We have seen all through this series that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. We also have seen that Jesus is the logos of God. That means He is the intent, plan, and character of God manifested. You cannot know God outside of the person of Jesus. So from studying Jesus, we see that He is light. In him is no darkness at all.

John 1:1 – 6 “ that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life; (for the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us; that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with His son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth.”

James 1:17 “Every good and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning”

He is life, in him is no death. He is righteousness, in him is no sin. Jesus is the bodily manifestation of the invisible father. In Jesus, God the father is clearly manifested.  So, the question now is why does evil happen? Why do disasters happen? Why does death or evil happen to good people?

Romans 5:12-17 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (for until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift of grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.), we see there that death reigned because sin entered. Sin, which is wickedness, brought about death. All evil occurrences in the world today are all linked to sin and death.  As a result of man’s fall, we find that a new nature and character apart from what God intended was found in man because of sin.

Jeremiah 17: 9 “declares that the heart of man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it”.

 Ephesians 5:8 tells us “for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light”.

This shows us that wickedness and darkness came from sinful man and not from a righteous God. So the questions arise: Does God author evil?  Does He author sin? Does he author death? The answer is NO! But God in his infinite wisdom uses seemingly negative occurrences to work out His divine plan. For example;

Hebrews 2:14 “forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil”  The word shows us that God used death to deliver us from him who had the power of death.

Now 1 Corinthians 15:26 “the last that shall be destroyed is death”.

So death is an enemy of God yet God in his wisdom used death to paralyze Satan and free man through the offering of Jesus at the cross. He didn’t author death, He didn’t permit death but in His wisdom and foreknowledge, He used death to paralyze once and for all sin and death’s grip over mankind. This brings us to remember

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose”.

We see that the writer is referring to God’s plan for salvation. God used the greed in Judas Iscariot, the wickedness in the Pharisees and Sadducees, the hatred and jealousy of the Israelites and the cruel imagination of the Romans to achieve and fulfill his eternal plan of salvation for the whole of mankind. Note that he didn’t make these men wicked, cruel, darkness or dishonest. They already were all these things. He however in his foreknowledge brought all these characters together unknown to them to achieve the salvation of all of mankind including the offenders.

Like the book of Romans says in Romans 5:16 “And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification”. This shows us the mind of God. He is the only one who can bring out positive from negative; He is the only one who is able to bring out light from darkness. Though God does not author evil, wickedness or darkness, He is able to make seemingly dark, evil, and wicked situations turn out according to His master plan. So, no matter how dark your situation currently is, it is pivotal to understand that God did not cause it but He is the only reason that dark situation can turn out well and into a thing that becomes a source of praise and worship.

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