Subject: Is God responsible for evil? |
Bible Note: I'd like to add on to this, as I haven't been around in a while. I believe that God did not essentially "create" evil. My opinion is that God created free will for us to choose Him, just like a loving parent would. And like all loving parents, He gets hurt whenever we reject Him. I'm pretty sure He didn't have a smile on His face when he laid the smackdown on Lucifer, because that's one of His highest angels (and His minister of music) telling God, "No. I'm better than you, and I want to be you, because you messed up and I can rule the universe better than you". Jealousy is a dangerous weapon; jealously coupled with actively doing the one thing that God will not forgive is suicide. Guess Lucy's (Lucifer's) reasoning is "better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven". (quick sidenote for atheists: even God's sworn enemy, the one who will do battle with God but will be shown as being an impotent imposter, knows who God is. Ignorance may be bliss, but dang, it's not eternal) Lucifer knows God, and yet he still made his choice. He got a third of the angels to follow him; they know who God is, and yet they still made their choice. God is sovereign, and He rules over all. All of His creations were made to praise Him initially, but He gave them and us free will to choose Him accordingly. It would not make sense that if you love someone, that you force them to love you back; that's not love, that's dictatorship, and we know our God is an awesome God who is NOT a dictator. What good is a God of Love if the love He desires isn't true? Also, love is based on trust - we know God not to be a liar; why else would we trust Him if His Word wasn't true and binding? EVERYTHING in the Bible is true and has/will come true. No dispute. When Jesus' life was told IN DETAIL before He came, it just becomes a matter of WANTING to believe. God did not originate "evil", per se, but anything that is against God is evil. It's that simple. Lucifer is evil. Sin is evil. They're both against God and who He is, so they are labeled as evil (btw, there's no such thing as a "necessary evil". Just for those who didn't know). God's unconditional love has been shown to us in Christ Jesus and through that free choice that God gave us, "evil" presented itself in the form of the tempter and his desire to be like God. God does not desire that the entire world perish, knowing that Lucifer will try to take us down with him, but since we were born in sin, we can't escape it without recognizing 1)What we are (sinners), 2)Who He is, and 3)Accepting Jesus as our personal Savior. "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Cor 1:18). It feels good to be back in the forum.... |