07. Why does evil exist?

WHY DOES EVIL EXIST?

God made all things very good and beautiful. So where does evil come from? Is God Wrong? No! He was not mistaken and evil does not come from Him; but someone came to spoil, to damage, all this magnificent work, an enemy … an enemy of God and of men. Do you know who this enemy is? He’s the devil, we call him Satan. You have certainly heard of it. Once upon a time, the devil was a flaming creature of God. But one day he got terribly proud, he wanted to take God’s place and run everything. He rebelled and in his wickedness he brought with him other angels, these are the demons. It all happened in heaven But let’s come back to the earth where Adam and Eve lived happily in the Garden of Eden in the presence of God. Their happiness could last forever, it was enough for them to continue to love and obey God. God had said to Adam, “You can eat the fruit of all the trees in the garden. But there is one tree whose fruit you must not eat; it is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The day you eat it, you will die for sure. ” Adam was free to choose to obey or not, but he was clearly warned of the consequences. And… why should he want to touch it? There were so many other trees, just as excellent. One day the devil approached the woman in the guise of a snake. He tells her : – Did God really say to you: Do not eat any fruit of the garden? – We can eat the fruits of the garden, replied Eve, but for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God said: “Do not eat its fruit and do not touch it lest you die” – But not at all! You will not die! said the devil, God knows it, the day you eat it, your eyes will open and you will be like gods, you will be able to know what is good and what is bad. Eve began to have doubts: Did God really want them to be happy? Did He want to deprive them of something? Was He telling the truth? … Being like gods… She looked at the tree. – They are beautiful fruits, they must be good. They make you want to eat it. She held out her hand. She took a piece of fruit and ate it. She went to her husband. – Here, take this fruit and eat it, she said to him. Adam took it and ate it. They did not fall dead on the ground but their eyes were opened! Do you know what they saw? They saw their misery, their disobedience. They saw themselves naked, guilty before God. They were ashamed. They had only one thought left: to hide. They made a kind of loincloth with tree leaves. That night, like every night, God came into the garden. He calls: – Adam! Adam! Where are you? – I heard you but I was scared because I’m naked, so I hid, Adam replied – Who told you that you were naked? asked God. Did you eat the fruit that I forbade you? – The woman, it was she who gave me this fruit and I ate it. – Eve, what did you do? said god – The serpent deceived me, she replied, and I ate the fruit. Turning to the serpent, God said: – Since you did this, I curse you among all the animals, you will crawl on your stomach and you will eat dust every day of your life. One day a descendant of a woman will come and he will be victorious over you. From that day everything changed because Adam and Eve had chosen to obey the devil and turn their backs on God. They cannot stay in the Garden of Eden; there is no place for evil in the presence of God. So they were separated from their creator, this separation is a kind of death. Work will become painful; the earth will produce all kinds of thorns. They were going to experience fatigue, worries, illness. They were going to grow old and die, as God had said. They had opened the door to evil which very quickly multiplied on earth and in the hearts of all men. Since that day, you understand, this is no longer paradise on earth. Despite their disobedience, God did not forsake Adam and Eve. He made them clothes out of animal skin and He promised them to reestablish contact, relationship with Him. This is what we will see in our next talk.

1, 2 3, 4 AND YOU AND ME! You know that, you don’t have to go to school to learn to get angry, to lie or to disobey… Why is that? Because evil is in the hearts of all human beings from birth, both in my heart and in yours. We are not perfect, but God continues to love us, He wants our good, and He wants to re-establish contact with us. And we’ll see how He does it. By the way, the liar? … Did you spot him? Yes, it’s the devil. If you have a Bible, you can find this story in the first book, Genesis, in chapter 3.

4, 3, 2, 1 AND WE PARENTS! The origin of evil, suffering, these are subjects that can raise many questions. We don’t always have the answer, especially when suffering touches us very closely. Tears and pain are part of the life of all humans; but we believe that in the storm, God does not abandon us, He wants to support us, to accompany us. This story highlights the break between man and his creator. But God Himself provided for the relationship to be restored. This is the promise made to Adam and Eve.