Evil, Why Does God Allow It?

[et_pb_section fb_built="1" _builder_version="3.0.47"][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.0.48" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.0.47" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.11"]It seems that at some time in everyone's life they must ask themselves or someone else this question. Both Christians and skeptics alike have asked: "If God is real, if God is personal, if God loves us, why does God allow evil?" Almost every answer to this question that I have ever read has left me empty. No matter how much theological rhetoric is spewed out, no matter how much secular humanist logic is employed, no matter how much traditional religious babble of how unknowable and mysterious God and His will is, these answers always boil down to "We don't know!" If they don't know - then why not just SAY so and not waste the reader's time. The Jews once yelled, "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also!" We know in retrospect that Jesus and his disciples came to turn the world right side up! Jesus came to untwist the twisted. The word 'wicked' essentially means twisted. Like 'wicker' or a 'wick.' Now as much as we may not like to think about it, much less talk about it, there IS a devil! He is an alien here that truly believes that the earth and all therein belongs to him. He would like you to think that he is God's equal but in actuality he is just an unemployed homeless angel that God had to fire because he had become 'twisted' in his thinking. Did God create evil?The simple answer is: "No!"Then who did?Now things get a little more complicated - so bear with me. God is the creator. Satan thedevil cannot 'create' anything - but he canpervert or twist or turn upside down the things that God has created. God creates love, the devil twists it 180^o to become hate.In the same way faith becomes fear; peace becomes anxiety; healing becomes disease; prosperity becomes poverty; and the list goes on and on. Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Even here we see that which God created - the law of the Spirit of life coming to untwist what the devil has perverted into - the law of sin and death. These perversions or reciprocals of God's works - are all the works of the devil and all came into the world as the result of Adam's sin. 1 John 3:8 He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might - destroy the works of the devil. God created everything in perfect harmony. There was no sin, no sickness, no depression and no poverty that was a result of His creation. Man was perfect and presumably, he would have lived forever in this condition had not sin come into the world through Adam's treason. God delegated all power to man by crowning Adam with power, dominion and authority over everything - on, under and above the earth. Turning everything over to man's control, (like in a lease agreement), for 6000 years. That included authority over that fallen angel Satan and those that followed him. Satan enters the garden: Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle, [cunning (in a bad sense):--crafty], than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, has God said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?Notice that the devil KNEW what God had said to Adam and KNEW what Adam had and had not told Eve, (Gen 2:16-17). So he begins by twisting what God had said. Eventually Eve is deceived into eating that which God had commanded not to be eaten while Adam stood there watching and listening (Gen 3:6). Adam made a conscience decision to listen and obey Satan rather than God and sealed it by joining Eve in disobeying God. When Adam decided to obey the devil, he figuratively handed Satan his crown of power, dominion and authority over everything - on, under and above the earth. Using that authority, and the words he coerced man to speak, the devil began to twist, pervert, corrupt and turn upside down all of God's creation and thereby evil came into the world.  As each aspect of evil came into being, it became part of a growing curse upon mankind. The devil and his demons were at that point in control and God could not step in and remedy the situation - for as yet, there were no legal grounds on which He could do it. Now this actually answers the question, "Why does God allow evil?" The answer is that God is a righteous God who legally follows His own rules and abides by and upholds His own contracts or covenants. Unless there are legal grounds on which He can interfere, He cannot because He will not violate His word. But let's continue. When sin finally filled the earth to the full - judgement came on the earth in the form of a flood, legally executing all that had sinned. Noah entered into a covenant with God whereby he and his family were spared to continue the lineage of Adam. In this lineage was Abram with whom God entered into another covenant promising an inheritance to his 'seed' and changing his name to Abraham - the father of many nations. [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.11" background_color="#d6d6d6"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.0.47" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.11" custom_margin="|25px||25px"]

Redemption and the Inheritance. What does it all mean?

This 'inheritance' was to be the legal redemption of man and the restitution of ALL that the devil took from man, and then to provide abundantly more over and above that. The Hebrew word 'Shalom' which is most often translated as 'Peace,' conveys that which God wants us to have. 'Shalom' and its root, 'Shalam' convey not only peace as calmness and the absence of war, but as wholeness, prosperity, perfection, restitution, redemption, repayment, and completeness. The 'peace' that makes you whole. If something is stolen from you, you can't have peace, because you are not whole. Something is missing! If you are sick, you can't have peace, because you are not whole. God created Adam whole, and He wants us to be whole. The God of Peace sent the Prince of Peace to bring Peace on Earth. We are talking about wholeness, restitution and the plan of redemption. Redemption -- spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, financially and every other way. Redemption out from under the curse and restitution back to that state of Adam after he was given dominion and authority over the Earth and everything in it.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.0.48" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.0.47" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.11"]So when God began talking to Abraham about his 'seed', this got the devils attention, because right after Adams sin, God had told the devil: Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; it will bruise, [break, cover], your head, and you will bruise his heel. Even though God was speaking in parables, the devil understood that there was a man coming that was going to hurt his head and most likely retrieve his ill-gotten crown. Mankind was under the curse of sin, sickness and bondage.  This curse began with Adam's sin and grew in scope and magnitude as his descendents continued to follow the devil's words and ways. Next God desired to enter into relationship with the descendents of a man named Israel who himself was a descendent of Abraham. God used Moses to establish this relationship. Through Moses God gave the Law, Statutes and Ordinances to Israel to make a temporary way of escape out from under the curse. The Law, including the Statutes and Ordinances was the codified listing of what God spoke to Israel. By clearly stating the results of both hearing and obeying what God said, as well as clearly stating the results of NOT hearing and NOT obeying what God said, He set forth the conditions of how to be blessed and be protected from the curse. The curse of the Law was not from God -- but rather was the natural consequence of living under the sinful nature of Adam and being unprotected from and subject to all the twisted, wicked, evil of the devil. God had Moses list all the curses in Deuteronomy 28:15- 68! READ THEM! [/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.11" background_color="#d6d6d6"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.0.47" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.11" custom_margin="|25px||25px"]

Which came first? The Law, or the Curse of the Law?

From our discussion so far, you should be able to see that the 'curse' came as the result of Adam and his descendents, giving the devil the power, dominion and authority needed to twist God's goodness into evil curses upon their heads. And therefor the 'curse' existed prior to the Law of Moses. In fact, the Law of Moses, was given as a life-raft to provide a temporary relief from the curse.[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version="3.0.48" background_size="initial" background_position="top_left" background_repeat="repeat"][et_pb_column type="4_4" _builder_version="3.0.47" parallax="off" parallax_method="on"][et_pb_text _builder_version="3.11"]God made legal provision, by the substitutionary blood sacrifice of bulls, goats, lambs and doves, in the event that man failed to hear and obey God's word, to cover that sin and thereby keep him out from under the curse. [ For up to a year, after which had to be renewed, (Heb 10:1). ] But for nearly 2000 years the priesthood of Israel was kept busy repeatedly making the same continual sacrifices for a people that would neither hear nor obey. Therefore for both the Jew and gentile alike, the curse became the normal, average state of life. It is little wonder that the priesthood kept adding rules and regulations meant to plug supposed loopholes in the Law and tighten those they perceived to be too vague. By the time Jesus came to Earth, there were more than 600 Laws added to the 10 - and STILL they were living under the curse. The curse - this natural consequence of sin and subsequent exposure to evil, came to be known as the curse of the law. Isaiah the Prophet spoke of a Redeemer, Messiah, the Anointed One, (Christ), the Holy One of God that was to come and somehow - once and for all, redeem Israel and all mankind out from under the curse. Jesus was that Redeemer. Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree:How he redeemed us was by coming as the second Adam, keeping the Law perfectly. He legally qualified as the perfect sacrifice that would fulfill the Law and gave himself over to the High Priest to be legally sacrificed at the proper time. His body was broken and his blood was shed and he died and was buried. According to their predetermined plan and to the surprise of the devil and the demons, the Father declared that Jesus was not guilty and that all the sins of mankind had been remitted! Jesus then defeated the devil and reclaimed the crown of authority and dominion over all - in, under and above the Earth, leaving the devil and demons with absolutely NO authority to do anything. The Father then resurrected Jesus from the dead and made Him High Priest and Lord over all creation! And then when He left, he gave His disciples "Power of Attorney" to use His mighty name to continue the earthly ministry that He began. That is to destroy the 'works' of the devil, and to spread the word to all of creation, that they have been redeemed from the curse of the Law - in every aspect, by His broken body and shed blood. Once more, God has delegated power, authority and dominion to his man. And has given us power and gifts through the Holy Spirit who has come to help us. Because, the devil thinks he has been cheated out of what he cheated Adam out of, he is very angry - and very jealous of those that live and walk in the blessings of God. Even though he is defeated, he and his followers are outlaws and will not voluntarily come under the authority of man. Therefore, Jesus expected his disciples, and their disciples, and their disciples, and their disciples, and so on, to operate as an occupation army police force, to destroy the works of the devil and to keep the devil and the demons 'under their feet' by exercising authority and dominion over them - until He returns to pull out Hs troops. This was to include all the believers - men, women, both old and young. He provided His own armor to equip us, and showed us how to use it, particularly the sword of the, Rhema, Word and the Shield of faith. He has provided us with all the power and revelation gifts through the Holy Spirit. He has made available to every believer a secret code language, or prayer language for private, secure communication between your spirit and the Father. He has illuminated the enemy, and shown us their weaknesses, their goal and plan. John 10:10 The thief, the enemy, comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I, Jesus, have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.Now the devil is desperate and has pulled out all stops.He tries to hide who he is and what he is doing by making his reality seem like fiction. He uses his spirits of division to cause 'Christians' to fight one another to keep the focus off of him. He uses his spirits of religion to muzzle God's servants and to doctrinally bind and hold back believers, neutralizing any threat they might have been to him. He attempts to keep people in ignorance of what God's Word, the Bible, says, and then uses fear of the unknown and misunderstanding to control them. How many 'Christians' have become saved - and then in ignorance, sit down and become spectators. He has set out mine-fields, snares and traps using fear, offense, intimidation, all kinds of pressures, and our own pride, jealousy, sensuality and greed as bait.  (Now when I say 'sensuality,' I mean ANYTHING that focuses on any of the five senses.)  The moment we take the bait, by default, we allow the devil to climb aboard and begin applying the curses upon us. We as believers have been provided with everything that we need to live and operate as disciples of Jesus. Jesus intended that every time the devil saw a Christian, that Christian would be 'armed and dangerous," and a direct threatto the devil. The Father has already done all that He needs to do.Jesus has already done all that He needs to do.And the Holy Spirit is here now, doing all that He needs to do.So now it comes down to us! "Why does God allow evil?" The question SHOULD be: "Why do YOU allow evil?" What are YOU doing about it?What are YOU doing to stop it?Have you appropriated the blood of Jesus?Have you appropriated the broken body of Jesus?Have you appropriated the name of Jesus?Have you appropriated the whole armor of God? Are you praying in your prayer language?Are you laying hands on the sick?Are you casting out demons?Are you teaching and proclaiming the GOSPEL?The GOOD NEWS is - that the devil is defeated and that Jesus has redeemed us all, out from under the curse of sin, sickness, poverty, ignorance, twistedness, wickedness and perversion - and into the wholeness, that brings salvation, deliverance, health and prosperity, spiritually, physically, mentally and emotionally. What are YOU doing? Now I'm not trying to condemn anyone or make anyone feel guilty. If you haven't heard this before, you couldn't have faith to believe it. And if you didn't have faith in it, you couldn't act on it! Rom 10:14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?Rom 10:15 And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"The devil has seen to it that people have been kept in ignorance about the curse.This generation and many before it have just considered sickness, poverty, ignorance and all manner of evil as being 'NORMAL' in the course of life. They just learned to accept it, live with it, and most often die with it offering minimal resistance. How many of your ancestors' lives has the devil robbed, murdered and destroyed?How much of your inheritance has been eaten away by sickness, disease, theft and destruction?But, you didn't know that YOU have authority over the devil!But I leave you with this question: "What are you going to do now that you DO know?"[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]