Today’s Scripture Reading [September 11, 2011]
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. [1 John 1:7. KJV]
Today is the 10th anniversary of the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center. Immediately after the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, newspapers all over the world spared no effort to report the disaster and newspaper headline “America Under Attack!” became the most talk about news over the next few months. To the Americans and the western world, the date September 11, 2001 signified the beginning on the ‘War on Terror’ and the names Obsama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda and the word ‘Terrorism’ are synonymous. Because of the two planes that crashed into the World Trade and all the news reports, the names Obsama and Al-Qaeda became very famous overnight! Before Sept 11, only those who have special interest in international terrorism knew who Obsama and Al-Qaeda. Obsama bin Laden became an instant hero in the Muslim world, and of course for all the wrong reasons. Many people, including Americans felt that Obsama had been wrongly accused of plotting the September 11 attack on American soil. In fact, there are conspiracy theory that pointed with some evidences that the crash into the World Trade was staged. According to the conspiracy theory, it was staged so as to give the American and Western governments the moral and legal rights to eliminate Obsama and the institution of Al-Qaeda. Frankly, no one can really know the truth except perhaps Obsama, George Bush, Jr and some of his western counter-parts themselves. Nevertheless, history will continue to tell us that the plane crash into the World Trade Center was the work of some evil people pointing, of course, at Obsama and Al-Qaeda. History will also continue to tell us that this indeed is a 100% man-made disaster and that the evilness of man can best (or rather worst) be reflected in this disaster! Whether this was the work of the Al-Qaeda or staged by the American and western political leaders does not change the fact that man heart is truly evil and we are desperately in need for an holy God.
Because of the magnitude and international political significance of this disaster, many people could remember exactly where they were and what they were doing during that time of the year. I remember I was working late in the office and I came home at around 9.00 pm. As I step into my house, I saw my sister watching the news. I did not know of the plane crash then but I remembered my sister did tell me that an air-plane has crashed into a building in New York. As I turned my eyes to the TV, I thought it was just a movie. I simply couldn’t believe what I saw. I still thought that it was just a TV drama. There was huge and thick smoke spewing out from a very tall building. As I listened to the news commentary, I realize it was all but real – America was indeed under attack. I don’t think I need to go further into the details because you can easily google for countless video clips and news on this disaster. Thankfully, though I knew that buildings of that size should have been occupied by ten of thousands office workers but the final casualty count was, thankfully, 3,000. This is big number, of course, and taking into consideration that many of them have families, the total number of people affected by this disaster could easily be between 20,000 to 50,000 thousands. No one can really tell. Although we were not victims of this disaster but we know that the family members of the victims must be screaming out to God why He had allowed this to take place. Just like all major disasters be it volcano, earthquake, flood, surviving victims would inevitably scream out to God and started questioning that if there is God, then why God allows these evils to take place; if there is truly a good God, then why is there evil in the world?; since our world is full of evil and a good, all-powerful God would never allow for evil, God therefore cannot exist; if God exist and He created all things, then evil must be also be created by Him, and God therefore cannot exist!
I believe many atheists would quickly jump with ‘joy’ because disasters like these seem to show that God cannot exist. So they thought. Additionally, as we notice, when disaster struck, many people turn God into a punching bag!
In today’s message, I want to share with you on the biblical perspective of creation and in particular, I hope I can answer one of the most commonly-asked questions by atheists: If God is all-powerful and created all things, then God must have also created evil. Some thought that this is a fair question but sorry, in my opinion, this is the stupidest question to begin with because it completely lack the understanding of what creation is all about, and what the word “evil” actually is. Let me explain.
Many of us have seen magical shows performed by professional magicians, and many of these magicians are members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M). Needless to say that all magical tricks are just tricks. They are not real and anyone can go and learn to be a magician just like anyone can go and learn to be a musician, a dancer, a chef or an artist. It is interesting to note that one of the codes of ethics of the International Brotherhood of Magicians is “to oppose the willful exposure to the public of any principles of the Art of Magic, or the methods employed in any magic effect or illusion”. Just by this one code of ethics that members of the I.B.M. have an obligation to observe, it tells us very clearly that magical performances are simply tricks or illusion. Often we really admire magicians because of their unbelievable tricks like skillfully create something out of the thin air (although we all fully know that these are just tricks or illusions). For example, they could just create real money from some old newspapers, and we all know they are just simply tricks. How they do it is a secret and they are under obligation not to expose the art of the trade of magical performance to the audience. Regardless of who these magicians are, whether they are just amateurs or world-class professional magicians, we can observe one common element that is present in every magic they performed: something tangible is created, or some tangible objects changed from one form to another, or are made to disappear into the thin air. It is interesting that up to now, no magician has performed a magical trick to create evil (or for that matter, to create good)! The reason is very simple: No one can create evil; not even David Copperfield (even though he can make the Stature of Liberty ‘disappear’); not even Satan nor God can create evil! Evil is not something that is tangible like a chair or a table, and hence no one – not even God nor Satan, can create it! Yes, you can teach and impart moral value to tell people this is right and that is wrong but you cannot create moral value. Hence, no one can create ‘respect’ or ‘obedience’. Have you seen any magicians create respect, honour, obedience to please the audience? Hence to say that God creates evil is absolutely nonsensical, and it is equally nonsensical to say that evil is created by Satan. We know from the Bible, Satan is a tempter and all he can do is to tempt us to sin (Matthew 4:3), and to do evil things. Satan cannot create stealing or theft although he can tempt you to go and commit theft.
Let’s examine in some details of God’s creation as recorded in the Book of Genesis which gives us a very clear understanding of what God’s creation is all about. The creation that was made by God as recorded in the Book of Genesis was simply to create all the essential elements for the purposes of bringing life into existence. These elements are light, water and atmosphere (comprising various gases) that would eventually bring life into existence. Without these elements the earth would be without form and void (Genesis 1:2). Let me emphasis, God’s creation as we see in Chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis is to bring into existence all life-forms – plants, animals and of course human being. In fact, there was nothing in the story of creation that mentioned God created ‘good’ or ‘evil’. We are told clearly that God was very pleased with His creations as can be seen in the following verses: And God saw the light, that it was good (Genesis 1:4); And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:10); And the earth brought forth grass, and herbs yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:12); And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:18); And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:21); And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:25); And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Genesis 1:31).
As we can see, even though God is all-powerful, His creation was simply to create a perfect environment for life to flourish – nothing more and nothing less. Questions like “Does God Exist?” “Did God Create Evil?” “If God Is Good, Then Why He Allowed People To Suffer?” have been asked throughout the ages, in all establishments and by all people from all walks of life from an average people to highly educated professors. For example, in one of a university lecture, a professor challenged his students with this question: Did God create everything that exists? "
When this question was asked, a student immediately stood up and bravely replied "Yes, he did!"
"God created everything?" the professor challenged the student this question again.
"Yes sir," again, the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then God is evil."
The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
But this time, another student raised his hand and said, "Professor, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"
Snickered at the young man’s question, the professor replied "Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body, or matter, have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.
The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir. Darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Professor, does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
The professor sat down.
Who this young man was and who so bravely challenged the question his professor is not important (although it was told, perhaps in myth that the young man was indeed Albert Einstein), but the most important point to learn is that no one can create evil. As pointed out rightly – biblically-speaking – evil is simply a word that is used to describe our situation that if we live without the presence of God, we are living in evilness and just like holiness is a word that is used to describe if we walk in the Light (that in holiness), as He Himself is in the Light, we are able to have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus will cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:7). By "walking in the Light" we are to walk in a way that is consistent with the scriptures because the scriptures, the word of God is a lamp to guide our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105) and it is also a reference that we are to live our lives that are guided by the presence of God.
As we come to witness the 10th anniversary of the World Trade disaster, we must remind ourselves that evilness of mankind has nothing to do with God. Rather, it is conscious choice and effort of some people to chose to live their lives without God’s presence in their heart. We must remind ourselves that the word ‘evil’ is just a description to describe how we live our lives. Our sinful world is the unfortunate result of human choice that we chose to please our flesh rather than to please the Holy Spirit and hence we must realize that not even Satan can force us to sin although he can tempt us to sin and to commit all kinds of irresponsible and evil act. Satan does not create evil but he can be a source of the evil in the sense he knows that man’s thinking is anything but evil. Evil in this world is not a disproof of God, but a constant reminder of our need for the perfect God of the Bible because we cannot trust even ourselves but only in God who was risen from the dead (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). We can be tempted by crafty Satan’s lies, tricks but if we put our trust in God, He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). Pain, suffering and death are integral parts of the material world due to Adam's sin, but our Living God, Jesus Christ offers hope through His suffering on the cross. Using God as your punching bag does not and will not relieve the pain, suffering and death which we are must face at some point of our lives.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. [1 John 1:7. KJV]
Today is the 10th anniversary of the two planes that crashed into the World Trade Center. Immediately after the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, newspapers all over the world spared no effort to report the disaster and newspaper headline “America Under Attack!” became the most talk about news over the next few months. To the Americans and the western world, the date September 11, 2001 signified the beginning on the ‘War on Terror’ and the names Obsama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda and the word ‘Terrorism’ are synonymous. Because of the two planes that crashed into the World Trade and all the news reports, the names Obsama and Al-Qaeda became very famous overnight! Before Sept 11, only those who have special interest in international terrorism knew who Obsama and Al-Qaeda. Obsama bin Laden became an instant hero in the Muslim world, and of course for all the wrong reasons. Many people, including Americans felt that Obsama had been wrongly accused of plotting the September 11 attack on American soil. In fact, there are conspiracy theory that pointed with some evidences that the crash into the World Trade was staged. According to the conspiracy theory, it was staged so as to give the American and Western governments the moral and legal rights to eliminate Obsama and the institution of Al-Qaeda. Frankly, no one can really know the truth except perhaps Obsama, George Bush, Jr and some of his western counter-parts themselves. Nevertheless, history will continue to tell us that the plane crash into the World Trade Center was the work of some evil people pointing, of course, at Obsama and Al-Qaeda. History will also continue to tell us that this indeed is a 100% man-made disaster and that the evilness of man can best (or rather worst) be reflected in this disaster! Whether this was the work of the Al-Qaeda or staged by the American and western political leaders does not change the fact that man heart is truly evil and we are desperately in need for an holy God.
Because of the magnitude and international political significance of this disaster, many people could remember exactly where they were and what they were doing during that time of the year. I remember I was working late in the office and I came home at around 9.00 pm. As I step into my house, I saw my sister watching the news. I did not know of the plane crash then but I remembered my sister did tell me that an air-plane has crashed into a building in New York. As I turned my eyes to the TV, I thought it was just a movie. I simply couldn’t believe what I saw. I still thought that it was just a TV drama. There was huge and thick smoke spewing out from a very tall building. As I listened to the news commentary, I realize it was all but real – America was indeed under attack. I don’t think I need to go further into the details because you can easily google for countless video clips and news on this disaster. Thankfully, though I knew that buildings of that size should have been occupied by ten of thousands office workers but the final casualty count was, thankfully, 3,000. This is big number, of course, and taking into consideration that many of them have families, the total number of people affected by this disaster could easily be between 20,000 to 50,000 thousands. No one can really tell. Although we were not victims of this disaster but we know that the family members of the victims must be screaming out to God why He had allowed this to take place. Just like all major disasters be it volcano, earthquake, flood, surviving victims would inevitably scream out to God and started questioning that if there is God, then why God allows these evils to take place; if there is truly a good God, then why is there evil in the world?; since our world is full of evil and a good, all-powerful God would never allow for evil, God therefore cannot exist; if God exist and He created all things, then evil must be also be created by Him, and God therefore cannot exist!
I believe many atheists would quickly jump with ‘joy’ because disasters like these seem to show that God cannot exist. So they thought. Additionally, as we notice, when disaster struck, many people turn God into a punching bag!
In today’s message, I want to share with you on the biblical perspective of creation and in particular, I hope I can answer one of the most commonly-asked questions by atheists: If God is all-powerful and created all things, then God must have also created evil. Some thought that this is a fair question but sorry, in my opinion, this is the stupidest question to begin with because it completely lack the understanding of what creation is all about, and what the word “evil” actually is. Let me explain.
Many of us have seen magical shows performed by professional magicians, and many of these magicians are members of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (I.B.M). Needless to say that all magical tricks are just tricks. They are not real and anyone can go and learn to be a magician just like anyone can go and learn to be a musician, a dancer, a chef or an artist. It is interesting to note that one of the codes of ethics of the International Brotherhood of Magicians is “to oppose the willful exposure to the public of any principles of the Art of Magic, or the methods employed in any magic effect or illusion”. Just by this one code of ethics that members of the I.B.M. have an obligation to observe, it tells us very clearly that magical performances are simply tricks or illusion. Often we really admire magicians because of their unbelievable tricks like skillfully create something out of the thin air (although we all fully know that these are just tricks or illusions). For example, they could just create real money from some old newspapers, and we all know they are just simply tricks. How they do it is a secret and they are under obligation not to expose the art of the trade of magical performance to the audience. Regardless of who these magicians are, whether they are just amateurs or world-class professional magicians, we can observe one common element that is present in every magic they performed: something tangible is created, or some tangible objects changed from one form to another, or are made to disappear into the thin air. It is interesting that up to now, no magician has performed a magical trick to create evil (or for that matter, to create good)! The reason is very simple: No one can create evil; not even David Copperfield (even though he can make the Stature of Liberty ‘disappear’); not even Satan nor God can create evil! Evil is not something that is tangible like a chair or a table, and hence no one – not even God nor Satan, can create it! Yes, you can teach and impart moral value to tell people this is right and that is wrong but you cannot create moral value. Hence, no one can create ‘respect’ or ‘obedience’. Have you seen any magicians create respect, honour, obedience to please the audience? Hence to say that God creates evil is absolutely nonsensical, and it is equally nonsensical to say that evil is created by Satan. We know from the Bible, Satan is a tempter and all he can do is to tempt us to sin (Matthew 4:3), and to do evil things. Satan cannot create stealing or theft although he can tempt you to go and commit theft.
Let’s examine in some details of God’s creation as recorded in the Book of Genesis which gives us a very clear understanding of what God’s creation is all about. The creation that was made by God as recorded in the Book of Genesis was simply to create all the essential elements for the purposes of bringing life into existence. These elements are light, water and atmosphere (comprising various gases) that would eventually bring life into existence. Without these elements the earth would be without form and void (Genesis 1:2). Let me emphasis, God’s creation as we see in Chapter 1 of the Book of Genesis is to bring into existence all life-forms – plants, animals and of course human being. In fact, there was nothing in the story of creation that mentioned God created ‘good’ or ‘evil’. We are told clearly that God was very pleased with His creations as can be seen in the following verses: And God saw the light, that it was good (Genesis 1:4); And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:10); And the earth brought forth grass, and herbs yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:12); And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:18); And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:21); And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good (Genesis 1:25); And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day (Genesis 1:31).
As we can see, even though God is all-powerful, His creation was simply to create a perfect environment for life to flourish – nothing more and nothing less. Questions like “Does God Exist?” “Did God Create Evil?” “If God Is Good, Then Why He Allowed People To Suffer?” have been asked throughout the ages, in all establishments and by all people from all walks of life from an average people to highly educated professors. For example, in one of a university lecture, a professor challenged his students with this question: Did God create everything that exists? "
When this question was asked, a student immediately stood up and bravely replied "Yes, he did!"
"God created everything?" the professor challenged the student this question again.
"Yes sir," again, the student replied.
The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are, then God is evil."
The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.
But this time, another student raised his hand and said, "Professor, can I ask you a question?"
"Of course," replied the professor.
The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?"
Snickered at the young man’s question, the professor replied "Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?"
The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body, or matter, have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.
The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?"
The professor responded, "Of course it does."
The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir. Darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."
Finally the young man asked the professor, "Professor, does evil exist?"
Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."
To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."
The professor sat down.
Who this young man was and who so bravely challenged the question his professor is not important (although it was told, perhaps in myth that the young man was indeed Albert Einstein), but the most important point to learn is that no one can create evil. As pointed out rightly – biblically-speaking – evil is simply a word that is used to describe our situation that if we live without the presence of God, we are living in evilness and just like holiness is a word that is used to describe if we walk in the Light (that in holiness), as He Himself is in the Light, we are able to have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus will cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:7). By "walking in the Light" we are to walk in a way that is consistent with the scriptures because the scriptures, the word of God is a lamp to guide our feet and a light to our path (Psalm 119:105) and it is also a reference that we are to live our lives that are guided by the presence of God.
As we come to witness the 10th anniversary of the World Trade disaster, we must remind ourselves that evilness of mankind has nothing to do with God. Rather, it is conscious choice and effort of some people to chose to live their lives without God’s presence in their heart. We must remind ourselves that the word ‘evil’ is just a description to describe how we live our lives. Our sinful world is the unfortunate result of human choice that we chose to please our flesh rather than to please the Holy Spirit and hence we must realize that not even Satan can force us to sin although he can tempt us to sin and to commit all kinds of irresponsible and evil act. Satan does not create evil but he can be a source of the evil in the sense he knows that man’s thinking is anything but evil. Evil in this world is not a disproof of God, but a constant reminder of our need for the perfect God of the Bible because we cannot trust even ourselves but only in God who was risen from the dead (2 Corinthians 1:8-9). We can be tempted by crafty Satan’s lies, tricks but if we put our trust in God, He will not allow us to be tempted beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). Pain, suffering and death are integral parts of the material world due to Adam's sin, but our Living God, Jesus Christ offers hope through His suffering on the cross. Using God as your punching bag does not and will not relieve the pain, suffering and death which we are must face at some point of our lives.
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