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Did God Create the Devil and Evil?
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NO!
God did NOT create evil !!!!!
and
God did NOT create the devil !!!
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In fact, everything that God created was GOOD ! (Genesis 1:4, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31, etc.)
When God created His angels, Lucifer (now known as the "devil") was originally created as one of the highest ranking of all the angels. Indeed, he was probably the highest ranking of ALL the Angels! And he was not evil at his creation. Indeed, he was created to be an Holy Angel of the Holy God of the Universe !
Specifically, Lucifer was created to be the "Anointed Cherub (Angel) that Covereth" (Ezekiel 28:14). Thus, Lucifer (who later became known as the devil, after his sinful rebellion against God, his Creator) was originally created to be and was a Guardian Cherub, with the purpose of protecting and proclaiming God's Holiness!
Therefore, obviously, Lucifer (the devil) was not "evil" at his creation.
So, you ask, What happened? Where did "EVIL" come from? And how did Lucifer become the devil?
Glad you asked!
And the answer lies in the fact that when God created Lucifer and all the angels (and us), He gave them (and us) a WILL! Therefore, Lucifer, the angels, and we humans are NOT mindless robots -- i.e., we are NOT programed to unquestionably obey God. Rather, they and we, each and individually, have a will !
So,
With a will we are FREE TO CHOOSE to love, trust, serve, worship, and obey God
AND
with a will we are also FREE TO DISOBEY God and His commands, rules, and guidelines.
Why did God create us (angels and humans) with a WILL?????
Because the ONLY Love and worship which is worth anything is that which is freely given! IF we had no choice but to serve God, then our service, love, and worship would be meaningless. However, if we, after looking at the "facts" (at the Love, compassion, Holiness, ... etc. of God) choose to obey, love, worship, and serve Him as the # 1 LOVE of our life, then, obviously, that love, worship, and service is genuine and of value and worth.
So, God, in His Wisdom and Love did NOT create us or the angels to be "forced" to love and serve Him, but He created us with a Will so that we could CHOOSE (or not choose) to love Him.
Of course, this "Choice" has consequences -- As do ALL choices in life!
If one chooses to OBEY, love, serve, and worship God, then the "consequences" of this choice are that that person (or angel) will live forever in the love, care, protection, and presence of the Lord God and with Him (God) in His Kingdom of Light FOREVER.
But, if one chooses to NOT obey, love, serve, and Worship God, then the "consequences" of that choice are that that person (or angel) will NOT live under the love, care, protection, and presence of the Lord God and will NOT live in His Kingdom of Light. Rather, they will be responsible for their own protection and will have to "make their own way" in the world. They will have to work for everything they have (houses, land, money, fame, etc.) by their own efforts and by their own methods. In fact, they will be living in the Kingdom of Darkness (the kingdom ruled at the present time by the devil). They will be, in reality, serving the devil and obeying the devil. Then, at the END of their time (of life on earth for us humans or at the end of the age for the fallen angels), those who have chosen to NOT serve God will spend ETERNITY in that kingdom of Darkness (in HELL!)
(And, by the way, Angels can NOT be "saved" from their sin because the salvation provided by Jesus Christ is ONLY for humans! That is another topic also and one which we do not have time to cover now. But, in case you were wondering, ... )
Anyway, back to our original topic. It is as simple as that! We, with our WILL, can either Choose to obey, love, serve and worship God OR we choose to disobey ... and the consequences of these choices are poles apart!
Many more words could be written to "expand" and "expound" on all of this. But the bottom line is:
God did NOT create Evil!
God did NOT create the Devil.
Everything that God created was GOOD!
But God did endow His Created Angels and Human Beings (including you and me) with a WILL.
So, ALL that God created was Good!
But, it was the Devil who FIRST used his will to choose to Disobey God and to choose to NOT love, worship, and serve God.
Then the "fallen angels" used their wills to decide to "go with" the devil in that disobedience.
Then Adam and Eve used their wills to choose to "obey the enticements of the devil" and to also disobey God. They chose to eat of the tree of Good and Evil, because they, like the devil, wanted to BE God!
And when those choices were made to disobey God,
then
the consequences of those choices were that EVIL entered the world !
So God did NOT create evil! And God did NOT create Lucifer to be the devil! Rather, it was the choices of the devil, the fallen angels, and of Adam and Eve that brought sin and evil (suffering, pain, cancer, death, sickness, accidents, earthquakes, floods, volcanic eruptions, ... ETC) into God's perfect and flawless creation !
And, it is with our will, that each of us must also Choose (or NOT Choose) to OBEY, love, serve, and worship God.
CHOOSE WISELY with your will ! The consequences are ETERNAL and are NOT REVOCABLE!
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