Is God really the Villain of the Old Testament or has He been wrongly accused? If He has been wrongly accused, who is Responsible for the False Accusation?
Part 3
In the book of Beginnings we are told over and over that everything God created was good. The repeated use of the word does not go without meaning. God is revealing an essential truth to us, everything about God is good. Then in the final verse God leaves us with an absolute. Everything He created was good, not some things, not most things, everything (Genesis 1:31).
Creation provides us a glimpse into God’s character. The first chapter of the Bible leaves us with the understanding that since everything God created was good, God is good. Jesus confirms this; “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” (Matt 7:18). God didn’t create anything evil, for there is no evil in Him. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. The good tree represents Jesus from which all things were created and it is impossible for Jesus to bring forth anything evil.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)
The creation story is really about Jesus because everything that was made was made by Him. God created creation Himself through the person of Jesus who is Life! God is all good, therefore, God is a life giver not a life taker. He can do nothing less than what He is. He is all good therefore, He cannot do anything less than good. Evil is less than good therefore, He does no evil!
With the creation story telling us that God is good and the fact that Jesus shows up in the New testament and confirms God as being perfectly good why do people still believe God creates and/or ordains evil? Strangely enough people get this view from the bible, primarily the Old Testament after the fall of man. Let’s look at more opposites that demand not to be swept under a rug. (1 Samuel 16:14 tells us God sent Saul an evil spirit, James 1:13 tells us God doesn’t tempt anyone with evil). (Isaiah 45:7 tells us God creates darkness, 1 John 1:5 tells us there is no darkness in God at all). (1 Samuel 15:2-3, Ezekiel 9:5-6 and other Old Testament scriptures tell us God commanded the Israelites to destroy everything in the enemy’s camp, including little children. Jesus told us to love our enemies and besides that can you imagine Jesus hurting a little child)?
Since we can’t ignore Old Testament verses that ascribe evil to God and we can’t ignore the New Testament verses that seem to conflict with them, what do we do? One thing we shouldn’t do is bury our head in the sand and pretend the verses don’t exist. The very character of God and the way we view Him is dependent on the way we understand such disparities.
Part 4 to follow
In the book of Beginnings we are told over and over that everything God created was good. The repeated use of the word does not go without meaning. God is revealing an essential truth to us, everything about God is good. Then in the final verse God leaves us with an absolute. Everything He created was good, not some things, not most things, everything (Genesis 1:31).
Creation provides us a glimpse into God’s character. The first chapter of the Bible leaves us with the understanding that since everything God created was good, God is good. Jesus confirms this; “A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.” (Matt 7:18). God didn’t create anything evil, for there is no evil in Him. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. The good tree represents Jesus from which all things were created and it is impossible for Jesus to bring forth anything evil.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. (John 1:1-4)
The creation story is really about Jesus because everything that was made was made by Him. God created creation Himself through the person of Jesus who is Life! God is all good, therefore, God is a life giver not a life taker. He can do nothing less than what He is. He is all good therefore, He cannot do anything less than good. Evil is less than good therefore, He does no evil!
With the creation story telling us that God is good and the fact that Jesus shows up in the New testament and confirms God as being perfectly good why do people still believe God creates and/or ordains evil? Strangely enough people get this view from the bible, primarily the Old Testament after the fall of man. Let’s look at more opposites that demand not to be swept under a rug. (1 Samuel 16:14 tells us God sent Saul an evil spirit, James 1:13 tells us God doesn’t tempt anyone with evil). (Isaiah 45:7 tells us God creates darkness, 1 John 1:5 tells us there is no darkness in God at all). (1 Samuel 15:2-3, Ezekiel 9:5-6 and other Old Testament scriptures tell us God commanded the Israelites to destroy everything in the enemy’s camp, including little children. Jesus told us to love our enemies and besides that can you imagine Jesus hurting a little child)?
Since we can’t ignore Old Testament verses that ascribe evil to God and we can’t ignore the New Testament verses that seem to conflict with them, what do we do? One thing we shouldn’t do is bury our head in the sand and pretend the verses don’t exist. The very character of God and the way we view Him is dependent on the way we understand such disparities.
Part 4 to follow
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