Manchester Lutheran Church

Where does evil come from?

This world is broken. And our natural reaction to that is to blame God. Many objections to the Christian faith centre around this one idea: That if there’s evil in the world, and God is all powerful, then the evil must be his fault.

Now, God explicitly tells us in Deuteronomy 29:29:

The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever,

So, some things are revealed to us in his Word about Christ. Other things are not revealed to us. But, again, our natural reaction to that, is to ignore what God has said and revealed, and instead focus on what God has not revealed—and use that as an excuse to blame him.

But, as God says to the prophet Job in 38:4:

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

God’s point is simply this: the reality of being a creator means there will inevitably be things that are secret to him.

But, what has God revealed about evil? He took to himself a human nature… …so that he could suffer and die: himself experience temptation and then endure the most evil thing in all creation.

The Book of Hebrews tells us that because of this, the Son of God can sympathise with our weaknesses.

So, evil exists in the world, and God hasn’t revealed everything, but in the face of evil: he is on your side, and he’s proven that by Jesus dying on the cross for you.

But, in answer to that question: Where does evil come from? God does have even more to say.

Our natural reaction is to blame God for evil. But, here in Genesis 3 we’ll see God explain three things about evil:

1) Satan convinces us God is not good—this is how evil came into the world
2) We behave badly as we try to cover up our guilt
3) God’s Word defeats and sets limits on evil

The first, 1) Satan convinces us God is not good

Look again at v. 1:

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

This serpent is Satan, Revelation 12:9 says of him:

that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan

And the key thing we learn about him is—he is crafty. Which means here that his words are not straightforward watch how he says one thing, but is sowing seed for something unsaid.

Look at the rest of v. 1:

He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”

Now, it seems like a simple question—but it’s not, it’s a crafty question. As Jesus says in John’s Gospel: Satan was a liar from the beginning. And Satan knows full well that God commanded Adam in Genesis 2:16-17:

You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.

God’s Word to Adam was good: you are free. God’s Word to Adam was for his good: to avoid death. But here, Satan misquotes God in order to make God seem like he is not on Eve’s side.

A reasonable question on the surface. But, a crafty message underneath: that God is not for you. And in the next conversation, we see this seed take root, vv. 2-3:

And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

Eve corrects Satan, but not completely. God never said anything about touching the tree. That’s a little extra rule that Eve added, because she now has the idea that God’s not nice. And now, Satan jumps on that, look at vv. 4-5:

But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

If God is not good, then we can believe that he lies to us. And Satan claims that God lies to us to keep good things away from us. That we get the best things by disobeying him.

This is the heart of sin, the reason we disobey God’s commandments. Some people explain sin as doing bad things… Some people explain sin as rebellion against God… Some people explain sin as disobedience and breaking rules… …those things are all kind of true… …but underneath them all… the heart of sin… …is believing that God is bad towards you. Everything else about sin flows from this.

And we see exactly that in what Eve does in vv. 6-7:

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Now convinced that God is a bad guy, out to get her, Eve feels she has no choice, but to take matters into her own hands.

She replaces God’s Word with what she can see. And she relies on her own feelings and reason to make a decision about what’s best for her.

God commands children to honour your parents for your good. But, we naturally assume God is bad and that this is just about controlling us.

God commands parents to raise your children as Christians. But we naturally assume that God doesn’t want the best for them like we do, and things like their education or success are better for them.

God commands husbands to love their wives, and wives to submit to their husbands. But we naturally assume God is old-fashioned.

God commands employees to work hard even when not seen. But we naturally assume that God will not look after us and we need to ensure our success by cutting corners.

God commands citizens to obey our government. But we naturally assume God doesn’t understand the real world.

God commands us to hear the Word and share it. But we naturally assume God has bad priorities.

Since Adam, we all, by nature, naturally ascribe bad motives to God: and so distrust his Word.

So, Satan convinces us God is not good, and as a result We behave badly as we try to cover up our guilt

Please look again at vv. 8-10:

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”

Adam is now scared of God. Whereas before God walked with Adam, and they had an open and free relationship, now it is ruined.

See that God is still good… God still wants to walk with Adam, he calls out for Adam, he tries to find Adam.

But, Adam is scared of God, and so tries to cover up his guilt,.

Now look at vv. 11-13:

He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Adam and Eve’s began with ascribing bad motives to God, so they want to cover up their guilt… …which now leads to them justifying themselves, …and when we justify ourselves, we point the finger at others.

Where do you blame others instead of repenting? When confronted with your sin, how do you blame others to justify yourself?

“I wouldn’t have lost my temper if you hadn’t done such and such.”—I am so guilty of that one. Hands up.

“I wouldn’t have lied if that person were more reasonable.”

“I wouldn’t have gossiped if they weren’t such a terrible person.”

And self-righteousness frequently means tearing others down:

Husbands blame their wives for their mistakes.

Children blame their parents for their own choices.

Instead of confessing sin, we fight to be right—and in doing so, we destroy trust, intimacy, and love.

We make up self-justifications like these from our circumstances:

“I only lied because it would have been awkward to tell the truth.”

“I only skipped church because I was tired.”

“I only watched that sinful content because I was lonely.”

We convince ourselves that our situation is unique, that the rules don’t apply to us, because God isn’t really on our side and we have to take things into our own hands—just as Adam and Eve did.

But, then, just like them… We behave badly as we try to cover up our guilt

But, that isn’t the end. Because, 3) God’s Word defeats and sets limits on evil

Look again at vv. 14-15:

The LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

Satan is the one who introduced evil into this world… …and so the first thing God’s Word does is to give us a promise that Satan will be defeated.

Because, while Satan has convinced mankind that God is bad… …Satan is wrong!

God is good, and he wants our good. And the serpent crusher who will be bitten by Satan is God himself, in the person of Jesus, …giving himself to die for our sins.

In trying to cover up their guilt, Adam and Eve’s relationship was ruined and descended into blame, but v. 16:

To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you.”

God’s Word now limits the damage done to that relationship. Yes, there will be pain. Yes there will be consequences. But, God’s Word sets the boundaries on what those consquences will be.

Similarly, in vv. 17-19:

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

Adam’s sin brought death into the world, as God had warned. But God’s Word limits how that death comes to us. Sin does not fully bear fruit in death immediately.

But we will work the soil, experience the consequences of our sin, and have an opportunity to repent before we die.

So, God’s Word sets limits on the damage of sin, and reveals God’s mercy.

Though the ground is cursed, Adam will still eat.

Though relationships are broken, families will still form.

Though death enters the world, God promises life through the offspring of the woman.

That promise is fulfilled in Jesus, the offspring of the woman, who came into this broken world, endured the temptation of Satan, and took upon himself the full curse of sin—sweating in agony, crowned with thorns, suffering and dying in our place.

By doing this, he crushed the serpent’s head, reversing the curse and opening the way to eternal life.

And he did this because Satan was lying: God does love you. God cares about you. God forgives you. God is good and is good to you.

Where does evil come from?

Yes, there are some questions about this that God does not answer.

But, here is what God does say:

1) Satan convinces us God is not good

This is the root of sin and the way that evil entered the world: the belief that God is against us.

And so…

2) We behave badly as we try to cover up our guilt

And our attempts at self-righteousness lead to so many evils in our lives.

But,

3) God’s Word defeats and sets limits on evil

God promised to deal with evil… …and he dealt with it himself, …by taking the punishment for sin upon himself.

Through his Word, God limits the consequences of our sin …God ensures there are limits on evil in this world.

And this is because: God is good. He is good to you. God really does love you, he really does care for you.

Satan has convinced all of us, and put in all of our hearts, a natural distrust of God, a natural assumption that he’s out to get us.

But, this suspicion is not right, and it is not good for you. and even as we hide from him in guilt and suspicion, through his Word, he walks among us, seeking your good, calling out:

“Where are you?”