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EVIL HowardTaylor.
28. Q. Even though God made all things very well, we see much evil around us everywhere. We also read in the Bible that Christ came to save us from sin. What is our condition now? A. Our sin is most fully exposed in the Cross of Christ where the righteousness and the holy anger of God are fully revealed against all wickedness. The Bible tells us that by nature we are children of wrath, with our minds darkened by the deceitfulness of sin; that Satan 'the accuser', that is, the devil, is the prince of this world; and that we are cut off from God. The whole world is now in bondage to decay and death. 29. Q. Who is Satan? A. Evil in its origin lies beyond us in the person of Satan. He is part of creation and therefore was originally good. Yet much more we cannot say. We are only told as much as we need to know about him, namely how he affects us. The traditional view of him as a fallen angel whose sin was pride and rebellion against God must be sufficient for us. He is the enemy of God, humankind and all that God has created. 30. Q. Where did our sin come from? A. Responding to the temptation of Satan, we stopped trusting God and exalted ourselves against God in pride and rebellion. This is the meaning of the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. 31. Q. How could such a thing happen? A. God not only made us conscious creatures like the animals, but made us self-conscious beings (so that we have an ability to reflect on the meaning of our own lives). This contained the risk that we would use our freedom to turn in on ourselves in self worship. However in God's eternal purpose He determined to use our sin to be the means by which He would fully demonstrate His love to us and give us an even higher destiny. When we think of the meaning of the cross of Christ and His resurrection we will see how this was accomplished. 32. Q. How do human pride and rebellion manifest themselves in the Garden of Eden story? A. God forbids Adam and Eve to eat of the fruit of the Tree Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil. He wanted to them to learn from Him alone the difference between good and evil so that they could make good choices in their lives. To eat of the Tree Of The Knowledge of Good and Evil would be to say that they themselves would decide the difference between good and evil without reference to God. 33. Q. What was the significance of this? A. Rather like much of society today they wanted to be their own 'god' making up their own morality living their lives independent of God. They thus broke the relationship of grace and faith that God had intended. In a mysterious yet real way we were in Adam when he sinned. All our humanity is embraced by his. We had a real share in his fall from grace. This is what is meant by original sin. 34. Q. Does this mean that we are now totally incapable of doing anything good at all? A. No, obviously not. It is obvious from our experience of everyday life that we are capable of acts of kindness and selfless courage. But we can say that every part of us is affected by sin. Our conscience, our will, our thinking, our doing, are all marked by the lack of faith, the pride and the rebellion of Adam. This is why we cannot save ourselves. The Bible tells us we are dead in sin. 35. Q. What are the consequences of our pride and rebellion? A. There are many consequences, but they can be summarised under three headings: i. We are separated from God by a barrier of sin and guilt. We try to get back to God using our own efforts. Our efforts fail. God himself must break down the barrier of sin. ii. Our nature is spoilt. We were created in the image of God reflecting his love and holiness, but now jealousy and unrighteousness affect our whole being. iii. The devil, the accuser, gains power in the world through our guilt. God originally gave authority over the earth to humankind but we have betrayed this into the hands of Satan. In all these things God himself suffers much pain. 36. Q. How do we see the effects of these things in humankind? A. Each of the three consequences leads to death: separation from God means we will die. The power of Satan, our enemy, means we will die. Our hate and unrighteousness lead to self-destruction and death. God said to Adam, 'In the day you eat of it you will die'. 37. Q. How do we see the effects of this in nature? A. We are making the astounding discovery that our human Consciousness impinges upon the very fabric of nature in ways we could not have imagined before. This is a great mystery and scientific theories may change. But what is clear is that when humankind goes wrong the whole world suffers. The Bible tells us that nature falls under the curse that came upon humanity. The world too becomes subject to forces that bring pain, suffering and disease. Sickness, natural disasters and death are now part of the very fabric of nature. REFERENCES 28. Rom. 1:16-28; John 12:31-33; 1 John 5:19; Rom. 3:21-22; Gen. 3:19; 1 John 3:10; 1. Cor. 5:5; Eph. 6:12; John 14:30; Is. 59:2; Jer. 17:9; Eph. 2:3; Rom. 8:19-22. 29. Matt. 16:23; 1 John 2:13; Eph. 2:2; 2 Cor. 4:4; Luke 10:18; Is. 14:12-15; Ezek. 28:12-19. 30.-33. Gen. 2:17; 3:1-6; Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:21-22. 34. Luke 7:1-10; Mark 7:21; Gen. 8:21; Rom. 3:9-18; Eph. 2:1-5; Acts 10:1-4, 34-43. 35.-36. Is. 59:2; Eph. 2:11-12; Jer. 17:9; 1 John 5:19; Luke 4:5-6; Mark 7:21; Jer. 17:9; Gen. 2:17; 6:5-6; 1 Cor. 15:21-22. 37. Gen. 3:17-18; Rom. 8:20-22.
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