Pyeong Hwa Gyeong (002) - God’s Hope for Humanity
9. The origin of good and evil
Then, what is evil? Evil is the emergence of selfishness into this world. God’s principle of unselfish giving was twisted into an ungodly principle of selfish taking. The ungodly position of desiring to be served, rather than to serve, was thereby established. The origin of evil is Satan. He was in the position to serve God, but instead he posed as another god and subjugated man for his own benefit. God is the absolute positive force in this universe. Then Satan posed as another positive force. Two positives naturally repel each other. Satan is a fallen archangel. He left his position as a faithful servant to God and man, and he challenged and competed with God. His motivation was selfishness. Out of his selfishness comes the origin of evil and sin. What happened is this : Eve fell from her position as God’s first daughter, becoming the first victim of Satan and transforming herself into a creature of selfishness. Together Eve and Satan then successfully brought Adam into their selfish world. Through this tragic event, God was isolated by man in the Garden of Eden. Human history started on the wrong footing, without God. The foundation for the evil history of man was laid, and Satan was established as the ruler of this world. Selfishness came into being at the beginning of history, and now our world is rampant with killing, lying, and stealing. All of these actions in the evil world are motivated by selfishness. Evil subjugated others for its own benefit, while good sacrifices itself for the benefit of others. Since the fall of man, God’s work has been the restoration of original goodness. God wants to destroy the world of evil and recreate the world of goodness. We have lost our health. We have become sick people. The salvation of God is, therefore, the restoration of man to a healthy state once again. God sowed the seed of goodness, but before He could gather its fruit, Satan invaded with his evil seed and harvested his evil fruit. For this reason, God must sow the seed of goodness once again. To do this job God needs certain tools. The religions of the world have served as these tools for God. Throughout history, good religions have taught God’s way of life, centered upon sacrificial love and duty. Thus Christianity may be considered the most advanced and progressive religion because it teaches this sacrificial love and duty in supreme form. Jesus came as a savior, but his teaching was, “The Son of man came not to be served but to serve.” (Matt. 20:28) Jesus taught that the greatest love in this universe is to give one’s life for his enemy. The teaching of the Bible is contrary to the common rule of our worldly society. It is exactly the opposite of the way of this self-centered world. The Bible teaches complete giving and total sacrifice. “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matt. 10:39) It seems almost foolish to think seriously about living this way in man’s evil society. However, once you know God’s principle, you discover that there is actually no wisdom greater than this.
Jesus Christ’s teachings were hitting the very core of this fundamental truth. The more you give the more you receive. God rewards total giving with total love, and total sacrifice with total life. Giving creates room for God’s love to enter. The more room and the greater the vacuum created by your giving, the faster you will be filled by the flow of God’s love.
To be treated well you must first treat others well. You reap as you sow. Sow evil to reap evil; sow goodness to reap goodness. Your concern should be how to give, and how to give well. As for the return to you, you must trust in God. He will take care of it.
|