The full spectrum of human behavior from tender compassion to inexplicable cruelty is played out around the globe each day. A fortunate child rests peacefully in the womb of a nurturing young mother while in the house next door another lay captive to a woman seeking clinical services for disposal of her unwanted “fetal tissue”. The perpetual struggle between good and evil forces spans the sands of time.
Epic accounts of this eternal conflict have been told and retold throughout history and in each case we yearn for the eventual triumph of goodness, as the alternative conclusion leaves us aching for a rematch, innately sensing something amiss if evil were to get the last word in what we have come to perceive as an orderly universe ruled by a benevolent God.
Oddly enough though when it comes to the commonly held Biblical perspective on the fate of mankind, most are quick to settle for just such a tragic eventuality, one where the vast majority of the human race chooses an eternal allegiance to the dark side. This then begs the question: is our innate human intuition misguided in its bias towards the eventual triumph of goodness or could it be that the Bible actually supports such ‘wishful’ thinking?
Well, for those with eyes to see it, that’s exactly what the Good News is all about. The Bible emphatically states that if God has his way, and moreover that He will have his way, all creatures will ultimately be drawn irresistibly toward the Light in an unmitigated defeat of darkness. Long standing tradition aside, a closer examination of the fatalistic eternal hellfire dogma will expose it for what it is, just another dark misconception of man directly at odds with the revelation of God incarnate.
That’s not to pretend that there aren’t plenty of setbacks along the way with adverse consequences for both God and man alike, and often it appears that evil may come out on top. But such uncertainty in the outcome is experienced only from our limited human perspective, as the final victory is known in advance to the Sovereign One. And through faith in his recorded Word, and in his Word made flesh, we may come to share in this wonderfully triumphant understanding as well.
Now just pause for a moment and let that sink in. The battle against evil was won even before it started. “He was slain from the foundation of the world… for the sins of the whole world” (Revelation 13:8, John 1:29 KJV). If we would allow this proposition to really penetrate our soul, any fear of evil would gradually subside, being replaced by a growing trust in the one who has already defeated it. While Satan may be described explicitly in the Bible as a lion roaming the earth “seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8), implicitly in light of the Gospel, that lion has no teeth when it comes to the eternal fate of our soul.
So then if evil has already lost the war and it is a foregone conclusion that all of Creation will reject it in the end, then just what was its purpose in the first place? After all if God can at any moment snuff it out if so desired and will eventually defeat it anyway, then why did he allow it to exist at all, let alone to spread virtually unabated for so long?
I would propose that he did have a purpose for doing so and that evil was in fact brought into existence to affect a heavenly objective. I believe that it arose primarily by design and not simply through the unwitting lapse in judgement of men or of angels. In spite of its chaotic appearance it is within His control and may rightfully be acknowledged as an indispensable tool in the hand of the skilled Craftsman, a “necessary” evil if you will.
…now stay with me.
Though it be ultimately desirable, a life without pain and suffering and the potential for evil suffers from being nauseatingly unidimensional, lacking the challenge of growth stimulating opposition. I don’t know what it would have been like if Adam & Eve (and everyone since then) would have found the wherewithal to simply trust God eternally with childlike obedience but I have to believe that in order to truly appreciate that original state of innocence we must somewhere along the line be exposed to the tragic consequences of faithless dis-obedience.
In order to develop within us the deeper more fulfilling attributes of love, humility and selflessness we must for a while actualize our potential for hate, arrogance, and narcissism. We must endure the existential emptiness of separation from God in order to subsequently appreciate the bond of His loving intimacy. Jesus aptly alluded to this concept in reference to the unfathomable adoration Mary Magdalene had displayed towards him when he said: “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little” (Luke 7:47 NRSV)
Fortunately this tainted condition of the soul need only be endured for a limited duration in order to do the trick. And indeed God’s “prescription” of evil will run its course in due time as is rendered by an accurate translation of the word ‘aeon’ in numerous Biblical passages which yields… to the end of the age, not forever!
Could God have accomplished this maturity of our souls without the actual experience of evil? Well, apparently not if you recall the agonizing appeal of Jesus in the Gethsemane prayer: “…Lord if it be possible, take this cup from me” (Matthew 26:39 NIV). Evil must be allowed its time on stage in order for us to experience the full impact of redemption.
Accepting then for the moment that evil and suffering must exist in our lives, we may still wonder just how it came about and who is responsible for its inception. The Bible offers but a brief description of the initial event wherein the first woman fell prey to the crafty solicitation of a wily snake in direct disobedience to a simple prohibition from God. Straight away the first man was then easily seduced by the smooth words (and body?) of that same beautiful naked woman – not hard to imagine… and the rest is history. From then on, that same inclination has been aroused daily within each and every one of us as we choose to bend a knee to any of an endless array of lower impulses in violation of what we know intuitively, if not explicitly, to be right.
On the surface this primal narrative leads us inescapably to attribute blame for paradise lost on the poor choices of our original parents alone, and by analogy to all the rest of us as well. But in light of this apparent universal weakness inherent in humanity’s misguided volition, is it reasonable to incriminate the create-ed alone? Is that really a credible assessment, all things considered, or does the Create-or of such a vulnerable creature share in the culpability? When every single student fails a test, does that not reflect on the instructor?
I do not hereby intend to impugn the Creator’s parental proficiency… not at all, in fact quite the opposite. What I am implying instead is that the purpose of the encounter with the snake in the garden was never intended to be understood as a test so much as the first step in a long process of human development, the first act in a play, directed and choreographed by the capable hand of the Master. (See future blog post “Life on Earth: Test vs Process”)
The first human pair may have been given adult bodies but they were as naïve as children, lacking even the ability to conceive of negative consequences, having heretofore never experienced one. Certainly our omniscient Creator easily anticipated the straightforward free will dynamics that would ensue. And so it has been for every child on down the line to the present. Each of us have elicited some parental “assistance” when first given the opportunity to exercise our freedom of choice as we defiantly reached for that object to which we were just denied access.
Why then do we pretend that after initially declaring it all to be “Very Good”, that God was completely blindsided by the sudden turn for the worse? Of course he could not have been! Just exercising a modicum of common sense he would have known the virtual inevitability of catching a ‘fly in the ointment’ once the “kids” were pre-maturely allowed to make choices for themselves. Not only did he obviously expect such infantile rebellion, and here is the bottom line, he was fully prepared to transform that which would otherwise work to degrade or destroy his children into the means of their further enhancement and regeneration.
Knowing that the subsequent suffering unleashed through our predictable rebellion would prove indispensable to our spiritual evolution and that our fall from grace would induce within us an unquenchable longing for permanent reconciliation, then rather than forcibly preventing our destructive plunge into the clutches of evil, he chose to subsequently handle its consequences… grace-fully. And by all rights, having granted a frail humanity full access to Pandora’s Box, would it not be unconscionable for the Good Lord to have handled it otherwise? (See blog post: Responsibility & Glory… HIS vs ours)
And so it is that he has set this all in motion including the provision for full redemption of the ensuing chaos. “All things” he said, including evil, “will work together for good…” (Romans 8:28 NIV). Only a God of unfathomable grandeur could pull that one off.
It is important here to note that his inclusion of the presence of evil from the beginning is not the same as him being evil or practicing evil. It was still within our semi-sovereign choice to submit to it and act upon it. It was then within his fully Sovereign choice to overcome it on our behalf, once activated.
Nonetheless you may protest that in spite of the fact the Scriptures clearly communicate that God is not only able, but absolutely determined to perform as advertised in the sanctification of all things fallen, he had no right introducing evil into the mix considering his lack of personal participation in its dreadful consequences. After all, he would only experience from a distance the immense pain and suffering which would engulf all of humanity throughout history, remaining ever aloof in his untarnished heavenly abode, aside from a brief encounter at the conclusion of his Incarnation.
Fair enough, guilty as charged… that is if it really were the nature of this God to remain insulated from evil’s consequences while allowing his Creation to suffer alone. But once again the Scriptures do not bear this out. Instead there is revealed a God who after demanding a sacrifice of Abraham’s son Isaac, for example, became the sacrificial lamb Himself. And long before the calling of Abraham he had already thrust himself within the depths of the coming madness, even prior to laying the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8, I Peter 1:19,20 KJV).
Implicit within the scope of these verses is the notion that Christ’s agony on the cross and the bloody beatings preceding that horrific punishment must be seen to represent but a snapshot of a broader reality, providing just a glimpse of the entirety of the Father’s continual immanent immersion in the sum total of all human suffering throughout the ages (see blog post “Unveiled Glory another look at Christ” for a full discussion of this point). Wherever and whenever the innocent suffer, He is there, truly feeling their pain in all its intensity. And only when all pain ceases and evil be completely overcome throughout all Creation will He come down from His cross, and the “revealing of the transformed Sons of God” in the Body of Christ will stand as an eternal witness to His sovereignty, wisdom and love.
Finally, in light of the foregoing discussion of the Biblical revelation of God’s outright victory over evil, let’s briefly consider a couple of verses concerning the origin of evil which are not commonly quoted. If mentioned at all they are quickly explained away in some manner so as to protect God’s image and to ensure His fingerprint on the presence of evil is duly obscured. But heretofore, and in numerous other blog posts, having at length uncovered the reality of God’s plan for reconciliation of all creation thus eliminating forever the damage wrought by submission to evil, we need not dance around Scriptures that lay the ultimate responsibility for its very existence at his feet… such as:
“Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?” (Amos 3:6 KJV)
I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things. (Isaiah 45:7 KJV)
And then there’s the entire book of Job which portrays God standing by as his servant the Devil administers incomprehensibly overwhelming doses of suffering to Job and his family. Or what about the hardening of Pharoh’s heart, thereby “needlessly” extending the suffering of the Israelites while apparently sealing the fate of Pharoh’s soul to a hellish demise.
From a traditional framework it would be impossible to imagine that a loving God could actually act in such a reckless manner, knowing full well not only of evil’s horrific effect on the individuals concerned and on subsequent world events but worse yet the literally unending torment it would bring upon most of His children who would fall prey to its delusion… with or without His intentional “hardening” of their hearts!
On the other hand when it be understood that He subjected even Himself to evil’s consequences and in the midst of it all declared the eternal victorious outcome to be well worth the temporal agony for all concerned, it may provide sufficient pause for even a critically thinking individual to offer their assent to just such a wide band of creative discretion.
One such critically thinking individual was that man of good repute mentioned above named Job, who after vigorously challenging the equity of his fate, was willing to do just that – to let God be Sovereign. He had been taught through his intense suffering that even the devastating forces of utter chaos (as referenced in the forms of Leviathon & Behemoth) are no match for the scope of God’s immeasurable redemptive restorative capability. When all was said and done, Job had been more than compensated for his seemingly unwarranted torment and was moved to cry out that which became the inspiration for the initial posting of this blog: “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him”.
The battle between Good and evil is therefore fully circumscribed within the bounds of God’s omnipotence. They are not two coequal opposing ‘forces’ on a cosmic battlefield as portrayed in the ‘Star Wars’ series where the ultimate victor is yet to be revealed. The overarching premise presented in the Scriptures speaks of a singular Sovereign (God) that makes temporary use of a subordinate servant (Devil) according to His will alone to create a heavenly family including all of mankind. (See blog post “The Gospel According to Willy Wonka”, referencing the Gene Wilder movie where Wonka secretly employs “evil” Mr. Slugworth)
So in light of this discussion, the presence of evil in our world may be reckoned perhaps more bearable knowing that the God of Love does not exempt himself from its ill effects and further endorses its value as a temporary but absolutely essential grit in the grindstone of life’s character building process whereby all will be conformed to His glorious image.