-------------- snip ---------------
September 25, 2007
Good afternoon family.
It's good to be back as I missed you guys. Ryan, thanks for holding down the fort while we were out on vacation. That's how it should be. When your brothers/sisters are out, other brothers and sisters step in to fill the void. So, again thanks bro-ham. Today will be our final day on the study on evil. Again, I was pulling a lot of this information from the chapter called Questions About Evil in the book "When Skeptics Ask" and I was urged by the Holy Spirit to share with you all. I pray that you all got something out of it because if not I did *LOL*. Well without delay let's go to it.
In reference to evil, one might think that if God knows all things, why didn't He foresee that the world would be flooded with evil. That's something that we cannot overlook as it is a valid question, but, you then have to ask the following question. If God did not create this world, then what other options did He have? God could have "a) not created anything, b) created a world without free creatures, c) created free creatures that would not sin, [or] d) created free creatures who would sin but would all be saved in the end."1 By the way, I am not saying this is an exhaustive list for the Lord. Let's look at each one briefly.
A) ...not created anything. - Yep, God could have not created anything but this is a moot point. We know that God created something out of His love and made man in his likeness (see Genesis 1:27). Had God creating nothing we would not be having this conversation.
B) ...created a world without free creatures - We've already answered this one before. It is free will that allows us to love one another. For God to create non-free creatures would be evil in itself.
C) ...created free creatures that would not sin - Now this is a possibility. Adam was created with free will and without sin before the apple incident. "Jesus did it throughout His whole life (Hebrews 4:15)."1 This is a great idea in theory but making theory reality is another thing. This is like saying we can make a car that will never need "gassing up" or recharging. GM, Ford, Nissan & Toyota could tell us this is a great idea but making it happen is a totally different story. It's all pretty theoretical. The way that God guarantees we would not sin is to alter our freedom a little bit. See where this is going? Tamper or altering our freedom to make us [not] do something is dabbling in evil. Of course this is impossible of God.
D) ...created free creatures who would sin but would all be saved in the end - Well this is almost like our world today but has one problem. Not all will be saved and this goes against biblical teachings. Mark 16:16 says, that "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." We know that hell is real and all those who turn a deaf ear to the Lord will not go to heaven. God does not force us to love Him as "forced love is rape; and God is not a divine rapist"1 (this one was good, I had to use this quote).
So, God ultimately chose this world. In this world we have freedom to choose and this choice is a grace from God. In that we have free will, we are free to love God, free to hate God or free to be neutral. Either way, the choice is up to us. Evil is a matter of choice and we can either choose God or choose evil. Even the evil that we cannot control or appear to be pointless (sickness, death, etc.) still give us choices. In the midst of it all, we can choose God or not. In the end evil will be overcome as God will separate good and evil with heaven and hell. Again, I ask why not this world? "Ultimately, we must trust God who knows the beginning from the end and sees the grand picture. He will have the final word and He will be vindicated."2
Be Blessed Gang and have a good one!
1 Geisler, Norman and Brooks, Ron. When Skeptics Ask. Copyright 1990. pp. 69-74.
2 CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS AND RESEARCH MINISTRY. http://www.carm.org/questions/suffering.htm-------------- snip ---------------
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22
September 25, 2007
Good afternoon family.
It's good to be back as I missed you guys. Ryan, thanks for holding down the fort while we were out on vacation. That's how it should be. When your brothers/sisters are out, other brothers and sisters step in to fill the void. So, again thanks bro-ham. Today will be our final day on the study on evil. Again, I was pulling a lot of this information from the chapter called Questions About Evil in the book "When Skeptics Ask" and I was urged by the Holy Spirit to share with you all. I pray that you all got something out of it because if not I did *LOL*. Well without delay let's go to it.
Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."Yep, there it is again. If you ever picked up a bible, the first sentence you read in the Old Testament is the above verse. Pretty simple in idea, but let's keep in mind, God CHOSE to create this world. You do realize that He had choices? I mean why not - He is God and has all power in his hands.
In reference to evil, one might think that if God knows all things, why didn't He foresee that the world would be flooded with evil. That's something that we cannot overlook as it is a valid question, but, you then have to ask the following question. If God did not create this world, then what other options did He have? God could have "a) not created anything, b) created a world without free creatures, c) created free creatures that would not sin, [or] d) created free creatures who would sin but would all be saved in the end."1 By the way, I am not saying this is an exhaustive list for the Lord. Let's look at each one briefly.
A) ...not created anything. - Yep, God could have not created anything but this is a moot point. We know that God created something out of His love and made man in his likeness (see Genesis 1:27). Had God creating nothing we would not be having this conversation.
B) ...created a world without free creatures - We've already answered this one before. It is free will that allows us to love one another. For God to create non-free creatures would be evil in itself.
C) ...created free creatures that would not sin - Now this is a possibility. Adam was created with free will and without sin before the apple incident. "Jesus did it throughout His whole life (Hebrews 4:15)."1 This is a great idea in theory but making theory reality is another thing. This is like saying we can make a car that will never need "gassing up" or recharging. GM, Ford, Nissan & Toyota could tell us this is a great idea but making it happen is a totally different story. It's all pretty theoretical. The way that God guarantees we would not sin is to alter our freedom a little bit. See where this is going? Tamper or altering our freedom to make us [not] do something is dabbling in evil. Of course this is impossible of God.
D) ...created free creatures who would sin but would all be saved in the end - Well this is almost like our world today but has one problem. Not all will be saved and this goes against biblical teachings. Mark 16:16 says, that "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." We know that hell is real and all those who turn a deaf ear to the Lord will not go to heaven. God does not force us to love Him as "forced love is rape; and God is not a divine rapist"1 (this one was good, I had to use this quote).
So, God ultimately chose this world. In this world we have freedom to choose and this choice is a grace from God. In that we have free will, we are free to love God, free to hate God or free to be neutral. Either way, the choice is up to us. Evil is a matter of choice and we can either choose God or choose evil. Even the evil that we cannot control or appear to be pointless (sickness, death, etc.) still give us choices. In the midst of it all, we can choose God or not. In the end evil will be overcome as God will separate good and evil with heaven and hell. Again, I ask why not this world? "Ultimately, we must trust God who knows the beginning from the end and sees the grand picture. He will have the final word and He will be vindicated."2
Be Blessed Gang and have a good one!
1 Geisler, Norman and Brooks, Ron. When Skeptics Ask. Copyright 1990. pp. 69-74.
2 CHRISTIAN APOLOGETICS AND RESEARCH MINISTRY. http://www.carm.org/questions/suffering.htm-------------- snip ---------------
Regards,
Antoine E. Hall
Blog: http://toinebo.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AntoineHall
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." - James 1:22
