To know what is good and evil in the bible, you need to understand What Is Freewill According To The Bible.

This is because it is freewill that helps humans to choose from good and evil.

On this sermon however, we are going to see good and evil in the bible by starting at how good and evil exists.

We will move from there to see the conflict that exists between choosing good and evil.

We are also going to look at the problems of evil before we end this sermon by seeing how good and evil are God’s tools for creation.

Good and evil in the Bible.

How good and evil exists.

Now the truth of this matter is that God is the creator of both good and evil, as we already know.

But it is very important to understand that this good and evil exists in their separate forms; away from even God Who created them.

And every other of His creatures, including Satan, the first rebel.

In other words, we can say that God is neither the controller of both good and evil, nor the One who rules over good while Satan rules over evil.

This is because good and evil exist on their own, while God and Satan are respectively the Creator and creature who themselves are in the game of choosing to either do good or evil. 

The conflict between good and evil.

Another important thing I want you to understand is that safe for us individually, we would have had the power to ignore evil and choose to do good.

But the biggest problem we have is inheriting most of our sins from our ancestors, through the process called curses and covenants.

What is curses and covenant?

Curses and covenants is rightfully defined as the sins which are descended from generation to generation.

And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “the LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth. ‘keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation

Exodus 34:6-7.

Example of curses and covenants in the Bible.

For instance when you go to Exodus 2:1-10; you will discover that Moses was born to a Levite parents, which automatically made him a Levite.

And from there you will understand that the constant anger which led him to break the first tablet of commandment in Exodus 32:19-20 and hit the rock twice in Numbers 20:7-12 was as a result of the curse placed upon his ancestor Levi, as we can see in Genesis 49:5-7.

After Hamor raped their sister Dinah, Levi in anger went with his brother Simeon and killed all the men in the city including Shechem, the father of Hamor.  Genesis 35:25-31.

And from here you can understand that there is the tendency for most people to choose to do what is good, but they are being held bound by evil acts; due to ancestral curses and covenants they inherited from their fore-parents.

That is why the scripture says in Romans 7:15-24 that the things we do are not always according to how we want to do it.

Never forget that all the suffering in the world and the death we must all die, was due to the curse placed on our first parents Adam and Eve because of their disobedience. Genesis 3:16-19.

How to break curses and covenants.

Now some persons might ask- is there no way for one to break this curses and covenant; and in so doing be able to choose and do what is good? 

Yes! There sure is a way, and that is for one to believe the gospel of Christ, have true repentance, and baptize in His Name in order to receive the Holy Spirit Acts 2:38-39 He promised Ezekiel 36:25-27.

According to the promise, it is the Holy Spirit who will enable the individual obey all the laws and commandments of God.

The problem of evil.

The problem of evil states that if God truly exists, then there should be no evil in the world.

And if there is evil, then it means He is either not able to remove the evil from the world (not omnipotent), or He is able but just delights in seeing human beings suffering.

And for that reason, God should be blamed for the evil that befalls mankind.

If you are among those who think that God is to be blamed for every evil that befalls human beings.

I want to let you know that God is also in the same position; as you and I, to always use His freewill to make a choice on whether to do good or evil.

Then the LORD said, “behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil.

Genesis 3:2

And since He will always choose to do good and not be overcome by evil, whatever happens to human beings on earth is as a result of the choice they make respectively.

For whosoever does good will receive good as a reward; and whoever does evil will receive evil as a reward as is written in the bible.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Galatians 6:7.

Why good and evil are God’s tools for creation.

Some people think that God should not have created evil or Satan at all.

And this is because they do not know that good and evil are the tools used by God for creation in the bible.

And as we all know, there will always be some creatures that will spoil during creation.

For instance, in the process of clay making some clay pots must break. But after the potter is done with his work; he will select those that did not break and package them for sale. While the ones who broke will be done away with.

Another example is that weed must always grow in a crop’s farmland.

And in order to allow the crops grow; the farmer will always make sure that he removes the weed and burn them up. And once the harvest time is due, he will finally pile up the crops and sale them out for profit.

Jesus gave an illustration of this in the parable of the weed and tares in Mathew 13:24-30

This is exactly how it will happen once God is done with the creation of all beings.

He will do away with the evil ones and gather the good ones into His kingdom; that is when the scripture Hebrews 8:10-13 will be fulfilled.

Why God is above judgement.

Another point is that since God created and owns everything; He cannot be judged if chooses to destroy them.

An example is same way that nobody can arrest, take to court or question you if you decide to vandalize any property you legally own; is the same way nobody can arrest, take to court or be in the position to question God. Who is the owner of all there is in creation, on whatever He chooses to do with His creatures.

Woe to him who strives with his maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘what are you making?’ or shall your handwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

Isaiah 45:9.

And this is all because He alone has the power to reproduce whatever that evil is used to destroy.

As we saw earlier in the case of Cain who used evil to kill his brother Abel; and God reproduced Seth as a replacement of Abel.

He showcased His greatest power over the greatest evil called death, which Satan and human beings uses on their fellow human; when He first of all used our Lord Jesus to bring Lazarus back to life; after he was dead and buried for three day. John 11:41-44

And afterwards He brought our Lord Jesus Himself back from the dead; after three days as Jesus Himself predicted in John 2:19-21.

Pleas share this sermon to enable someone out there learn about good and evil in the bible.