“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31 (ESV)
We are surrounded by evil on a daily basis: murders, terrorist attacks. It’s why we have a court system and why I taco’d that rail. Well… maybe not that last one, but it sure felt evil. You need to only peep your local news source for a minute to see the evil in this world. Being so prevalent, where did it come from? We read in Genesis 1:31 that God created all things and that it was good. This verse has two main points. God made everything and that everything He created was good. How could God have created evil and seen it as good?
Evil, like darkness, is only present when God, like the light from our science lesson, is removed.
Let’s take a quick side trail science lesson. We all know and have seen light. It’s how we see. We have natural light from the sun, or we can create it (i.e a flashlight). It can be measured, proven, and created. Then there’s opposite of light: dark. We have seen darkness, but can we create darkness? Do we have a machine that we can turn on and out comes darkness? Darkness does not actually exist. There is no particle or wave called dark. Darkness is only the absence of light. Once all the light has been removed, dark cannot be made darker.
1 John 4:8 tells us that, “Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.” If God created all things and they were good, and if the reason that those that don’t show love is because they don’t know God, then what evil really is, is the absence of God.
Challenge
- This week as you hear the news, try to look at the evil acts being committed, not as inherently evil but as someone that needs Jesus! Where do you see evil around you in your everyday life?
- How can you be the light of Jesus in that darkness?
- Use it as motivation to be bold for Christ! The more we shine the love of Jesus into the darkness, the less evil in the world there can be. YOU can literally make the world a better place!
By Cory Holton| Dillon, CO