God woke me up at 04:00 am. And, man of oh man, has God blown my mind to smithereens.
Much gets vomited regarding evil and its origins with misinformed so-called free thinkers citing, “If God created evil is God good and worthy of being trusted?”
Before unpacking this, from the onset we must walk carefully where angels fear to tread. We must humbly walk in reverence to God’s Authority and Sovereignty, remembering that we cannot judge God. Deludedly, we in our self-glory think we can judge God, which only serves to confirm evil.
So, we pray, “Father God, as we dig into this question of the origin of evil, open our hearts and minds to correctly understand how self-glory spins evil. In Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen.”
‘Enduring Word’ Holy Bible Study guide probes a MASSIVE question from Genesis 2 vs 9 regarding the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’.
“IF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL IS A TOOL FOR GOD TO TEST US, WHERE DID EVIL COME FROM IF NOT FROM GOD?”
But, before we delve into the answer to such a complex question, we need to look at how identity/self is formed, AND how Dunning-Kruger syndrome coupled to self-aggrandising egoism sets up the music that evil dances to.
‘Social Psychology’, Chapter 3- The Social Self, informs us.
But where do peoples self-concepts come from? > five sources:
■ 1) Introspection
■ 2) Perceptions of our own behavior
■ 3) The influences of other people
■ 4) Autobiographical memories
■ 5) The cultures in which we live
– https://personal.us.es/einfante/uploads/DOCENCIA/THE%20SOCIAL%20SELF%20(2019_01_29%2019_15_09%20UTC).pdf
In short, our version of self is based on our understanding, knowledge, experience, and perceptions of ourselves, which is built upon, and within, this life as we know it. And, the limitations of this life, as we know it, are set within boundaries we don’t know how far reaching they are. In short, everything we know is based on limited beliefs that limit us.
WHY?
It is impossible for us as people to know everything about everything without the bias of being influenced by something. Therefore, we must come to terms with the fact that identity/self is not authoritative through our eyes.
Our blinkered understanding creates the (DKS) Dunning-Kruger syndrome (perspective based on limited knowledge) in us. In turn DKS feeds our self-righteousness by stirring emotional attachments to our self defined by our limited knowledge. To self-validate we fall into the trap of self-proclamation, aka self-aggrandising, aka ego.
With that established, we can confidently say that our understanding of life is riddled with self-bias. We can now unpack the question of evil and its origins through the Perspective of God who is All-knowing and without external influence, meaning that God can be objective, whereas we cannot.
‘Reasonable Faith’, William Craig Lane, offers some profound insights into God, and how God is defined, which helps us humble ourselves as we comparatively don’t measure up.
Dr. Lane continues, “The best definition of God as a descriptive term is, I think, St. Anselm’s: the greatest conceivable being. As Anselm observed, if you could think of anything greater than God, then that would be God! The very idea of God is of a being than which there cannot be a greater.
This ‘God definition’ is important to understand in our quest to answer the question of the origin of evil.
Why?
If God is good, and God is, then evil cannot come from God. So how did God come to make a ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ if evil doesn’t exist in God?
Ezekial 28 vs 12-17, tells us of the fall of lucifer, who allowed his own limited perspective of self (being a created creature) to drive his self-glorified ego to misuse God’s gift of free-will.
“You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God…You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings”
So, WHY did lucifer get so upset that he misguidedly thought he could be God?
Circling back to the definition of God, here is a profound question.
How does God confirm Himself to us as the greatest being without granting free will?
In order for us to come to know our limitations, AND for us to know God as good, God cannot be a dictator. Yes, God is Sovereign, but His Sovereignty is simply screamed louder by the fact He knows Himself so well that He knows His Ability over evil which came into existence through attempted self-glorification by a created being.
What do we conclude…..
The existence of evil ONLY SERVES to prove the Goodness of God, because He turns evil in us for good (Romans 8 vs 28), which repeatedly humiliates the devil by showing that evil isn’t stronger than God and His Goodness. This gives us pause, as we step into the warm reality that God wants us to succeed in spiritual wealth through His Goodness through Jesus.
Because of the fall of lucifer, God knew humans would face the pull of evil. But, for God to know us, He has to allow us to be tested by evil to know if our hearts sincerely want Him, so that He can bestow on us His Eternal Power, which was once misused by a misguided creature like ourselves, who opened up the possibility of evil through self-glory.
To prevent, history repeating itself, God set out the rescue plan to save His Most Loved Creation- us- from the grips of evil, yet allowing free will to exist so that not one of us can say when Jesus Returns, “But, I didn’t have a choice. You controlled me to be good, how do You know I wouldn’t choose differently if I had the choice?”
SO, WE HAVE THE CHOICE. WE JUST HAVE NO SAY ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF CHOICE. HOWEVER, WE HAVE THE ENTIRE HOLY BIBLE FILLED WITH EXAMPLES OF WHAT HAPPENS TO GOOD AND evil FOR US TO LEARN FROM.
Now, before we get all sulky about the existence of evil and us being tested, we must understand that our perspective of evil is limited by God because He Loves us SOOOOOOO MUCH that He only allows a limited amount of evil.
2 Thessalonians 2 vs 7:
“For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.”
1 Corinthians 10 vs 13:
“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”
HOW DO WE AVOID ALLOWING EVIL TO PROSPER BY DYING TO SELF-GLORIFICATION?
To quote, ‘The Worship Initiative’:
Waging War
‘ There are certainly more ways than I know to fight the inherent desire to be affirmed by others, and I hope I’ll continue to learn them as long as God lets me go on serving Him this way. But there are a few things that have changed the course of my life and have become essential disciplines for me as a worship leader:
1. Abide. There is nothing more capable of both humbling and satisfying us than time spent at the feet of Jesus. We look at His holiness and it brings us low; we experience His love and it fills us up. Because He is our daily bread, our living water, our all-in-all, our Good Shepherd, our priceless treasure, our loving Father – all of our wants and our failings are met in Him. Little by little we don’t feel the need to look elsewhere for life, and we certainly aren’t confused about who is and is not worthy of praise. This is forever our best tool for every struggle, self-glorification included.
2. Redirect. We are likely to receive words of affirmation and encouragement when we use our gifts, and we will be tempted to dwell on those words when they come. Or, we will become desperately insecure when they do not. We cannot control our inclinations, but we can choose to redirect our thoughts when they depart from what is God-honoring. We’re allowed to be built up by encouragement (this is good!), but at the moment we receive it, we have a choice: 1) let the words echo in our minds until we believe we’ve earned something by our own strength, or 2) turn our joy into worship: Thank you, Jesus, for using me! Thank you for the gift of music that moves people’s hearts. Thank you for letting me serve the Church in spite of my brokenness. Be glorified!
3. Serve. Do something that won’t be seen. Step away from the microphone or put down the instrument and find a way to serve that will get you absolutely no attention. Maybe that’s cleaning the green room after a Sunday; maybe it’s serving behind the scenes once-a-month with your friends on the tech team; maybe it’s giving an elderly church member rides to-and-from church every week. It could be anything! If you think it’s beneath you – even better, because it is a chance to remember that the servant is not greater than the Master (John 15:20). There are two beautiful things that happen when we serve without recognition: 1) we are humbled by the reminder that we are not more important or valuable than the next person just because we’re good at music – we learn to see ourselves as the right size, and 2) we are reminded of who we ultimately serve – God alone. That’s just as true when we’re in front of hundreds or thousands of people, and sometimes we need to step off the stage to realize it. God is glorified in our servanthood.’ – https://theworshipinitiative.com/blog/dying-to-self-glorification
Have a blessed day.
AMEN.
#Hayibo 