This will be the first of a series of posts regarding the Secret Doctrines of the Christian Church. These are doctrines and teachings that you don’t hear a lot about these days but are a part of the historical beliefs of the Christian Church.

Here is the first.

The Existence of An Independent Evil

Is there an independent evil that exists and is that evil working In our world today?

This post tries to deal with those questions.  Many people may question whether there is a God and what the nature of God might be.  They are less likely to question the existence of evil.

Most people do not dispute the fact that there is evil but they might define evil in different ways.  Some might see evil as being manifested in people who are unaccepting of homosexuality or people who have racial biases or who otherwise who reject the modern virtue of all-accepting diversity.  Others might see evil as people who do not follow Biblical precepts or the precepts found in their spiritual book of choice be it the Bible, Koran, Torah, I-Ching, Sutras, etc.   Yet regardless of how one defines evil, most are in agreement that there exists evil out there.

That evil may concentrate itself or manifest itself in false totalitarian states which mandate that people worship and follow them and be subservient to the state.  This might include totalitarian regimes such as the Third Reich, Fascism under Mussolini, Communism in its many manifestations, and Korean Totalitarianism.  Going back further in time, they might include regimes under Napoleon, Frederick II, Attila the Hun and certain Roman Emperors such as Nero and Commodius.  Going back even further into history, they might also include such ancient characters as Herod, Antiochus Epiphanes and various Pharaohs and other rulers who have oppressed and tried to eradicate the people of God.

Likewise, there has been a long list of spiritual leaders who have been subject to the influences of evil, including inquisitors, bad popes, and false religious leaders including a number claiming to be Christ, to be above Christ or claiming to be alternatives to Christ.  Individual religious leaders who have run amuck and used faith might be considered to be people like Daniel Koresh or Jim Jones or a host of others who have used religion to enrich themselves and to fleece the widows and the orphans.  Other religious leaders have claimed to alternatives or successors to Christ and have drawn the masses to themselves often prohibiting the spread of the good news of the Kingdom of God in lands under their control.

Both political and religious wars have illustrated that evil lives.  The Crusades, the 30 Years War, World War I, World War II, Korean War and a host of other wars indicate that evil is still present with us.

Poverty, drug use, sex slavery, abortion, purges, starvation of peoples, slavery, the Killing Fields of Cambodia,  the concentration camps, the killing of the Jews, the Russian Gulags and the many concentration camps of the communist countries testify to the evil that is in the heart of man.

Even the rapacious greed found in the capitalistic system and the unconscionable use of women and children as slave labor testify to evil.  Likewise, crime and the toleration of criminal and drug empires evidence the presence of evil.

Sin is defined as “missing the mark” and we seem to miss the mark constantly in measuring up to the high levels of doing what is right and just.  Evil and sin are closely associated.  Man has a propensity to sin and that sin enhances the spread of evil.

And so although we can debate about God and his characteristics, the evidence of evil is around us constantly and it is difficult for any of us to ignore.

The earliest religious books of the Jews describe the work of evil.  They describe evil as coming from a spiritual force outside of man which was not equal to God.  That spiritual force was called Satan, which means one who is an adversary to man or who resists man.  In essence, there is an underlying resentment that man was made in God’s image and man had a future in God’s plan for the universe.  The refrain that you hear in Scripture is that man is not worthy of God’s favor.  The initial work of evil as to disrupt mans’ relationship with God through disobeying God’s word.  (Gen. 2:15-17; 3:1-7).

A few examples will suffice to illustrate the work of Satan in the Old Testament.  We first meet the accuser in Genesis.  There he tempts man and plants the seeds of doubt about  God’s word in minds of Eve and Adam stating “Did God really say…” in Gen. 3:1.  Later the snake or Satan contravenes God’s words and says to Eve, “You will surely not die…”  And so we see Satan working against man by lying, deceiving and contradicting the word of God.  Lying and deceit are characteristics found in the essential nature of evil.

Satan next, through anger, seeks to destroy the future development of mankind by having one of Adam’s two cons, Cain, kill his brother, Abel.  The result is that the good son is dead and the other son is a murderer.

Later we find Satan accusing man.  He accuses Job of following God only because God blesses him.   He doesn’t deny that Job is good but he questions Job’s motives.  According to Satan, Job is only good when things go well for him and when he is blessed by God.

In Zechariah, we see Satan accusing Joshua the High Priest.  In a future time, there would be another High Priest, Jesus Christ.  Interestingly the name Joshua is essentially the equivalent in Hebrew of the Greek name of Jesus in the New Testament.  A prophecy is given that in the future “I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.”  (Zech. 3:9).  The removal of mans’ sin is something that Satan hates because he hates and envies mankind.

In the New Testament every effort is made to frustrate Jesus and God’s plan to redeem man from the control of evil and death.  Attempts are made upon the life of Jesus as a baby with Herod the Great  ordering the murder of children under two in the Bethlehem  area (Matt. 2:16-18).

Satan attempts to tempt Jesus even offering him the  right to rule the kingdoms of this earth if only Jesus will worship Satan (Matt. 4:8-9).

Jesus came to overthrow the work and lies of the Evil One.  He teaches his followers to pray: “Deliver us from the Evil One.”  He destroys the works of Satan.  He heals diseases; he teaches forgiveness; he delivers people from Satan’s bondage and finally he breaks the ability of death to hold mankind in bondage through their fear of death.

Satan next works to have Jesus murdered.  He subverts one of the twelve apostles and enters into Judas Iscariot who betrays Jesus with a kiss (Luke 22:3; John 13:27)

Finally, evil appears to be victorious with the death of Jesus.  However, evil is defeated when Jesus rises from the dead.  Neither death nor evil could bind Jesus and with the resurrection of Jesus, a way is made for mankind to be restored to a right relationship to God.  The Apostle John says that through the cross Jesus drove out ”the prince of this world” who kept the world under control by the fear of death (John 12:31).  John states that the Son of God, Jesus, came  to destroy the wicked works of the Evil One. 

(1 John 3:8)

Satan not only hates Jesus and God’s plan to redeem and restore man, but he hates the children of God be they Jews or the Church of Jesus Christ.  It is his plan and purpose to persecute them and destroy them if at all possible.

Even though the people of God may shed their blood,  they will be saved.  Even persecution leading to death cannot defeat the people of God thanks to the resurrection of Jesus and our promised resurrection with him.

As we review the activities of Evil in both the Old and New Testaments we will see some patterns which are common.  Some of those patterns are as follows:

• Evil is personal.  It has a face.  It has its own identify and is not just an impersonal force.
• Evil can affect a person’s actions.  However, it can also take control of them causing them to instruments controlled by Satan.
• Evil hates the fact that God has a plan for man.  You will find an envy, disdain and hatred for man and for the plan of God for man’s benefit.
• Evil hates anything regarding the salvation or the redemption of mankind from sin.
• Evil resists anything relating to the salvation of man through Jesus Christ and opposes the work of Jesus Christ.
• Evil hates the people of God including both the Jewish people and the Church.
• Evil does not want good things for you.  It wants you to be a slave and not have choice.
• Evil rejoices in killing, deceiving, stealing and destroying.
• Evil controls this world for the present and it resists the reign of the Kingdom of God.
• Evil will someday be judged, imprisoned and destroyed through the coming of Jesus Christ.
• Evil uses fear, lies, and deceit to accomplish its purposes.
• Evil is adept at using counterfeits to accomplish its purposes.  It rejoices to use false leaders and false religious prophets and religions to accomplish its plans.
• Evil does not want you to recognize it.  It does not want you to know that it is at war with you and your family. 
• Evil wants you to serve its kingdom and do its work rather than to be a part of the Kingdom of God.