To those who have ears to hear, the faithful
Oftentimes, I come across a fellow believer who asks me in all sincerity why God created evil. To be sure, God needs no apology since he is Holy, Right, and Just, and the question itself doesn't necessarily accuse God. But it is nonetheless difficult for a man to understand the ways of God. Books have been written about the problem of Evil and while I was in Seminary it seemed too much time was spent on such topics. I think if we look at the above question, we should keep it simple.
First, I believe the above question is in error since I do not believe God created evil or that evil even exist unto itself. [For the record, if God did create Evil then I still wouldn't have a problem reconciling it since God is Holy, Just, and Right.] At any rate, I believe the same regarding 'darkness' which is often associated with evil. To explain my answer please turn to Genesis chapter 1 verses 3-5.
God said, "Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness..."
Where did the darkness come from? Notice again that darkness was a term used prior to the creation of light in Genesis 1:2. Consider my definition of darkness, "Darkness was and is the absence of light". As you can see, God didn't create darkness, only light. Darkness doesn't exist. It is only a representation and expression in our language that represents the absence of light, [as expressed in Genesis 1:2] and is a term used to describe what happens when no light is present. Because of this, Darkness can't even be measured. The expression "The amount of darkness" can only be measured and represented by the light present in that particular space.
So that darkness is the absence of light, likewise, evil is the absence of God. Evil is a created word used to describe and represent the absence of God.
Turk Out.
For further study:
For those that want and have the time to continue, let me further define some terms I used above.
1. The absence of God
The absence of God that I'm speaking of is 'inwards' and not spacial. To be sure, God is not absent from any of his creation, including hell, as David acknowledges. However, his 'essence' is absent from the heart of men who practice Idolatry. Evil is the term and representation that is used to describe this resulting 'heart' condition when God is absent from it. In fact IMO, the home of Evil rest in the heart of Man insomuch that Man does not have God in his heart. To be sure, since after the fall of the original, the human predicament is that Man's heart is wicked, evil and spiritually dead. The natural man can't even receive the things of Spirit of God. His depravity makes such things sound foolish to him.
Thankfully, us believers have a loving God, who sent his own son to die for us and has sent his Comforter, the Holy Ghost, to us so that now our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Praise him for writing his Word in our hearts!
2. Other word associations and definitions.
Consider the word 'sin'. If there is one thing I hope I'm getting across in this devotion it is this: some words are of 'substance' and other words are simply words used in our language to help describe and represent the condition when a particular 'substance' is not present. For instance, Darkness/light, Cold/heat, etc.
When I look at sin, I see a word that has no substance but represents a lack of a particular subsance. So that, any study of sin must first recognize 'what sin is the absence of', or such a study would be in error. Sin is the absence of....Faith. Let's continue by talking about faith and it substance.
Faith is a substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen It is the evidence of God. If something is not of faith, then it is sin. So that, in application, if we are doing something in which we are not sure if it is sinful or not then just ask yourself if it is of faith. You'll get your answer.
At any rate, faith is created and produced by God. It's recipe goes like this: It comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. God's word produces faith. And by faith Abraham was found righteous and by faith we are saved also, and being justified by faith, us believers have peace with God. What an awesome thing to have peace with your creator, the most high God. Access to faith is through Jesus Christ only. I could go on, it is an awesome thing.
OTOH, for a study on why so many have no faith and are not free from sin, a careful study in Idolatry is required. You can start with the seemingly brutal text of Matthew 13: 9-14. In such a study you will find out that the fruit of Godlessness is "Evil" and its accompanying twin 'emptiness'. IMO, Matthew 13:9-14 is perhaps the most difficult text in the scriptures and I have not seen a commentary that got it right. By studying it, you'll find yourself in the books of Isaiah, Proverbs, Psalms, and others.
3. I know I'm rambling but I wanted to leave a verse[s] for you that I found interesting. It uses many of the same words I used to describe darkness/light and evil. Proverbs 4:18-27. This instruction starts with the shining light and ends with removing thy foot from evil.
In conclusion, I only meant this to be a few paragraphs, however, I found myself getting a bit more into the shallows than I wanted. After all, this devotion is not a deep one, much of what I said only is at the surface.
Turk out.