Understanding Evil – Freeing Creation

Understanding Evil – Freeing Creation

Understanding evil and freeing creation should be the basics of our obedience to the Lord, because they are in the heavenly will of God.

A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church

25 October 2015

Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References:

Genesis 3:17-19
Genesis 5:28-29
Genesis 8:20-21
John 14:12

Understanding evil and freeing creation should be the basics of our obedience to the Lord, because they are in the heavenly will of God.

We have talked a lot about how the peacemaking children of God are charged with helping to free creation from its present corruption.

And by understanding evil and how the devil tries to deceive us into following his evil ways, we should have the faith and resolve not to be a part of them and reject them.

This is what the peacemaking children of God do every day of their lives.

We have also talked about the nagging problem of trying to understand why God allows the horrible things that are happening to millions of human beings and billions of animals every year.

According to the Bible, we became a part of this corrupt world when our first human parents, Adam and Eve, disobeyed God because they chose to listen to the serpent, a servant of the devil, rather than to the Lord.

Prior to this point in time, the Lord put Adam (humans) in charge of the whole of this earth including all who live in it, both humans and animals.

This was to be our inheritance.

However, when Adam and Eve listened to the devil, they also transferred their inheritance to the devil.

Why or how we may not completely understand, but this action followed the spiritual and physical laws that God set in motion when He created the heavens and the earth.

And a part of understanding evil is knowing how this evil was transmitted to the earth.

Listen to what the Lord told Adam after he had disobeyed Him, as we are told in Genesis 3:17-19.

17. Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;
Cursed is the ground because of you;
In toil you shall eat of it
All the days of your life.

Technically, since the inheritance of the earth was given to Adam, this verse seems to indicate that if Adam did not listen to his wife, but continued to obey they Lord, the earth would not have become corrupted by the devil.

Their mutual disobedience led directly to this cursed earth with all its pain, suffering, bloodshed, and death.

18. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
And you shall eat the plants of the field;

Instead of just picking the fruit of the trees and plants of the earth, they must now work hard for everything they eat.

19. By the sweat of your face
You shall eat bread,
Till you return to the ground,
Because from it you were taken;
For you are dust,
And to dust you shall return.”
NASB

In other words, they will now die and rot away as everything else does in this corrupt world.

There is also something else that we need to understand: God created this world to be vegan, meaning that we were only to eat the plant foods He created, and even though this earth is now corrupted, God still wants us to eat only plant foods.

There isn’t even the thought of killing and eating animals for food.

To kill and eat animals and wear their skins is further corruption by the devil and those who follow him; it was never from God.

Note what we are told about the birth of Noah in Genesis 5:28-29.

28. And Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and became the father of a son.

29. Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one shall give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed.”
NASB

The Lord cursed the earth by removing His created paradise, Eden, from the hands of the devil when our inheritance transferred to him following the disobedience of Adam and Eve.

Noah was to end this curse, but Noah failed in the end, even after more than 120 years of walking with God.

Note what we are told in Genesis 8:20-21…

20. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

This describes Noah’s failure and not God’s, which is an important thing for us to remember in understanding evil.

Evil does not come from the Lord; it comes from the devil.

So, we need to remember to stop blaming God for the evil things that happen in the world, for they come from the devil and the people who follow him.

Let’s continue with our discussion on understanding evil.

Noah murdered some of the animals he had on the ark, whom he had lovingly cared for, and then betrayed.

And yes it is murder, because it was a premeditated act by Noah, even if he felt he had something to repent for.

But like us today, Noah could have gone directly to God, for he seems to have been talking to Him, instead of scapegoating and murdering innocent animals.

21. And the LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, “I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done.
NASB

The Lord seems to have reluctantly accepted Noah’s repentance, but He mourned over the loss of His hope in Noah bringing an end to the curse; thus, He said that He would never again curse the earth because of what human beings do.

This gives us another aspect of understanding evil, the evil is human caused and human retained or allowed, for most humans seem to love evil more than they love God, which is easily seen in the flesh and animal byproducts they put on their plates, which testifies against them.

God was going to let the earth suffer because of the evil that human beings do.

Why?

Because, as the Lord said, “the intent of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”

This is the evil that plays into the hands of the devil, and continues to corrupt the earth, even to this very day, and it is very important for us to learn, for it helps us in understanding evil.

We may all have the evil of this corrupt earth within us, but we don’t have to live that evil, which is all part of understanding evil and freeing creation.

We can choose to rise above this evil and live as the peacemaking children of God who work diligently to help free creation from its present corruption, even if at times it may seem like we are all alone in our efforts.

We are not alone!

The Lord is with us.

And just in case you have any doubts about being able to do this, remember what Jesus tells us in John 14:12.

12. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.
NASB

Think about this a moment.

This is pure heavenly love, and anything that is not harmonious with this love is not in the heavenly will of God, but it is from the devil.

Two thousand years ago there was no internet, but today on the internet we can reach more people than Jesus did in His ministry here on earth.

And if enough of us have the faith to do this, and speak out in other venues, we can change public opinion, we can change the world, and we can help free creation from its present corruption.

This is how understanding evil and freeing creation sets us apart from the corrupt ways of this earth and the people who love and live in it.

We don’t need support from the evil and corrupt people of this earth; we can separate ourselves from them and follow the heavenly will of God.

We can do this.

We can!

Amen.

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