Good and evil

If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:11

When Richard Smith spoke at a workshop on a Christian approach to counseling, he talked about the fact that we were created in the image of God, yet the human heart is dark and evil. A man objected, feeling that he had gone too far. As Richard explained his position, the man retorted, “It depends on which side of the horse you get off.” Looking back Richard says he should have responded, “Why can’t we just stay on the horse?” The reality is that both are true.

The Bible says exactly what Richard Smith was trying to get across: Humankind is fallen, that evil is real and exists in the human heart. How else can we explain the flow of history, man’s inhumanity to his fellow man?

The existence of evil in the world is both moral and theological. You’ll find more than 400 biblical references to the subject. It began as a small trickle in the Garden of Eden and became a vast flowing river with no boundaries that spread upon the entire world, terminating with the fall of Babylon or the world system described in the book of Revelation.

Evil is part of the fabric of redemption because had there been no evil in the hearts of men and women, there would have been no need for forgiveness, for salvation and for redemption.

The reality is that sin is evil and that which is evil is also sinful. And resolving that issue required the death of God’s Son, who will someday return and purge the world of evil. Until then, good and evil coexist, and it’s up to you to decide which side you are on.