GOOD and EVIL - INSIGHT MEANS SEEING INTO THE FUNDAMENTAL NATURE OF REALTY

God is goodness and Truth. Satan is evil and the father of lies. Evil is anything contrary to the nature or will of God. These two forces are in conflict, in a struggle, a battle, a war.

These forces are in conflict in three different realms: in nature, in the natural world, and in our hearts (soul).

An Apple has two kinds of worms. When eggs are laid on the tree’s branches they produce worms that attack the Apple from the outside into the inside. When eggs are laid inside the apple they produce worms that attack the Apple from the inside out. Because they are out of view it is more difficult to see how much damage is being done. Just as there are two types of worms there are two types of evil.

Evil from the Outside in - Nature   

The good in nature came about at the time of creation when God pronounced each step “good.” When Adam and Eve disobeyed God, God cursed the earth. Thus we have both good and bad. The same plot of ground has both beautiful flowers and noxious weeds. Some days are sunny and peaceful but the next day may bring earthquakes, tornadoes, floods and drought. These events are indiscriminate in that they affect some people but not others. This randomness of peace and chaos seems unfair. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends the rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” Matthew 5:45. God does not always protect us from these things but he does give us the courage, hope, and ingenuity to deal with them.

Evil from the Outside in the Natural World   

The evil in the world affects us from the outside. Hitler in Nazi Germany had his gas chambers, Stalin had his gulag, Mao had his re-education program, Kim ll-sung had his work camps, Sadam Hussein had is torture cells. Together they killed tens of millions of innocent people. Today we have murderers, rapists, kidnappers, drug addicts, drug dealers and Islamic terrorists who occupy our neighborhoods and invade our homes. We have 27 million people held in slavery. We have millions of people living refugee camps under hopeless conditions.  We have 2 billion people trapped in poverty living on less than $2.00 per day. The world is an evil place that affects lots of innocent people.

God is a God of peace, but war was declared when Lucifer and his angels rebelled against God. The war is both celestial and earthly. Celestial war is described in Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Earthly wars can be just or unjust. Just wars can be used if they are to crush evil and establish good. God uses war to accomplish his will. Unjust wars are evil wars where an aggressive nation wants control over another nation.

During World War II, General Eisenhower and General MacArthur ordered that cities of the enemy bombed and invaded. They were honorable men and knew that thousands of innocent people would die. But they calculated by ending the war sooner they could save many more lives and go on to promote goodness. Thus the evil of war was used to serve God’s purposes and to make peace.

These things are like worms the go from the outside to the inside.

Good from The Outside

There is lots of good in this world. Every day billions of people produce goods and services for themselves and others. The hungry are fed, sick are healed, the homeless are given shelter, and people hear the good news of the gospel for the first time. People gather to have fun and be entertained. People care for each other. The world can be a good place.

Thus, the world is both a good place and bad place and there is conflict between them.

Evil from the Inside Out

God made man in his own image and everything went fine until Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan. Not only were their souls corrupted, every human being inherited a corrupt soul.

While the dictators listed above had evil in their minds they also had evil in their heart. Each one of us has the potential of not controlling our minds and committing the same kind of evil acts. The human heart is desperately wicked but because of the grace of God (Common Grace) we are still capable of good.

We have a worm inside of us.

When we invite Christ into our heart he gives us power over evil but there is still a tension between good and evil. “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Romans 7:15

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Why do we need to understand good? Because we need to practice it every day in our personal lives, in our culture, and in our world. Why do we need to understand evil? Because we encounter it every day and we need to know how to deal with it. During World War II in North Africa there was an armored tank battle led by the American General George Patton against German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel. The Americans were winning when Patton declared “I read your book.” Because he had read Rommel’s book he knew his tactics and was able to position the American tanks to outgun the Germans. Just as Patton won the battle because he knew the tactics of the enemy, we must understand the tactics of The Great Deceiver.

While we can win the battles we cannot win the war. Only when Christ returns and he casts the devil, his angels and his spirits into the abyss can we declare victory in the war with evil.