Go ahead, say evil. Now say it again.
There is something rather repulsive about the thought isn't it.
If you qualify it with a personal object, perhaps it will sound better.
Saddam Hussein is evil. Osama bin Laden is evil. Terrorists are evil.
Good and evil really do not have to be defined, we all know what the terms mean, but sometimes their application is subject to individual interpretation. For example, recently one person's freedom fighter is another persons terrorist. But however you define the personality, freedom fighters are good, terrorists are evil.
This week we are looking specifically at what the Bible commentators call "the temptation and fall of man" in Genesis Chapter three. It is in this chapter that evil enters creation through the sin of Adam and Eve.
As the stage for this dramatic encounter, we have the garden setting in Eden, created by God for man to dwell. Creation has been defined by God as good and very good (Genesis 1:31)
So the biblical creation account tells us that God (self described as Elohim) an eternal Personality, created the triune universe (time, space, and matter) out of nothing. Into that creation He ordered life, creating mankind in His image, all within that very good creation paradigm.
In Chapter 3, verse 4,5 we find: Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
From the context, for Adam and Eve, evil is an undefined term, but it's understanding is clearly discerned by the serpent, also known as the evil one, or the devil.
Now, as evil becomes known, there is a significant departure from that initial goodness. But still the personalities of these biblical actors, is something not found in evolutionary accounts. In fact, evolutionary dogma has no basis by which to base either good or evil, for these manifestations of human potential are well beyond even the elaborate complexity of design of life and the organism. Yet still evolution has no answers for these attributes other than random chance.
At this time, before "the fall of man," we have only the knowledge of good within mankind. Evil while not present in God, is known by Him by His Omniscience. However, in the serpent we have the literal knowledge of opposing God, or evil. So in a way we have in this Genesis account, mankind exchanging their godly image, for the image of evil. This is defined in theology by the term total depravity.
Now if I were to say to you, "Without the grace of God in your life, you are a totally depraved individual," you would find my statement repugnant. For stemming back to that unmarred creation, we each still have the personality depository of that initial goodness, called again by theologians, common grace. Collectively, just as each person knows that there is a God through our inherited psyche, in that same manner we still have a similar remembrance of that initial goodness.
Also within that initial psyche of our personality is that desire to create. On that basis we have founded religion by which we can create, or recreate that lost desire (ability) to be good. Within that context we again find it impossible and repugnant to comprehend that while we may do some minor good works, it is impossible for us to obtain the goodness we all aspire, totally by our own efforts. Therefore, if we look at our life honestly, this creates a hopeless illusion, vanity, or just chasing after the ever changing wind.
But this understanding did not catch God unaware, for in verse 14,15 we see what theologians call the institution of the covenant of grace. Introduced into creation of time, space and matter, we see words that set in motion the historic plan of redemption we spoke of last week. This is not a 21st century phenomena of asking Jesus into your heart in response to a revivalist pleading. It stems from the very foundation of creation and the purpose of mankind on this earth.
So the LORD God said to the serpent:
"Because you have done this,
You are cursed more
than all cattle,
And more than every
beast of the field;
On your belly you shall
go,
And you shall eat dust
All the days of your
life.
And I will put enmity
Between you and the
woman,
And between your seed
and her Seed;
He shall bruise your
head,
And you shall bruise His heel."
God's covenant of grace enters history at this point. It is renewed through the Abrahamic covenant and it is eventually fulfilled through the God-man Jesus Christ thousands of years later. Verse 21 being the representation of that bloody sacrifice:
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Now, a strong case of empirical evidence can show that lasting effective change within religious circles occurs not just by returning to the roots of the faith as doctrine, as some would claim, but also by applying the historic context of those roots as the means to overcome the secular prevailing religion. That historic context for Christianity must make the first eleven chapters of Genesis the basis of redemption not just a foundation of myths, or evolutionary gaps.
This is demonstrated in Christianity by the first century church overcoming the prevailing Jewish religion, and the Protestant Reformation, that not only changed the religious landscape in the west, but also brought about some lasting changes in the remaining Roman Catholic dogma.
In that light, the ineffective nature of much of modern evangelicalism is due to its preoccupation with present temporal values and ethics, at the expense of historic absolutes. We must preach a gospel of unmerited grace, and the reality of evil.
For further clarification, one would only have to look at Islam, the world's fastest growing religion. While the premise and the promise of Islam is based upon worldly religious dogma from the same garden of Eden experience, it lies on the other side, or outside of the covenant of grace offered by God to Adam and Eve. In Islam, the knowledge of good and evil lie completely within the constructs of the sin of man and the appeasement of Allah. Its fundamentals are based upon the observance of a law, not a gospel of grace. However, without grace, Islam has no way to truly overcome man's evil depravity.
However, Islamic promoters have seized upon the truth of the effectiveness of the historical context as the basis for continued growth in the religion. While the new faith on the block, Islam effectively promotes and grows by referring to the prophet and the nature of Islam, to seek dominance in any culture. This is even true in the case of Israel, which was a backwater slough of limited Islamic religious importance until the foundation of the nation of Israel. After that event, with a little selective rewriting of history, you have an armed struggle that will eventually bring about the end of this age.
Leadership within Christian circles, demands a return to the historic plan of redemption found in the whole context of the Bible. This must include the Old Testament, not only pre Jewish roots, but God's choice of the nation of Israel to be His people. That ultimate fulfillment comes with the church age where there is "neither Jew or Greek." However, this everlasting fulfillment must include the fertilization of some of those Jewish roots, as well as the hoeing out of some of the antiSemitic rhizomes that clog out the potential growth of lasting restoration.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. As the psalm says, we should never cease in our prayers to pray for peace in Jerusalem. Our tendency however, sometimes is to superimpose our understanding of the path to peace, not only how it should be brought about, but also who should be the peace keepers etc. As President Bush and a number of other leaders have recently said, this is a battle not only for freedom of the Jewish people, but the Palestinian people as well. Yasser Arafat is only concerned with his Islamic legacy at best, perhaps he is just a plain evil man, bent on the destruction of any good, as was that garden serpent. We must pray for God's peace in the context of His glory, not our personal persuasion. For in the end, God's throne will be present in Jerusalem and we shall see Him there.
Personally, things are beginning to get very complicated. I am supposed to move my mother's personal possessions out of my step father's house in Wilbur on July 20th. As of yet I do not have really any legal paper work by which to begin handling the estate, or any idea where to put at least two truck loads of furniture, stuff, and memories. I was planning on going over to Eastern Washington last week-weekend but that lack of ability to do anything productive quenched that plan. In that same light I hope to go over next week.
Because of the nature of my moms passing and the promises in the Bible, I believe that God will make a way where there seems no way. The answer to specifically one of my personal prayers would go a long way towards easing any anxiety I might have. Please intercede for these requests.
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