"Our teens have a lot of questions..." is the words that came out of our teen Sunday School teachers mouth on Sunday morning back a few months. "They are really questioning everything about Christianity, God, and Salvation." This conversation did not shock me, I have been working with teenagers now for 9 years and have found that the 13-18 year range is a transition period of youth. Up until now they have seemingly blindly followed what their parents believed. The teen years is an eye opening turning point of them having the choice of what to believe, and somehow whatever their parents have always believed will many times appear archaic and outdated. So, what are we doing about this?
This summer we are letting our teens decide what we teach to them. No, we are not going to change the Bible or its message to say that teens are always right and parents are always raging buffoons; we are taking all of their questions and answering a few of them each week using the Bible as our answer source.
Last week we took up the first round of questions and there was one question that was dominating the question pool. No one knew what another person asked but there was a lot of people wondering, "If God created everything, why did He create evil?" Some even went on the write a story on their question card about a baby that had died in their family or a godly person who came down with a disease. This is a good question which is asked by both teens and adults. So, why did God create evil?
To grasp the answer to this question there is a concept you must understand. There is no such thing as evil. Yes, that is right; there is no such thing as evil. What?! Okay, now you think "Pastor Randy has gone nuts-o on us." So what about Satan? We'll get back to him.
Evil is like darkness and cold, they don't exist. Yes, I have been locked a dark room, and yes, I have been out on a winters day, but yes, I have also had high school chemistry where they teach you that there is no such thing as darkness and cold, only levels of light and heat. You can have no light, little light, or a lot of light, but you can not add a measurement of darkness of anything. The same is true with cold; you can only have levels of heat. You can have no heat, little heat, or a lot of heat, but you cannot add "cold" to something. Now, think of this with God and evil. God we know did not intend for evil to be in the world but it is here and it will be until He returns. In the mean time we, through the consequence of sin, cannot not experience the level of God on earth that He intended to be. Instead, we live in a world of lesser levels of God. The more we see unrighteousness, the less God we see. In some places God has been entirely shut out, we know that his spirit is there, but is work is not. In other places there is just a trace of God.
So, what about Satan? Doesn't he work evil? If Satan works evil won't that mean there is such thing as evil and that I was teach heresy when I said there was no such thing as evil? Satan certainly does work evil, but since evil is the absence of God, Satan's work is to lessen the level of God in our lives, our homes,... our world. Satan's goal is to take our focus off from God and push Him more and more out of our lives... thus creating a higher level of evil. Make sense? If not call me.
Okay, so far we have said all of this without cracking the Bible; very dangerous because this teaching is not mine, it is from God and God has given us the Bible. Here's the proof.
1. Genesis 1-3 Mankind was created into a perfect environment where they were able to run, frolic and play freely and were accompanied by God himself. Thus, they were in a place with a high level of God.
2. Romans 5.12 says, "...by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" Adam and Eve had a high level of God but they also had free-will which gave them the choice to retain the high level of God or give it up; they chose to give it up under the influence of Satan (who remember is out to lessen the level of God.)
3. Notice in Romans 5.12 that sin entered into the WORLD and was passed upon ALL MEN so that ALL have sinned. Do you get the point? Adam cursed the entire human race! Sin did not just send its curse upon one person and enact natural selection, it damned the entire human race. This is very important to remember. The next time you are wondering why a baby died or a godly person got sick you must remember it is because of sin! Sin effects everyone, not just the person who is sinning; we are all sinners and our world is riddled with evil.
4. Romans 5.8-9 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." Did you see that? In Romans 5.12 we were condemned because of sin, but now in v8-9 we are "justified" (cleaned thoroughly of our sins)! We no longer have to live in the condemnation of our sins. Just as one man brought sin upon the entire human race, one man (Jesus Christ) was able to pay the sacrifice and counteract it. It was act of love that made forgiveness possible, it will be an act of "grace through faith" (Eph. 2.8-9) that accepts this forgiveness.
Having said all of that, why do we still have problems after we come to Christ? If Jesus came to reverse the curse of sin on mankind, why do believers still encounter evil? This is simple really, remember what was said the be the highest price in Genesis? Death. There were other things that came along with it, but death was most supreme. For the believer, the greatest penalty of sin is wiped away immediately (eternal death) and we will see the rest of our penalty wiped away when Jesus returns and establishes us to a higher level of God; in his presence of eternity.
This summer we are letting our teens decide what we teach to them. No, we are not going to change the Bible or its message to say that teens are always right and parents are always raging buffoons; we are taking all of their questions and answering a few of them each week using the Bible as our answer source.
Last week we took up the first round of questions and there was one question that was dominating the question pool. No one knew what another person asked but there was a lot of people wondering, "If God created everything, why did He create evil?" Some even went on the write a story on their question card about a baby that had died in their family or a godly person who came down with a disease. This is a good question which is asked by both teens and adults. So, why did God create evil?
To grasp the answer to this question there is a concept you must understand. There is no such thing as evil. Yes, that is right; there is no such thing as evil. What?! Okay, now you think "Pastor Randy has gone nuts-o on us." So what about Satan? We'll get back to him.
Evil is like darkness and cold, they don't exist. Yes, I have been locked a dark room, and yes, I have been out on a winters day, but yes, I have also had high school chemistry where they teach you that there is no such thing as darkness and cold, only levels of light and heat. You can have no light, little light, or a lot of light, but you can not add a measurement of darkness of anything. The same is true with cold; you can only have levels of heat. You can have no heat, little heat, or a lot of heat, but you cannot add "cold" to something. Now, think of this with God and evil. God we know did not intend for evil to be in the world but it is here and it will be until He returns. In the mean time we, through the consequence of sin, cannot not experience the level of God on earth that He intended to be. Instead, we live in a world of lesser levels of God. The more we see unrighteousness, the less God we see. In some places God has been entirely shut out, we know that his spirit is there, but is work is not. In other places there is just a trace of God.
So, what about Satan? Doesn't he work evil? If Satan works evil won't that mean there is such thing as evil and that I was teach heresy when I said there was no such thing as evil? Satan certainly does work evil, but since evil is the absence of God, Satan's work is to lessen the level of God in our lives, our homes,... our world. Satan's goal is to take our focus off from God and push Him more and more out of our lives... thus creating a higher level of evil. Make sense? If not call me.
Okay, so far we have said all of this without cracking the Bible; very dangerous because this teaching is not mine, it is from God and God has given us the Bible. Here's the proof.
1. Genesis 1-3 Mankind was created into a perfect environment where they were able to run, frolic and play freely and were accompanied by God himself. Thus, they were in a place with a high level of God.
2. Romans 5.12 says, "...by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" Adam and Eve had a high level of God but they also had free-will which gave them the choice to retain the high level of God or give it up; they chose to give it up under the influence of Satan (who remember is out to lessen the level of God.)
3. Notice in Romans 5.12 that sin entered into the WORLD and was passed upon ALL MEN so that ALL have sinned. Do you get the point? Adam cursed the entire human race! Sin did not just send its curse upon one person and enact natural selection, it damned the entire human race. This is very important to remember. The next time you are wondering why a baby died or a godly person got sick you must remember it is because of sin! Sin effects everyone, not just the person who is sinning; we are all sinners and our world is riddled with evil.
4. Romans 5.8-9 "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him." Did you see that? In Romans 5.12 we were condemned because of sin, but now in v8-9 we are "justified" (cleaned thoroughly of our sins)! We no longer have to live in the condemnation of our sins. Just as one man brought sin upon the entire human race, one man (Jesus Christ) was able to pay the sacrifice and counteract it. It was act of love that made forgiveness possible, it will be an act of "grace through faith" (Eph. 2.8-9) that accepts this forgiveness.
Having said all of that, why do we still have problems after we come to Christ? If Jesus came to reverse the curse of sin on mankind, why do believers still encounter evil? This is simple really, remember what was said the be the highest price in Genesis? Death. There were other things that came along with it, but death was most supreme. For the believer, the greatest penalty of sin is wiped away immediately (eternal death) and we will see the rest of our penalty wiped away when Jesus returns and establishes us to a higher level of God; in his presence of eternity.
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