we can choose how to live, but then we won’t be able to choose the consequences. That’s when both justice and judgement will be displayed, and evil will finally be dealt with…
What do you think?
