Read for This Week’s Study: 1 John 4:8, 16; 1 John 4:7–16;

Ezek. 28:12–19; Isa. 14:12–15; Revelation 12.

Memory Text: “ ‘How you have fallen from heaven, you star of the

morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you

who defeated the nations!’ ” (Isa. 14:12, NASB).

Many thinkers have tried to explain the origin of evil. Some sug-

gest that evil always has existed because, in their view, good

can be appreciated only in contrast to evil. Others believe

that the world was created perfect but, somehow, evil emerged. For

example, in Greek mythology, evil started when the curious Pandora

opened a sealed box out of which flew all the evils of the world (this

myth, however, does not explain the origin of the evils supposedly hid-

den in that box).

By contrast, the Bible teaches that our loving God is all-powerful

(1 Chron. 29:10, 11) and perfect (Matt. 5:48). All that He does must

likewise be perfect (Deut. 32:4), which includes how He created

our world. How, then, could evil and sin appear in a perfect world?

According to Genesis 3, the fall of Adam and Eve brought sin, evil,

and death here.

But that answer raises another issue. Even before the Fall, evil

already had existed, manifested by the “serpent,” who deceived Eve

(Gen. 3:1–5). Hence, we need to go back, even before the Fall, in order

to find the source and origins of the evil that so dominates our present

existence and that at times can make it pretty miserable.