Category Archives: good and evil

Discernment- Hebrews 5:11-14

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First published October 2, 2010 and edited for re-publication here.

“But solid food is for the mature, whose senses are trained by practice to distinguish between good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14, CSB).

As I have grown older and lived through many social and cultural changes in our world, one of my biggest concerns for our younger generations is the blurring of the line between good and evil.

With all the information that confronts us every minute of every day in this digital age in which we live, it becomes more difficult for some to distinguish between what’s right and what’s wrong!

But, discernment between good and evil is a fundamental proposition of our humanity and morality. In the Bible, it’s a compelling part of the Creation story. And, it’s a basic element of humanity’s separation from God and the rationale for God’s cosmic plan for the redemption of humanity.

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God Is Good, All The Time – Genesis 50:15-21

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Originally posted February 11, 2011

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people. Therefore don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them (Genesis 50:19-21, CSB).

This response by Joseph to his brothers has been a recurring theological theme of the saga of Abraham and his offspring in the book of Genesis. It is the result of God’s covenant with Abraham.

Upon the death of Jacob, Joseph’s brothers were afraid that he would take revenge on them for selling him into slavery many years earlier. So, they sent a message to Joseph begging his forgiveness.

When Joseph received their message, he wept because his brothers still feared reprisal from him. Then they came to Joseph and bowed down before him and told him they would be his slaves.

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Corrupted – Genesis 2:8 – 3:22

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The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had formed. The Lord God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…. The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:8-17, CSB).

Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You can’t eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, ‘You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.’” “No! You will certainly not die,” the serpent said to the woman. “In fact, God knows that when you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.(Genesis 3:1-5, CSB).

In these two chapters from Genesis we see the formulation of some fundamental components of the Judeo-Christian ethic–free will, human depravity, moral law and justice.

God planted a garden in Eden and gave the man the responsibility for working in the garden and watching over it. (Why it was necessary for the man to protect the garden is an interesting question for another time.) Two species of trees in the garden are mentioned–the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of the former, Adam and Eve could eat and subsequently experience eternal life. Of the latter, they were commanded not to eat or they would experience death.

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Who’s Your Daddy? – John 8:30-59

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Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, because I came from God and I am here. For I didn’t come on my own, but he sent me. Why don’t you understand what I say? Because you cannot listen to my word. You are of your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires.” (John 8:42-44, CSB)

Star Wars fans know well the iconic scene when Lord of the Dark Side, Darth Vader, reveals to Jedi warrior, Rebel hero, and disciple of the Force, Luke Skywalker, that he is Luke’s father. And, it then becomes a classic case of good vs. evil and what you think is good becomes evil.

There seems to be a similar theme in this discussion between Jesus and the Jewish religious leaders: what people think is the agent for “good” is actually the agent for “evil.”

The genealogy of Jesus is often questioned in the Gospel of John. Under a constant barrage of threats and accusations about His background hurled at Jesus by the Jewish religious leaders, He consistently maintained that He was sent from God the Father.

In fact, Jesus being one with God and being sent by God the Father–His Messiahship– is a recurring theme in John.

But, in this case Jesus turns the table on the Jewish leaders and throws shade on them about their genealogy!

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Inexorable Goodness

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Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:16, NIV).

GOD IS GOOD!

It’s a mantra that Christians often proclaim.

But, what do we mean when we say God is good? By good do we mean kind? Like God is a nice guy? Or by good do we mean virtuous? That God has no character flaws? Or maybe by good we mean mighty like God is the most powerful?

The first place the goodness of God is mentioned in the Bible is, consequently, at the first of the Bible. The goodness of God is first declared in the creation story, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31, NIV).

God’s creation was not just good, it was very good! So, it only stands to reason that if God’s creation was good–very good–then God must be good because only good can create good.

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Resident Evil, Part 1 – Genesis 3:15

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good_evil“I will put contempt between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. They will strike your head, but you will strike at their heels.”” (Genesis 3:15, CEB).

Evil in the Old Testament is not personified as it is in the New Testament. Depending on your interpretation of the Hebrew word for Satan, meaning adversary, the term is more often a designation than a proper name in the Old Testament.

The Apostle Paul associates the serpent in Genesis 3 with a personified devil: “But I’m afraid that your minds might be seduced in the same way as the snake deceived Eve with his devious tricks. You might be unable to focus completely on a genuine and innocent commitment to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3, CEB).

The Apostle John clearly delineates the Tempter in the Garden of Eden as Satan or the devil: “So the great dragon was thrown down. The old snake, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, was thrown down to the earth; and his angels were thrown down with him” (Revelation 12:9, CEB). The word “old” here refers to the fact that Satan’s appearance on Earth was at an early stage of the world’s history and has long been occupied with the task of deceiving and opposing God’s elect.

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Resident Evil, Part 3 – Genesis 6:5-7

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“The Lord saw that humanity had become thoroughly evil on the earth and that every idea their minds thought up was always completely evil. The Lord regretted making human beings on the earth, and he was heartbroken. So the Lord said, ‘I will wipe off of the land the human race that I’ve created: from human beings to livestock to the crawling things to the birds in the skies, because I regret I ever made them’” (Genesis 6:5-7, CEB).

It didn’t take long after the Creation for people to become so evil that God was sorry He created them. Evil must have spread among human beings at an exponential rate.

Evil seems to have grown simultaneously with the human race because God wanted to destroy the whole human race. Apparently everyone, or almost everyone, was evil!

Did God make a big mistake when He created human beings? If the humanity that God created had become thoroughly evil, then did God create evil?

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Creation Story, Part 3: Cosmic Conflict – Genesis 1-3

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adameveeatingtreeofknowledgeclipart“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”(Genesis 3:15, NIV).

In the Creation Story in Genesis 1 God created a good and perfect world populated by vegetation, animals, and human beings. Genesis 2 is perhaps a continuation of the Creation Story–possibly the next chapter in God’s already created order–describing the first people God chose to work His redemptive plans and purposes for all of humanity.

Genesis 3 is a creation story of sorts as it describes the formation of a different kind of world from God’s good and perfect creation–a new world order contrived by human beings. Genesis 3 describes the beginning of evil among humanity and it prognosticates the cosmic conflict between good and evil played out on the stage of this world.

In fact, this cosmic conflict may be the main point of the Creation Story in Genesis 1-3.

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Tolerance – Isaiah 5:20

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tolerance“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness, who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20, NASB).

There are those in this world who are trying to tell us what we know is evil is good and what we know is good is evil. Sometimes, they do it openly, but more often than not they do it inconspicuously. And, they tell us it’s for our own good. They say it will make the world a better place.

And, before you know it, we develop a tolerance for evil. Sometimes, this tolerance for evil comes in the form of compromise. And, sometimes, this tolerance for evil comes in the name of “tolerance” itself! And then, those who won’t compromise or don’t demonstrate an acceptable level of tolerance are called “intolerant” or “bigot.”

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Dark Corners – Luke 11:33-36

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darkcorner“Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light” (Luke 11:35-36, NLT).

These verses from Luke are an extension of Jesus’ well-known teaching from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:22ff. Light and darkness are metaphors for good and evil.

But, Dr. Luke develops the metaphor more richly in his account by elaborating on the properties of light, specifically, the magnitude and direction of the light. Light travels in a straight line and if it is not bright enough or is deflected by a surface, its radiance diminishes and it can leave dark corners in a particular space.

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