The-Fall-of-Mankind---The-Beginning-of-Evil

Auxano Ministry

By the grace of God I am what I am:

1 Cor. 15:10a

The Fall of Mankind…The Beginning of Evil

Evil Communicated

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

From the very first verse of scripture in the Bible, we learn that God has the power and the ability to create. To create is to bring something into existence from nothing. Creating is not the process of mixing ingredients, already in existence, into a new form or fashion; to create is to start with nothing and finish with something.

From Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21, there is only one who ever demonstrates the power and ability to create, and that one is God, the Creator of the heaven and the earth.

This is the first point that needs to be handled when working to understand the beginning of all evil. God is the only One who can create, to bring something into existence from nothing.

Then what was the beginning of all evil?

Is God the author of evil?

Is it available for God to be the source of both good and evil?

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Matthew 7:15-20

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Knowing something by its fruit is a simple principle. Fruit is a product of seed. The life of any living organism is carried in its seed. An apple seed will only produce apples. Likewise, an orange seed will only produce oranges. GMO’s are not “creating” new fruits, they are taking ingredients already in existence and mixing them together to get something different. To create something new, science would have to start with nothing and end with something.

We saw this principle set up in Genesis when God said, “seed after its kind.” Similarly, good and evil is not one and the same thing. They must come from two separate and different seeds. Good and evil cannot come from the same source.

What about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? It has two different fruits.

Genesis 2:17

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

First, God does not say it has two fruits. God said the “knowledge of good and evil.” This statement is a figure of speech known as a merism. A merism is a figure whereby two or more things are stated to express the totality of the thing spoken of.

For example: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,” is a merism to represent the totality of the entire universe, the entire creation. Everything in the heaven and earth was created by God. “Do you take this man for better, for worse, for richer – for poorer, in sickness and in health…” this is a merism. These vows give two extremes to express the totality of the commitment, the full spectrum of the life a husband and wife will share together.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil expresses all knowledge that would be received outside of, or apart from, God. A tree only has one fruit. The fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is evil. The seed for this tree is evil.

Matthew 19:16-17a

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he [Jesus Christ] said unto him, Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: ...

Only one is good and that one is God. If God is good, then it is unavailable for evil to come forth from God. The word for good is agathos whose first or primary definition would be “good in nature.” God’s nature is good.

James 1:17

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

God gives good gifts and perfect gifts. He cannot be the source of evil if He is the only source of good. Further, this verse states that God does not change. With God there “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” The goodness of God’s character and His nature will not vary. God is good and He is the author of all that is good.

A tree is known by its fruit. The Tree of Life gave the fruit of life.

What fruit is falling from this other tree? The tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

John 8:44

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

A murderer and a liar are enough to see this tree’s fruit. But there are many other verses that declare the qualities and attributes of the Adversary in the Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, and the General Epistles.

But there is an issue here! There is a problem with the phrase “a murderer from the beginning.” Which beginning?

If God created Lucifer this way, then the issue is God’s!

Ezekiel 28:15a

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created…

Lucifer’s beginning was in perfection but then he rebelled as described is Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28.

To be a murderer you need humanity. For the Koine Greek word, anthropoktonos, is a compound word meaning humanity and killer or slayer. So, our Adversary could not be a killer of humanity, as spoken of in John 8, until the beginning of humanity. He accomplished this with his lies to Eve. For the wages of sin is death and his lies gave both sin and death to Eve.

So, Lucifer, as the serpent, is a killer of humanity from the beginning of humanity not his beginning as the angel of Light.

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So, why, and how did evil begin?

We have seen that God is the One and only Creator.

Also, we have seen all that God creates is perfect and good.

So where does that leave us concerning evil?

James 1:13

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

Remember this verse the next time you hear someone say that God is tempting them. This verse also adds to the truth that God did not do this to Lucifer. Lucifer did this of his own accord and desire. “Neither tempts he any man” literally should be translated “anyone” or “no one.” No one would include an angel.

James 1:14-15

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

The key words in these verses are “his own” idios in the Greek. This was an act of freewill on the part of Lucifer and the part of Eve. In Isaiah 14, Lucifer declares “I will”, “I will”, “I will” ...whose will does Lucifer obey? Lucifer wanted his own will. In Genesis 3 whose will was Eve doing? Following Eve whose will was Adam doing?

Lucifer’s excessive desire for worship, the “lust” of verse 14, enticed him. Have you ever gone fishing? You can tell when the fish is just nibbling verses shallowing the hook entirely. Enticed is to catch with bait. The desire for worship acted as bait and caught Lucifer. Then, like a fish, the hook was set, that is the word conceived in verse 15. Lucifer’s excessive desire for worship caused him to shallow the bait entirely. The hook was set, he was caught by his own lust!

Desiring to be worshiped above God is not the Will of God. This is not a righteous judgment according to the righteous instructions Lucifer received from God. According to Isaiah, this was in Lucifer’s heart.

Lucifer was not created to fail nor was he created in an imperfect manner. Lucifer was perfect in his ways if he continued to obey God. When he decided that he had a better idea than God, he sinned. Lucifer made this decision out of the freedom of his own will. Since the time when he was created in perfection, Lucifer has changed greatly. Now as the Devil, his wisdom lies in ruins. No longer does he exercise right judgments according to instructions. Now, among other things, he is a liar, murderer, and thief.

John 8:44

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning [not the beginning when he was created, but from the beginning when he first dealt with humanity], and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

There was a time when Lucifer exercised right judgments according to the right instructions he received from God. Now this has been replaced by lies. No truth is in him! This is a great point to remember when the world, his kingdom, is making you some awesome sounding promises. “He is a liar and the father of it.” Did Adam and Eve become as god?

Lucifer lies!

Lucifer has moved from the angel of light, to the prince of darkness.

So, why did evil begin? It began because a glorious angel of Light decided his thoughts were higher than God’s thoughts. How it began was in disobedience.

Finally, what is the beginning of all evil?

Evil did not come from nothing, rather it steals from other ingredients and mixes them into another form or fashion, thus producing evil. When anyone, angel or human, exercises his freedom of will in disobeying God, there is evil.

Jeremiah 18:10

If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

King James Version

Jeremiah 18:10

and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it.

New International Version

Jeremiah 18:10

But if that nation does what displeases me and does not obey me, then I will cancel the good I promised to do to it.

New English Translation

Evil is to do less then what God has said. It is to disobey His words, His direction.

Everyone has freedom of will. Freedom of will only grants a person the ability to move in one of two directions. Either you obey God and His Word, or you disobey God and His Word. If you decide to disobey, then you have done evil.

Evil is not a created thing.

Evil is a parasite and a counterfeit.

Evil is a parasite because it feeds off good. Evil requires good to be in existence. Good can, has, and will exist without evil. But evil cannot exist without good.

Evil is a counterfeit because it is not the original. It is taking something, the words of God, and doing less or putting something along side of it. The best counterfeit looks the most like the real thing, and many times that is exactly what evil does. It steps just to the side of the True Word of God to still look good, but it is less than what God has said. It is disobedience.

Eve did this exact thing while in the Garden. God never told Adam or Eve to not “touch” the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eve added to God’s Word, she laid something else alongside of God’s Word. God told Adam, “in the day you eat thereof, you shall surely die.” Eve changed this to “lest” you die. Again, she changed God’s Word. Eve also forgot the word “freely” when speaking of Adam and Eve’s ability to eat of the trees in the Garden.

None of these are major changes to what God had to say to Adam. Yet they are still changing the Word and Will of God. Eve’s word was a counterfeit. She was close to the original but close to what God clearly says is still a lie, it is still evil! Eve followed Lucifer’s example of disobedience to God.

The beginning of all evil is the freewill decision to disobey the Word and Will of God.

All verses quoted in this teaching are from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise noted.

The Fall of Mankind

Characteristics of All Evil

1. Counterfeit

2. Parasitic in Nature

Evil is not a created thing.

It is taking something, the words of God,

and mixing them into a new form or fashion.

Good has and will exist without evil.

Good stands on its own.

Evil is a parasite.

Without good, evil could not exist.