Christ WILL defeat Satan; read Genesis 3
Why is there evil in the world? Read Genesis 3– Evil has been around a long time- since the beginning of mankind; four actions in the drama of this historical event. The choice humans made- v. 1-6, The cover-up- v. 7-13, The curse- v. 14-24, The cure- v. 15, 21. Adam and Eve willfully chose to be disobedient, just like we do. Disobedience against God’s law IS sin, and this clearly leads to evil choices that are immoral
Conclusion: Mankind clearly has a bend towards evil, even though they don’t know it. Wrong decisions are made regularly. The cure is Jesus.
God exposes evil in men’s hearts and hates it– Micah 3:1 Listen you leaders of Israel- you are supposed to know right from wrong, yet you are the very ones who hate good and love evil; you skin my people and strip them to the bone. Malachi 1:6b-10 The Israelites offered polluted sacrifices to the Lord on their altars. Lame animals and sick and 
blind animals were used, and God wanted the best animals, – those unblemished (See Leviticus 1:3)! This was evil in the sight of the Lord. Our lives should be living sacrifices to the Lord- Romans 12:1. If we give only God our “leftover time, energy, and money,” we repeat the same sin as these worshipers who didn’t want to bring anything valuable to God.
Conclusion: Ask the Holy Spirit to give to God what is his in your life!
We can learn a lot from Joseph in the book of Genesis
God allows evil; this is hard for us to swallow– Read Joshua 23:15-16 Just as the Lord has given us good things that he has promised, he will bring evil upon you if you disobey him. Read Jeremiah 6:19-20 God brought evil upon his people; it will be the fruit of their own sin, because they wouldn’t listen to God. Read Romans 1:26, 28 God gave mankind over to shameful lusts…he also gave them over to a depraved mind……all because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator-who should be forever praised. Read Amos 4:12 God says, “Therefore I will bring upon you all these further evils I have spoken of. Prepare to meet your God in judgment” (4:9-11). God can make good out of evil; that’s the miracle of grace– Genesis 50:20 Joseph says to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good, to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”
Conclusion: God conquers evil, even though it may not seem like it right now.
Evil is powerful in a person’s life– Romans 7:13-25 Paul was a slave to sin (missing the mark set forth by God)….he did what he hated to do, and what he wanted to do, he did not do. He has the desire to what is good, but he could not carry it out. The law of sin wages war against the “law of his mind and makes him a prisoner of the law of sin at work within “his members.” When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. What a wretched man am I, says Paul! Thanks be to God- who rescues him in the power of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: We live in a spiritual battlefield. Understand that! Read Ephesians 6 and study it diligently.
A new e-book by Dr. Bob; click here to view “Encountering Grace in Genesis: A 50 Chapter Study on Genesis” Learn about Joseph, a man of grace.
Next blog we will finish up on Evil, and then move on to other pertinent topics!
Thanks Dr. Bob, this is very convicting…
Excellent commentary but considering it brings me back to what some refer to as “The Theologian’s Cross”: if grace is free and we do nothing to inherit salvation, then why doesn’t God save us all? Free will? Leading to my ultimate conundrum, “Why did got create perfect mankind knowing he/she would become imperfect by exerting that free will?” I have two theories but find it difficult to support with Biblical text, so it will have to wait for eternity because no one else has ever answered those two questions to my full satisfaction.
This is the classic argument between the Calvinists and the Arminianists.
I hold to doctrine taken from both and will share them in a future blog.