There is much speculation about the nature of “evil,” and how “evil” contrasts with “good.” To my mind, I think both concepts have their main meaning in reference to God. God is “good.” Being the only divine being in existence, there is no other thing to measure God against. God simply being God is “good.”
I think it stands to reason that anything compatible with God is good; anything contrary to God is evil. If I choose to resist God and go my own way, this would be evil because it would be contrary to God’s will. If going my own way means that I will take what belongs to others, exploit them, or use them for my own selfish interests, I think everybody would agree that this is evil. Prior to God’s creation of the universe, there was never any resistance to God’s will, never any “evil.” Evil is possible because we created persons have been given the option to refuse to comply with God’s will.
Scary thought! For an eternity, an immeasurable duration of time before creation, there was no such thing as evil. Only God existed, and God is perfectly compatible with himself. With creation came the possibility of evil. Too many created beings choose against God. Fully one-third of the angels and also our first parents chose “evil,” and all of our first parent’s descendants came under the spell of evil. Choosing against God has its consequences, as is all too apparent in the manifold dimensions of evil that plague the human race.
God is good even by our own perception, as is evident in the moral code that God commands us to accept and in the forgiving, long-suffering toleration of our evil actions by God as he patiently waits for a hoped-for change of heart on our part. Throughout the entire course of this present life, we have both “evil” and “good” operating in our lives as we, individually, make up our minds to comply with God’s desires or to refuse to comply.
This won’t go on forever; sooner or later God will decree “enough!” and he will sort us out. Some will inherit unimaginable joy and dignity because they chose God of their own free will out of the midst of evil operating in the world. Others will inherit—what? There is no evil in God. There was never any evil in God, only good. A sobering thought!
Maurice A. Williams
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