Why Is There Evil in This World: A Study of Holy Scripture

By Paul Wayne Graffia

This book is for those who desire a more intimate and personal relationship with their LORD. The author takes the reader through various Holy Scripture passages with an uncommon insight and a level of understanding that is life transformational as the reader is made to understand the dynamics of good and evil confronting every believer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jun 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664267831

Paul Wayne Graffia

The author, as is true for all Christians, is a sinner saved by grace. Being an inquisitive student of Holy Scriptures has compelled the author to earnestly study the Holy Scriptures for the past forty plus years. This work: Why Is There Evil In This World is actually a collection of Bible Studies that the author has written. Included herein are numerous Holy Scripture references and citations that affirm and support the author’s conclusions. It is the author’s intent, through extensive Holy Scripture citations to document and support the author’s conclusions, that the reader would find the material and conclusions herein presented to be authoritative and worthy of study, able to withstand the test of the reader’s scrutiny. Nonetheless, the author is keenly aware this work is not for everybody. There are some who will not be able to hear the message herein presented (John 8:47) and others, who will choose not to hear (Zachariah 7:11-13, Jeremiah 6:10, 17:23 and 29:19, Isaiah 30:9 and 42:20, Psalm 50:17 and 58:4, Acts 7:57 and 28:27, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, and lastly John 6:60) None-the-less, the author is confident the Lord GOD had a purpose for having this work to be published. Accordingly, the author has asked, in the name of our Lord and Savior – Jesus Christ, that GOD would bless each and every reader whose heart is opened to the Holy Scriptures.

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Copyright © 2022 Paul Wayne Graffia.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

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except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

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expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6784-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6785-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-6783-1 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022909997

WestBow Press rev. date: 6/22/2022

CONTENTS

Dedication

Foreword

Section I: Why Is There Evil In This World

Opening Remarks

In The Beginning

God Said

The Poisonous Fruit

Man Becomes A Self-Rightous Little g god:

For What Purpose Did God Create The Tree Of Knowledge Of Good And Evil?

Consciousness, Belief And Faith

The Two Realms

Man’s Created Purpose

The Burning House Dilemma

You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know

Man, Desires But To Seek Pleasure And Avoid Pain… To Learn For Himself What Is Good And What Is Evil

Love The Lord Thy God With All Thy Heart, Soul And Strength

How Is It Possible For Man In His Fallen State To Love God Worthy Of The Love That God Is?

Belief, Faith And Faith-Full-Ness

The Faith That Saves

O Ye Of Little Faith

What Is Sin; What Does It Mean To Be A Sinner

For What Its Worth

Mollie Tidbitts

The Best Is Yet To Come

Isaiah 55:11

Section II: Questions and Answers

Witnessing Directly From The Holy Scriptures

Section III: Faithfullness Leads To A Greater Love

The Answer To A Greater Love For God Is Through Faithfulness

Tribulations, Afflictions And Despair

Take Up Your Cross

A Needed Word Of Caution

Of Our Human Nature It Is Our Natural

Instinct To Avoid Tribulation

The Secret Of Our Divine Hope

Romans 5:1-8 From The Perspective Of Jesus

A Final Note

Which One Are You?

Section IV: Who Are The Sons Of God?

Who Are The Sons Of God?

Holy Scripture Verses That Speak Of The Sons (Or Children) Of God

The Whosoever World

Could Angels Also Be Sons Of God?

The Two Realms

Spiritual World Versus The Physical Realm Distinction

Fornicating Fallen Angels’ Theory

Sons Of God Inspite Of Ourselves

The Instant Of Our Salvation.

Who Are The Daughters Of Men?

Geneology Is Different From A List Of Those Born

The Seven Days Of Creation

What About The Giants

God Is Wiser Than We Are Stupid

I Thought We All Died The Spiritual Death?

God Is Forced To Execute Plan B.

The Doctrine Of Predestination Illustrated.

Closing Remarks And The Bottom Line

Section V: Recapitulation: Why Is There Suffering In This World!

Humans Are Always Asking Why

Love, Truth, And Faith Are Interwined Together

Love Is Priceless Not Worthless

Is It Proof You Require Beyond The Sacrifice Of Jesus Christ?

Psalm 91

Laminin

Section VI: The Mystery Of The Seven Churches And The Rapture

The Term Rapture

The Two (2) Saved Groups Of Ephesians 1:1

The Mystery Of The Seven Churches

The Two Special Promises God Gave To Abraham

The One New Man Out Of Two

The Seven Churches

1St And 2Nd Thessalonians Rapture Verses

Table Illustrating Additional Rapture Events

Six is the number of man / Seven is the number

of spiritual perfection

The Five Different Heavens Mentioned In The Holy Scriptures

Section VII: A Father’s Wisdom

Prayer Of Salvation

Profession Of Faith Declaration

Section VIII: The Non-Adam Man

God Created Very Different Kinds Of Peoples

Sons Of Man Versus Sons Of Men

Ecclesiates 3:18 Through 21

The Many As Opposed To All

Jesus Christ Our Kinsman Redeemer

God Does A New Thing

The Temporal Non-Adam Menkind

Eternal Adam Man Tares

Satan’s End Game

Section IX: The Sermon On The Mound

Introduction

Matthew 5: 1-12

Section X: Spiritual Israel

Introduction

You Must Therefore Ask Yourself This Question

Striking Parallels

More Evidence

Signs And Symbols Are For The Discerning

Who Are The 144,000 Of Revelations 7:4 - 8?

Closing Remarks

A Word About The Author

DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to Pastor James R. Summers who is a Five Point¹ Calvinist Southern Baptist Theologian and formerly the Senior Pastor of the Mount Prospect Bible Church where my family and I attended. Pastor Summers is, and shall always be, my beloved Pastor. My wife and I have had the privilege and honor to come to know our LORD GOD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST through the mentoring, teaching and Scriptural eloquence of Pastor Summers, who loved both my beloved wife - Marilynne and me to the LORD so many years ago. Pastor Summers we are certain is one of GOD’s most beloved servants of the 21st century… highly favored and most blessed of all Pastors who have ever entered the pulpit. Thank you Pastor Summers for your love of Christ Jesus and the patience you extended to my whole family. We praise GOD our FATHER for the gift of your tutelage.

Love you forever and always in Jesus’ name,

Paul and Marilynne Graffia

FOREWORD

Did you ever try telling someone the answer to a question that they never asked… and had no interest in receiving? Even if they are polite enough to hear you out; they have nowhere to keep or store the answer you are so concerned about their having. It is like trying to file a document in a file cabinet when the drawer is not open. The answer to a question that nobody cares about is just so much wasted breath. Why bother… ? If you ever spent any time reading the Holy Scriptures you will not find JESUS standing at the street corners confessing HE is the SON OF GOD or the Messiah. JESUS knew that: unless HE was approached, the world at large had no interest in what HE had to say or offer. Truth is absolute… but that is not to say that Truth cannot be denied or even ignored… for a time that is. It is for this reason the title of this work is a question and not a statement. It is my hope that the question "WHY IS THERE EVIL IN THIS WORLD" will open the file cabinet of your consciousness so you will perhaps receive what I have spent years learning.

I am a student of the Holy Scriptures and to some degree a student of humanity, having entered the autumn of my years. The work you are about to read took a substantial part of my adult life to comprehend in daily reading and study of the Holy Scriptures. It was written to share the Lord Jesus Christ with those whom I love. At some point, as I made revision after revision, I realized I myself was yet being schooled by the Holy Spirit as I labored to complete this Bible study and learn the TRUTH of the Holy Scriptures. The Holy Spirit had been continually teaching, correcting and guiding me to produce what you are hopefully about to read. I have come to understand that without Jesus, all work is but vanity… but in HIM and of HIM I can do all things through CHRIST WHO strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). It is my purpose here, if GOD be willing, to: (i) glorify our LORD, (ii) edify those whom I love, and (iii) be a blessing to those who will take the time to peruse these pages. I am not so foolish as to propose any attempt to add or expand upon the perfect WORD OF GOD. Rather, I only hope to share with you the perspective I believe GOD has given me, as pertaining to portions of HIS WORD. And, if it be GOD’s will, to help you to better understand HIS WORD through the sharing of this study. The complexity of the accompanying study of Holy Scriptures presumes you have some Biblical understanding … enough to know at least that Adam and Eve are the first Adam-mankind humans created by GOD. And that GOD uses many word picture descriptions in HIS WORD to express HIMSELF to the early generations of Adam man descendants, who, assuredly, did not have the same command of the language GOD used to speak creation into existence. Take for example the serpent that tempted Eve, who …was more subtill (not subtle) than any beast of the field… (Genesis 3:1) That word subtill (Strong’s Concordance Word # 6175) speaks of a sort of buyer beware craftiness or cunning used to deceive the naive and the unsuspecting.¹

The term serpent is also a word picture used to express the cunning nature of the one talking to Eve. It is reasonable for us to presume that the serpent talking to Eve was not an Adam-man descendent, being absent from Adam’s genealogy set out for us in Genesis Chapter Five, but rather is a non-Adam man-type (for only a man-kind-type would be able to literally speak) formed in Genesis 2:19 (in response to those who ask: where did Cain get his wife) to be a help for man (Adam-man). In further support for the existence of the non-Adam man type I ask you to consider Romans 5:15.

We know that all Adam-mankind descendants suffered the …thou shalt surely die… spiritual death brought about by Adam-mankind’s fall in the garden. Yet in Romans 5:15 it speaks of … through the offense of one many (not all) be dead…". Thus, Romans 5:15 of Holy Scripture teaches that there had to be others, since all did not suffer the spiritual death - fate of the …thou shalt surely die…Adam-mankind descendants. Why? Because these others were not Adam-mankind descendants themselves. These other non-Adam-mankind types were not affected with the spiritual death of the …thou shalt surely die… curse, imposed upon all Adam-mankind, because they (the non-Adam mankind types) never had a spiritual life (relationship with GOD) to lose. For, these non-Adam-mankind types were not created to have, or to be, in a spiritual relationship with GOD. And, since these other non-Adam-mankind or serpent natured types were not granted or given spiritual life in the first place; not having spiritual life, they could not be subject to the …thou shalt surely die… spiritual death.

Accordingly, the spiritual death suffered by Adam-mankind, caused by Adam and Eve’s spiritual insurrection (resulting in all of Adam-mankind’s - spiritual death - fall in the Garden) did not include nor was it of any effect upon the non-Adam-mankind type – non-spiritual – physical only - speaking serpent natured-man-kind-type, being, the only purpose for their creation was to be a help for Adam-mankind (Genesis 2:18). Nonetheless, despite being incapable of spiritual life of their having a relationship with GOD; did not mean that they were immune from Satan’s influence, rather quite the contrary. This serpent-non-Adam-man-type had become possessed by Satan, as such is denoted in Genesis 3:15. The talking serpent-man-type of his Satanic spirit and evil deception, spoke to Eve, with the expectation that by deceiving Eve, Satan could cause (i) the removal of Adam-mankind from the Garden… and (ii) undo Adam mankind’s standing before GOD, by attempting to cause Adam-mankind to fall from GOD’s grace. In so doing, the Satanic spirit of the non-Adam-man serpent-man-type (the 1st Anti-Christ) had hoped to elevate himself above fallen-Adam-man. For Satan’s punishment, GOD cursed the serpent Satan to thereafter "… upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life…" (Genesis 3:14). Such phraseology is another word picture depicting that Satan shall hereafter be restrained in his conquests to consume but the carcass of dead men’s flesh - referring to men that have returned to dust. To Wit: "… for dust thou art and to dust thy shalt return… (Genesis 3:19). Moreover, in Genesis 3:15, God further proclaimed to Satan: … I will put enmity (warring strife) between thee (Satan) and the woman (Eve) and between thy seed (the Anti- Christ) and her seed (the seed of Adam-mankind in the pristine pre-fall Adam-man descendant divinely created ovum² of Eve, that would eventually come to be the Savior of the world in the person of Jesus Christ of the blessed virgin Mary) …". Let us now go on to answer by the grace of GOD: WHY IS THERE EVIL IN THIS WORLD.

All references to Holy Scripture and Holy Scripture quotes throughout WHY IS THERE EVIL IN THIS WORLD were taken from the AUTHORIZED (KING JAMES) VERSON. To GOD be the glory.

In reading this book it is necessary that you pray and ask GOD to reveal HIS Truth to you. Jesus HIMSELF instructed us to: "Take MY yoke upon you and learn of ME (Matthew 11:29). We are instructed to learn of Jesus", which is the sole purpose of this book. May GOD bless you as you learn of HIM.

Paul W. Graffia, author… by the grace of GOD

SECTION I

WHY IS THERE EVIL

IN THIS WORLD

"The TRUTH…The whole TRUTH…

And nothing but the TRUTH…

… So help me GOD"

SECTION I

WHY IS THERE EVIL

IN THIS WORLD

OPENING REMARKS

Recently in the news we learned that: the selfishness, desperation and most probably the demonic influence over the lust of an illegal alien, had taken the life of Mollie Tidbitts; a beautiful young girl slain in the prime of life. We look at world events and ask Why? Why did this happen? Why did GOD allow this to happen? If we are going to hold GOD responsible to answer, we must presume that we believe there is a GOD. Moreover, if it is reasonable for us to expect GOD to answer; then, we must believe that at some time, GOD would have spoken to us… and if we believe HE has spoken, then we most certainly would have a record of HIM speaking… whereby our knowledge of HIM is based. Such a record, were it to exist, would be of world-wide recognition and held to be authoritative in all matters spoken therein… would it not? I place before you the Holy Scriptures often referred to as either the Holy Bible or the WORD of GOD as the final authority over all affairs of mankind.

IN THE BEGINNING

To answer the question before us, we must go back to the point of our creation… documented in Holy Scriptures. WHO is GOD ? and WHY were we created? The Bible proclaims that GOD is Love (1 John 4:8 &16) and that Jesus is the Love of GOD (Titus 3:4). Holy Scripture goes on to proclaim that GOD created (Adam) man in the image of HIMSELF (Genesis 1:26 & 27) WHO is Love. It is imperative to note that Adam man was created an adult male, signifying that age was built into that created by GOD. GOD created out of HIS love creation for HIS (Love’s) purpose and pleasure. Moreover, Holy Scripture teaches us that GOD being Love is a Spirit (1 John 4:8 & John 4:24). Of our human experience we know that; for love to be present there must be the one who loves and the one loved. Love therefore resides in an internal relationship between a host (the one who loves) and its benefactor (the one loved). That is not to say that the relationship cannot be one-sided for it is possible to love without being loved in return, but the object of love’s desire and the host wherein love dwells must both be present in the awareness of one’s consciousness. We shall discover that love is a spirit life form, apart from the physical life of man, proving that love is a life unto itself… separate from its host but one with its host. Love, we shall conclude, is a trinity life form consisting of: (1) the life of the host, (2) the life loved resulting in (3) the life of the union created. Similar to, as best I know how to describe it, as a partnership union. The partnership is an entity unto itself; separate yet one with the two partners that form the partnership; making it a three in one union. And, just as GOD (Whom Jesus called the Father (John 5:18)) being Love, has a Will… we find that love within man has a desire. And, just as there must be an object of love’s desire; we discover in Holy Scripture of GOD, WHO is Love, that Jesus is the uttermost object of GOD’s will and desire; being: (i) the Love of GOD (Titus 3:4), (ii) the WORD of GOD (John 1:1), (iii) the very expression of GOD (Genesis 3:8) - Who came in the flesh (John 1:14) - being the Son of GOD (Matthew 3:17) - the Second Person of the Trinity, and also (iv) the perfect absolute fulfillment of GOD the Father’s Will as love’s true purpose… that being: love serves the object of loves affection. And, since the object of GOD’s Love is the Son, then is not the Host the Father (the LORD GOD of hosts (Zachariah 8:1-23)) the First Person of the Trinity from where love originated. And, being that: the Love of God… that of the Father and that of the Son is a perfect union of Love spoken in Truth and Truth spoken in Love of absolute faith-full-ness (1 John 1:5) we find, of Their perfect union, the Holy Spirit – the Third Person of the Trinity. Holy Scripture proclaims to us that as the Father loves the Son (John 3:35) the Son loves the Father… desiring to do the Father’s will (John 5:19)… being that love serves. To put the foregoing in the words of Jesus as Jesus Himself said "… I and My Father are One (John 10:30)… and… I seek not mine own will, but the will of My Father…"(John 4:34, 5:30 & 14:31). Holy Scripture proclaims that: just as GOD the Father, of HIS love, is found glorifying (to raise up in honor) HIS Son Jesus – the Son of GOD (John 17:5 and John 1:14); we find Jesus glorifying His Father GOD (John 17:1,2 & 5). Holy Scripture goes on to proclaim: … For GOD (the Father) so loved the world, that HE gave HIS only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him (Jesus) should not perish but have everlasting life… (John 3:16). Thus, in doing His Father’s will, which is to love the whosoever world, Jesus is found lovingly serving His Father GOD by lovingly serving Adam mankind being He is both the Son of GOD and the Son of Man (John 15:9 & 17:26).

To preserve Adam mankind, GOD instilled in man an inherent nature of self-preservation… a kind of self-love. Man’s desire to love himself, of his self-preservation nature, was not to be in opposition to GOD, but quite the contrary… it was to help man to listen to and follow GOD’s will for man. For man was created to be in relationship with GOD whereby man would come to know GOD, thereby coming to love GOD, and thereby desiring to serve GOD... for man’s sake and best interest as we shall discover.

GOD SAID

… OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, THOU SHALT NOT EAT OF IT; FOR IN THE DAY THAT THOU EATEST THEREOF THOU SHALT SURELY DIE (Genesis 2:17). …shalt surely die… speaks of Adam-mankind’s spiritual death that would ultimately lead to mankind’s physical death as an inescapable condition of life, meaning an ever- present influence over one’s life, rather than a one-time event of life’s termination. In other words, from this point forward, life will forever more be concerned with the reality of death and the influence death will now have over man’s life, as man has become subject to himself, rather than being subject to GOD’s will for man. For, man; wanting to be as GOD, in attempt to become his own