The Beauty of His Story: Good & Evil

My most favorite epic stories (Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Chronicles of Narnia, Gladiator, Independence Day, Doctor Who... I could go on forever) all include that most basic storytelling element: good versus evil. There's a hero (good) and antagonist (evil) who stand in opposition to each other, each fighting to get his (or her) own way as we read or watch with baited breath waiting to see who will win.

God, being the original and ultimate author, writes a story with this same central theme. There is both good and evil present here (as watching any news show will tell you). And they stand in opposition to each other, each fighting to get his way.

Now, you probably already know this, but God is good. We seem to have a hard time believing this (myself included), but it doesn't change the facts. Throughout the Bible, God is celebrated as being good because what He does gives us evidence of it. David says it quite often:

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!

His faithful love endures forever."

1 Chronicles 16:34 (NLT)

"Taste and see that the Lord is good.

Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!"

Psalm 34:8 (NLT)

"You are good and do only good..."

Psalm 119:68 (NLT)

God is faithful and His love endures forever; therefore, God is good. God provides protection to those who seek it; therefore, God is good. God does only good; therefore, God is good. God cares for His children; therefore, God is good. God rescues His people from physical slavery (in Egypt) and spiritual slavery (more on that in another post); therefore, God is good.

Satan, on the other hand, is evil. Again, I'm pretty sure you already knew that. If you read my post about him a few weeks ago, you probably got that picture pretty clearly from his bent toward destruction. The Bible describes him as a prowling lion (1 Peter 5:8) and the father of lies (John 8:44). Nothing he does is good.

So how does this battle of good versus evil play out in God's story?

God creates the world and man and declares it all good (Genesis 1). Satan swoops in and leads Adam and Eve to eat the fruit. Now man knows the difference between good and evil and we have a choice between the two. Satan keeps working and Cain kills Abel. In a matter of generations, evil has become so great that God decides to wipe out what He created and start over (Genesis 6:5-7). But Satan keeps on fighting, leading us farther and farther along the path of evil that he seems to be winning. It gets to the point where only God can truly be described as good (Luke 18:19). Paul spends the first few chapters of Romans describing just how far from God we really are:

"Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy."

Romans 1:29-31 (NLT)

It certainly looks like Satan is winning.

But he's not the only one fighting for his way.

See God has already stepped in delivered the fatal blow. When Jesus died on the cross, He provided the opportunity for us to trade our evil for His good (Romans 3:23-24). We talked last time about God creating new hearts for us. These are good hearts. They are hearts that allow us to do the good works we were meant to do (Ephesians 2:10) and produce good fruit (Colossians 1:10) because the Holy Spirit is working in them. Every time we do, we wage war against Satan and evil: "Don't let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good." (Romans 12:13, NLT) 

You know how you cheer each time the hero chooses to do the right thing? Yeah, we've got people cheering us on, too. It's all the people who have gone ahead of us, who have already run the race. They're cheering for good to conquer evil, because all the best stories end that way. SPOILER ALERT: Good totally kicks evil's butt in this story. Satan's going to get thrown in a pit of fire and be tormented forever.

So while we strive for little victories in the war against evil, let's find strength in the fact that God's already got the major victory in the bag.

What are some of your most recent victories over evil?

The Beauty of His Story: Light & Dark

On the very first day of creation, God creates light. In this moment, we have opposites—light & dark—and the opposing forces (God and Satan) choose which they will utilize for the rest of the story.

Satan is all about darkness. In Romans, Paul explains that when we know God and choose not to worship Him, our minds become dark (1:21). It would seem logical that the same happened to Satan considering he was the first to make that choice. His heart became dark and that became his goal in life: to darken the hearts of others.

The dictionary defines darkness as an absence or deficiency of light. But it also uses phrases like obscurity, concealment, lack of knowledge, and lack of sight.

Satan likes darkness for two reasons:

1.       He can hide in it- In the darkness, it’s difficult (or even impossible) to see anything for what it really is. All you can make out are meaningless shapes. In the light, you’d be able to see Satan for what he really is. In the darkness, he can make you think he’s something else.

2.       He can use the dark to hide God- Just as it’s hard to see Satan in the dark, it’s hard to see God, too. We are blinded by the darkness Satan seeks to keep us in (2 Corinthians 4:4). We can’t see God for who He really is. We can’t comprehend the message of the Gospel, and so we remain in the darkness with Satan.

There’s no light apart from God, so when we walk in opposition to Him, we walk in darkness (1 John 1:5-6). We can’t see anything. We can’t find the path. We can’t tell who is leading us. We can’t tell what’s good for us and what will lead us to death.

We need a good, strong, steady light.

My senior year of college I was a Resident Advisor. The RA who lived in my room two years before me was deaf, so they installed one of those fire alarm strobe lights in the room to ensure she’d be aware of when the alarm went off. I did not realize the strobe light was in there. One morning at about 3:00, I was startled from sleep by the sound of the fire alarm. I opened my eyes to discover my room was filled with a flashing light. I don’t know if you realize this, but one of those lights flashing in total darkness wreaks havoc on your depth perception. You should also know that my bed was about 3 feet off the ground in order to accommodate my mini fridge. Needless to say, I pretty much fell out of bed and stumbled to the door. Moral of the story: a flashing light in complete darkness is not at all helpful.

Fortunately we have a good, strong, steady light in God.

“No longer will you need the sun to shine by day,
    nor the moon to give its light by night,
for the Lord your God will be your everlasting light,
    and your God will be your glory.

Your sun will never set;
    your moon will not go down.
For the Lord will be your everlasting light.
    Your days of mourning will come to an end.”

(Isaiah 60: 19-20, NLT)

He is light Himself, and He gives us His Word as light: Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path (Psalm 119:105, NLT). We don’t have to walk in the darkness. Jesus’ death and resurrection make it possible for us to be transferred from the darkness to the light (1 Peter 2:9). God calls us to walk in the light because of what He has done for us. There we will find the path with ease (though the path itself might be difficult). We can see who is leading us, and that He is trustworthy. We can see what is good for us and what is bad for us.

Light and darkness seem to be the most basic of opposites in God’s story, and yet they are also the most important. Without light breaking through the darkness, we are stuck with minds blinded to the truth. In the darkness, we can’t see God or Satan for who they really are. Satan tries to keep us there so he can remain in control. But “God, who said ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6, NLT) God uses a light which the darkness cannot overcome in order to reveal truth, to reveal himself. The darkness doesn’t have to win. 

Where do you want to be?



Read the Introduction to this series here.

The Beauty of His Story

If you spend enough time with me, you’ll eventually discover that I am a literature geek. Actually, depending on the path of our conversation, it might not take you that long to figure it out. I’m the one who will make reference to my favorites whenever possible. I started reading at the age of 3 and never really stopped. My mom used to tell me to put down my book and go outside. I was the kid who stayed up late reading under the covers… well for me it was in the little closet in my room that had a light in it.

I’m a sucker for a good story with good characters and a good ending. I tend to get emotionally invested (a shocker for those who know me, I’m sure!) and have been known to want to throw a book across the room when things aren’t going well (a sign of a REALLY good book, in my opinion). But I also know that I wouldn’t love it as much without the conflict, the seemingly insurmountable odds, the evil that fights so hard to overcome the good.

Perhaps that’s why I struggle so much with the story that God is writing in my own life. I’ve had days with those “throw the book across the room” moments. Those are the moments when I’m frustrated with the author and can’t possibly believe that anything good will happen again. And then there are the days when I suddenly realize the last few chapters have been preparing me for this chapter in particular. It’s like reading a book for the first time, when you have no idea what will happen, or how, or when.

But just like any good book, there are themes running through this story. 

Not just my story but all of history. Themes like light & darkness, good & evil, creation & destruction, hope & despair, life & death, love & hate, bondage & freedom. Actually, those are pretty much the same themes that show up in all the books I love most. And I love those books because the good side usually wins. Want to know the best thing about God? He’s an author intent on the good side getting total victory.

It wasn’t always like this. The story started long before time began with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit hangin’ out with the angels. No opposites. No conflict. Perfect harmony.

And then Satan decided he wanted to be God.

“I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars.

I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north.

I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.”

(Isaiah 14:13-14, NLT)

And thus enters conflict.

God winds up kicking Satan out of heaven (Luke 10:18), so Satan sets up his own kingdom. When God creates the earth and human beings, Satan immediately seeks to make it his. Just like any good book, the story that God is writing has opposite themes fighting for control. In the Chronicles of Narnia, we have Aslan and the White Witch. In Harry Potter, it’s Harry and Voldemort. In The Hunger Games, it’s Katniss and the Districts versus the Capitol. In Lord of the Rings, it’s Frodo and Sauron. Characters and powers with opposite goals in mind. It wouldn’t be a good story without them.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to explore those competing themes, to learn more about the story God is writing. Perhaps we’ll learn about the author as we do so. After all, you can tell quite a bit about a person by the stories that they write.