God's Story... for Guam

World 2: We - and the world - were damaged by evil.

(picture and caption from evangelism.intervarsity.org)

Yesterday as I was checking my facebook and I saw one young member of our church bullying another. The one thought he was included in a certain inside joke and then was harshly told he was not included by the one bullying. It may seem harmless enough, but while I was reading, I felt all the feelings of the one as if I were him, the victim. An unexplainable rush of feelings of rejection came over me for the rest of the day, and I could not focus on anything. All I felt was what this young person might be feeling. I wondered, how can you do that to another person in cold blood? Them both being from church only complicates matters. Church is no longer a safe place to be accepted and loved for some.

Speaking of cold blood, last night the horrors of murder came to Guam. A 21-year old drove his car into a store in Tumon and killed 3 and injured several others by stabbing them. A common feeling held by many this morning was, "this is Guam, this doesn't happen here." Our small island watches the recent murders in Alabama and feels sorrow, but secure that nothing like that could happen here. Now that it's happened in our front yard, all of us are feeling reality's cold touch. We must ask, "why did this happen?" Even if this young man's motive could be explained away by something like bullying or drunkenness or depression, we are left with the why's of bullying and drunkenness and depression. Why, why, why? 

To be honest, I tried to ignore the news last night and forget the bullying I had seen. But the feeling of grief didn't leave me. So I feel like I must post a paper I wrote for Evangelism class 2 days ago called "God's Story." The assignment was to write a short message to share with others about the message of the gospel. I believe the Bible has a full answer to the why's of yesterday. I don't think my explanation is perfect, but it's helped me deal with the source and problem of evil. 

God's Story

Creator God

            "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," are the first words of the Bible.[1] This is a profound statement indeed. We know just a fraction of how wonderfully vast and intricate the earth is, and even far less about the "heavens." What we do know is God created everything and, "saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good."[2] God created the beautiful mountains, the vast oceans, the abundant resources, and even people. He created all of it and everything was perfect. Did you know that God created you to look like himself? The Bible says, "God created man in his own image."[3] This doesn't mean we physically appear the same as God, but have some of his qualities. Like a landscape painting is a created reproduction of the real landscape, you and I are painted portraits of God. We are not only made in his image, but we included in that "very good" category with everything else. While we can't see God, we can see his creation and learn a lot about him through it, including ourselves. Right about now you should be asking, "Hold on. If God is good and created every person, plant, animal, thing, idea, etc., 'good,' why are there wars and sickness and disasters and other evils in the world?" The Bible has a one word answer for that: sin.

Why Not Everything is "Good"

            Evil isn't something God created. In fact, evil isn't a thing at all, it's an absence or twisting of something; namely, good.[4] God's creation, his commands, and his qualities are good things, and it is we who have neglected and twisted them. This is what sin is; man's twisting of good. God feels pain when he sees his creation twisted, and so this sin has a consequence: death.[5] The Bible tells us that, "just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, ... so death spread to all men because all sinned."[6] We see sin in the world in violence and corruption, infidelity and divorce, oppression and substance abuse. We see death in sickness and disasters, wars and hunger, suicides and murders. We know these things exist, and they are nothing new. These things have existed since ancient times, and the Bible tells us they all came from one man; the first man every created by God, our representative. Ever since the beginning, no matter how much we try to change the world for good, evil seems to prevail. There's no charity or philosophy or religion to totally stop either the person or the country next door from hurting themselves or others. There's no science or medicine or disaster preparation that totally beats death. In short: we can't save ourselves, and we need help. Need some good news? God has already come to our rescue.

God Came to Us, and His Name is Jesus

            God, by his very nature, must destroy what is no longer good, which pretty much means everything on earth. But God isn't a machine. He has emotions like us and even feels love. He didn't create man just to destroy, but to be one with himself and to care for the earth.[7] When we failed at that and even forgot how, he did something amazing. He came down and showed us how; not as mighty creator God, but as a helpless babe, born to a poor family in an inferior village in a nameless country.[8] He grew to a man and followed every command of God.[9] Not once did he twist something good. Not once did he sin. He lived a perfect life, deserving of finally being with God for eternity. However, the Son of God didn't get what he deserved. Instead, he chose to trade his good and perfect record for our stained and twisted one, and died a criminal's death, nailed to wooden cross.[10] After thinking about that for a while, think on these words; "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not parish, but have eternal life."[11] God's Son gave his right and inheritance to us. And since he took our record, he died a death for all of mankind, taking all of God's grief upon himself. Since his life was perfect and he had all the fullness of God, the grief of God was fully satisfied in his destruction for all of mankind. "For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many."[12] What was the reason for all of this? Love. "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you," says God in human form, the man who took our place, Jesus the priest and king, the Son of God.[13] If you want to be a friend of Jesus and have eternal life, you just need to believe in him and do what he commands. Let's see if this is any easier than trying to live a perfect life.

Becoming a Child of God, a Friend of Jesus

            In law, a gift is only a gift if it is received or accepted. This makes sense, since you can't enjoy the effects of the gift unless you take it and apply it. The Bible says that salvation is a gift.[14] If so, in order for it to have any effect, we must receive it. No one who doesn't give up his sin and notice the gift is going to receive it, but it's right there for the taking for anyone who would believe in it and receive it.  To receive it, we must believe in his name, and this means we give up our notion of saving ourselves. Once we do this, we inherit the right to be a child of God![15] To believe in it is to "confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead."[16] This is the best part. Jesus didn't stay dead. He rose from the dead and appeared to many.[17] He conquered death and showed that he was fully God. This means that though we still physically die, we will be physically raised like him to everlasting life! Death has no power over any who believe! But there's still that command of Jesus to consider. "This is my commandment," Jesus said, "that you love one another as I have loved you."[18] This is a call for you to share the gift you received with your friends, your neighbors, even your enemies, until he returns and we spend eternity with him. This is God's story and how you fit in. Right now he's calling you to trust in his name and believe in the death and resurrection of his son, to accept the free gift of grace he has for you, and to share it with the world he loves. 

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[1] Genesis 1:1.

[2] Genesis 1:31.

[3] Genesis 1:27.

[4] It was Saint Augustine of Hippo who first came up with this solution for the problem of evil.

[5] Genesis 6:5-7.

[6] Romans 5:12.

[7] Genesis 2:15

[8] John 1:14.

[9] Luke 1:80,

[10] Colossians 2:13-15.

[11] John 3:16.

[12] Romans 5:15b ("For if many...").

[13] John 15:13, 14.

[14] Ephesians 2:8.

[15] John 1:12.

[16] Romans 10:8.

[17] 1 Corinthians 15:3-6.

[18] John 15:12