Post by Rob W. Case on Oct 15, 2009 1:18:20 GMT -6
It is very difficult not to turn on the news or experience first hand, in some form or another, frustration, stress, or in some extreme cases, even harm. People seem to be getting crazier and crazier, and it seems like its getting out of control. Recent news headlines alone serve as a perfect indicator for what I’m talking about.
In local News:
Corruption, crime, murder, domestic disturbances, or other.
National News:
Political Corruption (money laundering, politicians writing laws to advance the interests of lobbyists and not the people), secrecy, betrayal, national sellouts to an international elite, population control (inflicting sickness for money), and various other cruelties.
International News:
Wars, rumors of wars, worldwide terrorism, globalization (the formation of a one world government, a New World Order) powered by an international group of wealthy elites, population control (encouraged and funded by the United Nations), the stealing of sovereignty of individual nations, buyouts of property in free countries by Communist countries, the criminalization of Christianity, as well as numerous other crimes against humanity.
Why do I mention these generalized headlines?
Because each and every one of these headlines is either an expression of evil, or has an evil motive behind them, and their intent is to satisfy a selfish motive at the expense of others, or is motivated to kill. All of these are examples of evil in progress.
What is Evil? And what is its cause? I hope that by the time we leave today, you will be able to understand it in a new and insightful way.
It is a concept that human kind has struggled with since the Garden of Eden to the present time. Its impact has been felt since humankind fell from grace. At this moment, its influence is progressively growing, serving as a means for ultimate destruction, chaos, and in many circles, death in various places around the world. When it is active, its hunger is never quenched, and its works fiercely to eliminate the influence of its adversary, which is known under the name of righteousness, but is commonly referred to as “Good”.
The word “evil” is a controversial word. It is normally controversial in the eyes of self-righteous people who normally use its character traits themselves, yet have a strong disdain for those who use the word in a godly context. By using it within in a godly context, a person may be offended because God alone, in his righteousness and ultimate perfection defines what is evil. Evil is the driving force that causes sin (and sin is a violation against a direct order or designed purpose) which perverts perfection and causes imperfection. Evil is the root which drives a polar opposite response to God’s perfect righteousness. God creates. Evil’s motive is set out to destroy, or take over and hoard in pursuit of selfishness. God will hold people accountable for evil on the Day of Judgment. God and God alone sets the standards for evil, and mankind does not want to adhere to it because they do not want be defined as evil in the sight of a higher power. They believe that they are righteous in their own eyes and want nothing to counter that belief.
John 3:19-21
19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
I love this verse because it displays a timeless truth. Jesus said this himself, and he was always, through the vision of his own righteousness, showing people the nature of the human heart. In doing this, mankind proved, in a very potent, historical, and significant way, the reality behind it. This truth led Christ to his crucifixion by the religious leaders (the “keepers of the law”) of his day. Why? Because Jesus called it as he saw it, and their arrogance and thirst for power blinded them from seeing the reality of what he was talking about. They became so self-absorbed and so corrupt that they saw him as a threat to their power, were driven by their selfish ambitions, and in their blind arrogance, failed to see that he was fulfilling the scriptures of the Old Testament. They lacked the humility to see that this man who lived among the “common”, poor people was someone special. That truth continues well to this day, and it is as influential and alive as the day it was said, and then some. Evil people HATE Christ and hate the cross.
Where did Evil Originate?
Everything begins with something. There is always a root cause for everything that’s out there. There is a root cause for problems in this world, and there is a root cause for conflict and instability. Evil is rooted in unconditional selfishness. Now, when one’s level of self-want is dominant in their lives, then spiritual, moral, and ethical questions are either discarded entirely, or are shoved aside as one’s selfish pursuit becomes the dominant force. But what steps does evil take in its advancement? Let’s examine this a little bit.
*Evil begins with a desire or want. Sometimes a desire or want is initiated through a thought or entertained by another if not numerous influences.
*Evil advances by doing anything it takes (whether that means lie, cheat, steal, mislead, willfully deceive) to acquire what one desires at the moment they want it. “I don’t care, I want it NOW” is the mantra.
*Evil calls for the hardening of the heart. One gets tired of hearing opposition to their own wants.
*Evil calls for the devaluing of a person’s life. One establishes a sense of contempt towards those in opposition.
*Evil tramples over others in order to get what it wants. One’s contempt crystallizes into pure hate at this point.
*Evil stomps on, invades, and disregards anything and anybody that stands in its way.
If resistance is on the horizon to prevent evil from prevailing (like Good), evil tries to stop it by destroying it. Prevention is not an option for the advancement of evil because anything driven by hate is destined to destroy, whether it be through murder, demolition, confiscation, whatever.
*Evil does not stop until it gets what it wants.
*Evil does not respond well to truth and does everything it can to suppress it and in so doing, remain in control.
*Evil blackmails.
Evil leads to sin and sin leads to death
Evil did not originate in the Garden of Eden. Evil originated in Heaven under the angel Lucifer. How did Lucifer apply the principles I just mentioned? Let’s review in coordination with the list I just provided.
Evil begins with a desire or want
Lucifer wanted God’s throne.
Isaiah 14:13-14 explains…
13 You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."
Evil advances by doing anything it takes (whether that means lie, cheat, steal, mislead, willfully deceive) to acquire what one desires at the moment they want it.
In Revelation 12:4, we see in a figurative sense that Lucifer convinced a third of the angels to join him to initiate a war in Heaven against God.
John MacArthur states in his commentary under this passage, “Satan’s original rebellion resulted in one-third of the angelic host joining the insurrection and becoming demons.”
Evil calls for the hardening of the heart.
As Lucifer’s desire progressed, I’m sure it kept getting bolder and bolder, to a point where action was about to be taken.
Evil calls for the devaluing of a person’s life.
One establishes a sense of contempt towards those in opposition. Did Lucifer care about considering what might have happened to God when he had the idea in his mind that he could overthrow God? No. His want to be like God and to have that ultimate power reserved for himself prompted him to crystallize in his pursuits, and pursue his desires with a laser focused, tunnel vision type of mentality.
It is, I believe at this point, God could not stand the rebellion any longer, and so he threw Lucifer and his fallen angels to the earth.
Ezekiel 28:17-18
17 Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth……
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.
The War in Heaven between Lucifer who became Satan, and his fallen angels who are known as demons were now condemned.
When God created us, Satan tried to convince our first ancestor to repeat the methods that he used that led him to his fall.
Evil tramples over others in order to get what it wants.
One’s contempt and inconsideration towards another crystallizes into pure hate at this point.
When Adam and Eve were created, God told them to “fill the earth, and be its master (Genesis 1:28).”
From that point, Satan had tremendous hatred for mankind. Satan was jealous of man, and wanted man to endure the same judgment he was going to get. Since Satan was doomed to Judgment, Satan wanted man to be doomed to Judgment also. So, he used his persuasive power to convince man that he could be like God, just as he did. Man fell for it, and in so doing, man disobeyed.
When the knowledge of Good and Evil was unleashed through the disobedient acts of Adam and Eve, their eyes were opened, but they were opened to a world for which God’s perfect purposes could now be perverted and pursued for selfish gratifications and reasons. Genesis chapter 3 illustrates this concept. I think that when their eyes were opened to sin, they were, for the first time, aware of the idea of sexual immorality. I think that is why they felt compelled to cover up their nakedness in the presence of God. Then, came the self-righteous act of passing the buck, of blaming another person for one’s own disobedient, and actions of sin. The Genesis of Evil relating to man was beginning.
Evil stomps on, invades, and disregards anything and anybody that stands in its way.
If resistance is on the horizon to prevent evil from prevailing (like Good), evil tries to stop it by destroying it. Prevention is not an option for the advancement of evil because anything driven by hate is destined to destroy, whether it be through murder, demolition, confiscation, whatever.
When God cursed the Serpent for his role in leading man to sin, he cursed him, thus the first prophecy was initiated for which Satan would be defeated.
Genesis 3:15b (GWT)
I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make her descendant hostile toward each other. He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.
Satan did not know what this meant, but in his drive to prevent any harm done to him, he tried to prevent this defeat from taking place. When Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel, Satan entered into the mind of Cain after God was disappointed with Cain’s offering and was pleased with Abel’s. Cain was upset and jealous of Abel, and in that Cain killed Abel because Abel had favor with God through the offerings he offered Him.
When one is driven by pure hate, thoughts of absolute destruction begin to emerge, and from then on, if acted upon, it is downhill from there. God warned Cain about this exact truth in Genesis 4:7 where he says, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Cain failed to master it, and therefore committed human history’s first murder.
You see, the process of evil hit Cain, and it lead to the destruction of his brother.
Man’s fall unleashed an environment for which evil would be known and be available for use at man’s disposal. But Satan remains to this day the dominant force of this environment. He is the chief of this world’s system, and in that system, Satan is the background force that entices man to commit evil.
Since then, man has repeated these steps himself when he seeks ultimate power and authority for himself, has a selfish desire or ambition, and so forth. Man has become what the Devil wants him to become, and that is an unmanned vehicle used at the Devil’s disposal, doing what the Devil does and accomplishing his will. Evil is the force that drives man to sin. And sin leads to death.
Jesus pointed this out to the religious leaders of his day, who were Satanically inspired by being controlled by their selfish ambitions, self-righteous, arrogance, and willingness to kill Jesus for saying speaking the truth as it was. But those words are not limited to the people of his day. They are just as relevant today as they were back in his day.
John 8:44
44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
As man has advanced in evil, God has allowed it to reach certain levels, until he said enough is enough. God destroyed the world via a worldwide flood. He destroyed cities that were breeding grounds for evil. And God punished people who disregarded Him for evil purposes. Before the Babylonians were defeated by the Medes and the Persians, God punished the King of Babylon because the King of Babylon took precious drinking cups for Holy ceremonies, from God’s Holy temple and used it to get drunk and toast idols.
Mankind has done strange things over the centuries. But Evil never ceases to do what it has always done, and that is drive man to commit these harmful and destructive things to himself and other people in the process of pursing his own selfish ambitions.
But God in his Grace did something that would save us from the nature of our own evil hearts and inevitable judgment because of it. By sending Jesus to die on the cross, we would be able through his blood to be forgiven for the sin that the evil one led us to commit.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God not of works, so that no one can boast.
You and I are offered a way out, a way to reconcile ourselves with God. All it requires is faith, will, and your asking Christ into your heart personally. If and when you do this, God’s promised one, the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and affects your life by serving as a teacher, and exposes to you what is evil so that you will want to condemn it out of your own free will and reject the nature of evil that creeps up from time to time through our fleshly nature. In other words, the Holy Spirit prompts people to want to be separated from the world and the world’s evil nature. And yet it takes endurance and perseverance with God’s help.
Evil does not stop until it gets what it wants.
1 Peter 5:8
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
You have the power to resist him and his formula for evil.
I Peter 5:9
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Evil does not respond well to truth and does everything it can to suppress it and remain in control.
Satan’s biggest form of security is his system of deception. In contrast, The Spirit of Truth calls it as he sees it, and defines the components that reveal Satan’s network of deception. Many times when truth is exposed, a light goes on in people’s heads, and they begin to think. Once truth comes into play, an interesting dynamic occurs. A stubborn servant of their own selfish ambitions will work in alignment with Satan’s deception of enlightenment and will try and discredit or flat out deny without reason any form of truth that begins to break through. But either way, people who choose to believe the truth will embrace it and people who choose to believe a lie will continue to believe it.
1 Corinthians 13:6
6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
The Dynamic of Love:
Love is a concept that replaces the selfish nature of evil and replaces it with the selfless nature of compassion and love for other people.
Leviticus 19:18
18 " 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Mark 12:30-31
30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-46
43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? There is nothing unique, or stands out when you only love those who love you, or do favors for people who do favors for you. Loving your enemies (which is not an easy thing to do, and is only accomplished through walking in obedience with God) stands out because it is so foreign in this world's system. In this current world’s system it is considered abnormal and anything “abnormal” is destined to attract attention.
It’s easy to love people who love us. It is hard and difficult to love our enemies. Doing that is only possible if you walk by faith. I have experienced this first hand with people that did not like me, ridiculed, and/or spoke against me. But the Holy Spirit changed my heart to reverse those dismal and sometimes hateful feelings and face the challenge of walking by faith in presence of the intimidating face of evil. Nobody, including myself is exempt or immune to having hateful thoughts or committing evil acts. To Christians, it is a test of faith and endurance. To others, it is common and part of the status quo.
Evil Blackmails.
Satan tempts and if you fall into sin as a result of his temptation, he will accuse you in front of God. Recently people have been resorting to extortion which someone threatens to destroy their image by going public with an act that may hurt their image. The purpose is to intimidate them with the threat of releasing such damaging information to a point where they will pay big money to keep silent.
I think Paul summed it up the best.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
From now until the Lord returns, we need to walk by faith and not by sight. God is a forgiving and loving God. Perhaps there may be hope to reverse the level of evil that currently exists, but it all rests on us and our willingness to go out, be bold, and in love serve as Christ’s ambassadors. Love makes the idea of righteousness appealing because it stands alone and apart from an evil world’s system.
When you are saved through faith and by God’s grace, you are no longer under Satan’s environment of evil. We need to stop falling for him and we need to start realizing who our real Father is, or should be.
Colossians 3:12-14
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Love conquers all things.
--Roman Poet and Author Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro) 37 B.C.
Love sheds light on evil and its dark nature and extracts from it traces of the one that generates that force within all its users, and reveals it for all to see.
In local News:
Corruption, crime, murder, domestic disturbances, or other.
National News:
Political Corruption (money laundering, politicians writing laws to advance the interests of lobbyists and not the people), secrecy, betrayal, national sellouts to an international elite, population control (inflicting sickness for money), and various other cruelties.
International News:
Wars, rumors of wars, worldwide terrorism, globalization (the formation of a one world government, a New World Order) powered by an international group of wealthy elites, population control (encouraged and funded by the United Nations), the stealing of sovereignty of individual nations, buyouts of property in free countries by Communist countries, the criminalization of Christianity, as well as numerous other crimes against humanity.
Why do I mention these generalized headlines?
Because each and every one of these headlines is either an expression of evil, or has an evil motive behind them, and their intent is to satisfy a selfish motive at the expense of others, or is motivated to kill. All of these are examples of evil in progress.
What is Evil? And what is its cause? I hope that by the time we leave today, you will be able to understand it in a new and insightful way.
It is a concept that human kind has struggled with since the Garden of Eden to the present time. Its impact has been felt since humankind fell from grace. At this moment, its influence is progressively growing, serving as a means for ultimate destruction, chaos, and in many circles, death in various places around the world. When it is active, its hunger is never quenched, and its works fiercely to eliminate the influence of its adversary, which is known under the name of righteousness, but is commonly referred to as “Good”.
The word “evil” is a controversial word. It is normally controversial in the eyes of self-righteous people who normally use its character traits themselves, yet have a strong disdain for those who use the word in a godly context. By using it within in a godly context, a person may be offended because God alone, in his righteousness and ultimate perfection defines what is evil. Evil is the driving force that causes sin (and sin is a violation against a direct order or designed purpose) which perverts perfection and causes imperfection. Evil is the root which drives a polar opposite response to God’s perfect righteousness. God creates. Evil’s motive is set out to destroy, or take over and hoard in pursuit of selfishness. God will hold people accountable for evil on the Day of Judgment. God and God alone sets the standards for evil, and mankind does not want to adhere to it because they do not want be defined as evil in the sight of a higher power. They believe that they are righteous in their own eyes and want nothing to counter that belief.
John 3:19-21
19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
I love this verse because it displays a timeless truth. Jesus said this himself, and he was always, through the vision of his own righteousness, showing people the nature of the human heart. In doing this, mankind proved, in a very potent, historical, and significant way, the reality behind it. This truth led Christ to his crucifixion by the religious leaders (the “keepers of the law”) of his day. Why? Because Jesus called it as he saw it, and their arrogance and thirst for power blinded them from seeing the reality of what he was talking about. They became so self-absorbed and so corrupt that they saw him as a threat to their power, were driven by their selfish ambitions, and in their blind arrogance, failed to see that he was fulfilling the scriptures of the Old Testament. They lacked the humility to see that this man who lived among the “common”, poor people was someone special. That truth continues well to this day, and it is as influential and alive as the day it was said, and then some. Evil people HATE Christ and hate the cross.
Where did Evil Originate?
Everything begins with something. There is always a root cause for everything that’s out there. There is a root cause for problems in this world, and there is a root cause for conflict and instability. Evil is rooted in unconditional selfishness. Now, when one’s level of self-want is dominant in their lives, then spiritual, moral, and ethical questions are either discarded entirely, or are shoved aside as one’s selfish pursuit becomes the dominant force. But what steps does evil take in its advancement? Let’s examine this a little bit.
*Evil begins with a desire or want. Sometimes a desire or want is initiated through a thought or entertained by another if not numerous influences.
*Evil advances by doing anything it takes (whether that means lie, cheat, steal, mislead, willfully deceive) to acquire what one desires at the moment they want it. “I don’t care, I want it NOW” is the mantra.
*Evil calls for the hardening of the heart. One gets tired of hearing opposition to their own wants.
*Evil calls for the devaluing of a person’s life. One establishes a sense of contempt towards those in opposition.
*Evil tramples over others in order to get what it wants. One’s contempt crystallizes into pure hate at this point.
*Evil stomps on, invades, and disregards anything and anybody that stands in its way.
If resistance is on the horizon to prevent evil from prevailing (like Good), evil tries to stop it by destroying it. Prevention is not an option for the advancement of evil because anything driven by hate is destined to destroy, whether it be through murder, demolition, confiscation, whatever.
*Evil does not stop until it gets what it wants.
*Evil does not respond well to truth and does everything it can to suppress it and in so doing, remain in control.
*Evil blackmails.
Evil leads to sin and sin leads to death
Evil did not originate in the Garden of Eden. Evil originated in Heaven under the angel Lucifer. How did Lucifer apply the principles I just mentioned? Let’s review in coordination with the list I just provided.
Evil begins with a desire or want
Lucifer wanted God’s throne.
Isaiah 14:13-14 explains…
13 You said in your heart,
"I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High."
Evil advances by doing anything it takes (whether that means lie, cheat, steal, mislead, willfully deceive) to acquire what one desires at the moment they want it.
In Revelation 12:4, we see in a figurative sense that Lucifer convinced a third of the angels to join him to initiate a war in Heaven against God.
John MacArthur states in his commentary under this passage, “Satan’s original rebellion resulted in one-third of the angelic host joining the insurrection and becoming demons.”
Evil calls for the hardening of the heart.
As Lucifer’s desire progressed, I’m sure it kept getting bolder and bolder, to a point where action was about to be taken.
Evil calls for the devaluing of a person’s life.
One establishes a sense of contempt towards those in opposition. Did Lucifer care about considering what might have happened to God when he had the idea in his mind that he could overthrow God? No. His want to be like God and to have that ultimate power reserved for himself prompted him to crystallize in his pursuits, and pursue his desires with a laser focused, tunnel vision type of mentality.
It is, I believe at this point, God could not stand the rebellion any longer, and so he threw Lucifer and his fallen angels to the earth.
Ezekiel 28:17-18
17 Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth……
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.
The War in Heaven between Lucifer who became Satan, and his fallen angels who are known as demons were now condemned.
When God created us, Satan tried to convince our first ancestor to repeat the methods that he used that led him to his fall.
Evil tramples over others in order to get what it wants.
One’s contempt and inconsideration towards another crystallizes into pure hate at this point.
When Adam and Eve were created, God told them to “fill the earth, and be its master (Genesis 1:28).”
From that point, Satan had tremendous hatred for mankind. Satan was jealous of man, and wanted man to endure the same judgment he was going to get. Since Satan was doomed to Judgment, Satan wanted man to be doomed to Judgment also. So, he used his persuasive power to convince man that he could be like God, just as he did. Man fell for it, and in so doing, man disobeyed.
When the knowledge of Good and Evil was unleashed through the disobedient acts of Adam and Eve, their eyes were opened, but they were opened to a world for which God’s perfect purposes could now be perverted and pursued for selfish gratifications and reasons. Genesis chapter 3 illustrates this concept. I think that when their eyes were opened to sin, they were, for the first time, aware of the idea of sexual immorality. I think that is why they felt compelled to cover up their nakedness in the presence of God. Then, came the self-righteous act of passing the buck, of blaming another person for one’s own disobedient, and actions of sin. The Genesis of Evil relating to man was beginning.
Evil stomps on, invades, and disregards anything and anybody that stands in its way.
If resistance is on the horizon to prevent evil from prevailing (like Good), evil tries to stop it by destroying it. Prevention is not an option for the advancement of evil because anything driven by hate is destined to destroy, whether it be through murder, demolition, confiscation, whatever.
When God cursed the Serpent for his role in leading man to sin, he cursed him, thus the first prophecy was initiated for which Satan would be defeated.
Genesis 3:15b (GWT)
I will make you and the woman hostile toward each other. I will make her descendant hostile toward each other. He will crush your head, and you will bruise his heel.
Satan did not know what this meant, but in his drive to prevent any harm done to him, he tried to prevent this defeat from taking place. When Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel, Satan entered into the mind of Cain after God was disappointed with Cain’s offering and was pleased with Abel’s. Cain was upset and jealous of Abel, and in that Cain killed Abel because Abel had favor with God through the offerings he offered Him.
When one is driven by pure hate, thoughts of absolute destruction begin to emerge, and from then on, if acted upon, it is downhill from there. God warned Cain about this exact truth in Genesis 4:7 where he says, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Cain failed to master it, and therefore committed human history’s first murder.
You see, the process of evil hit Cain, and it lead to the destruction of his brother.
Man’s fall unleashed an environment for which evil would be known and be available for use at man’s disposal. But Satan remains to this day the dominant force of this environment. He is the chief of this world’s system, and in that system, Satan is the background force that entices man to commit evil.
Since then, man has repeated these steps himself when he seeks ultimate power and authority for himself, has a selfish desire or ambition, and so forth. Man has become what the Devil wants him to become, and that is an unmanned vehicle used at the Devil’s disposal, doing what the Devil does and accomplishing his will. Evil is the force that drives man to sin. And sin leads to death.
Jesus pointed this out to the religious leaders of his day, who were Satanically inspired by being controlled by their selfish ambitions, self-righteous, arrogance, and willingness to kill Jesus for saying speaking the truth as it was. But those words are not limited to the people of his day. They are just as relevant today as they were back in his day.
John 8:44
44You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
As man has advanced in evil, God has allowed it to reach certain levels, until he said enough is enough. God destroyed the world via a worldwide flood. He destroyed cities that were breeding grounds for evil. And God punished people who disregarded Him for evil purposes. Before the Babylonians were defeated by the Medes and the Persians, God punished the King of Babylon because the King of Babylon took precious drinking cups for Holy ceremonies, from God’s Holy temple and used it to get drunk and toast idols.
Mankind has done strange things over the centuries. But Evil never ceases to do what it has always done, and that is drive man to commit these harmful and destructive things to himself and other people in the process of pursing his own selfish ambitions.
But God in his Grace did something that would save us from the nature of our own evil hearts and inevitable judgment because of it. By sending Jesus to die on the cross, we would be able through his blood to be forgiven for the sin that the evil one led us to commit.
Ephesians 2:8-9
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God not of works, so that no one can boast.
You and I are offered a way out, a way to reconcile ourselves with God. All it requires is faith, will, and your asking Christ into your heart personally. If and when you do this, God’s promised one, the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and affects your life by serving as a teacher, and exposes to you what is evil so that you will want to condemn it out of your own free will and reject the nature of evil that creeps up from time to time through our fleshly nature. In other words, the Holy Spirit prompts people to want to be separated from the world and the world’s evil nature. And yet it takes endurance and perseverance with God’s help.
Evil does not stop until it gets what it wants.
1 Peter 5:8
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
You have the power to resist him and his formula for evil.
I Peter 5:9
Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
Evil does not respond well to truth and does everything it can to suppress it and remain in control.
Satan’s biggest form of security is his system of deception. In contrast, The Spirit of Truth calls it as he sees it, and defines the components that reveal Satan’s network of deception. Many times when truth is exposed, a light goes on in people’s heads, and they begin to think. Once truth comes into play, an interesting dynamic occurs. A stubborn servant of their own selfish ambitions will work in alignment with Satan’s deception of enlightenment and will try and discredit or flat out deny without reason any form of truth that begins to break through. But either way, people who choose to believe the truth will embrace it and people who choose to believe a lie will continue to believe it.
1 Corinthians 13:6
6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
The Dynamic of Love:
Love is a concept that replaces the selfish nature of evil and replaces it with the selfless nature of compassion and love for other people.
Leviticus 19:18
18 " 'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
Mark 12:30-31
30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'31The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."
Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-46
43"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? There is nothing unique, or stands out when you only love those who love you, or do favors for people who do favors for you. Loving your enemies (which is not an easy thing to do, and is only accomplished through walking in obedience with God) stands out because it is so foreign in this world's system. In this current world’s system it is considered abnormal and anything “abnormal” is destined to attract attention.
It’s easy to love people who love us. It is hard and difficult to love our enemies. Doing that is only possible if you walk by faith. I have experienced this first hand with people that did not like me, ridiculed, and/or spoke against me. But the Holy Spirit changed my heart to reverse those dismal and sometimes hateful feelings and face the challenge of walking by faith in presence of the intimidating face of evil. Nobody, including myself is exempt or immune to having hateful thoughts or committing evil acts. To Christians, it is a test of faith and endurance. To others, it is common and part of the status quo.
Evil Blackmails.
Satan tempts and if you fall into sin as a result of his temptation, he will accuse you in front of God. Recently people have been resorting to extortion which someone threatens to destroy their image by going public with an act that may hurt their image. The purpose is to intimidate them with the threat of releasing such damaging information to a point where they will pay big money to keep silent.
I think Paul summed it up the best.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
From now until the Lord returns, we need to walk by faith and not by sight. God is a forgiving and loving God. Perhaps there may be hope to reverse the level of evil that currently exists, but it all rests on us and our willingness to go out, be bold, and in love serve as Christ’s ambassadors. Love makes the idea of righteousness appealing because it stands alone and apart from an evil world’s system.
When you are saved through faith and by God’s grace, you are no longer under Satan’s environment of evil. We need to stop falling for him and we need to start realizing who our real Father is, or should be.
Colossians 3:12-14
12Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Love conquers all things.
--Roman Poet and Author Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro) 37 B.C.
Love sheds light on evil and its dark nature and extracts from it traces of the one that generates that force within all its users, and reveals it for all to see.