God - God is the Perfect Absence of Evil: God Series, #4

By Alan Gill

God - God is the Perfect Absence of Evil

Those who choose to reject God, perhaps God's existence will often also claim that if He does exist that this God of the Bible is evil. Making God out to be evil like so many things when taught convincingly is frequently believed. That conclusion is easily refuted, and this book brings truth and clarity. Indeed, God has revealed His nature, we might say His character in detail, and it is the only way we can understand Him. Yet, some people with strong opposition against the limitations God imposes on humankind, on the retribution He will apply for disobedience and the fear He has included as a constituent of knowledge will consider God to be evil. How could such logic be wrong? We might ask how God can create everything from nothing and by speaking it into existence. The point is we know nothing from outside our realm unless God reveals it. That would include the character He has so graciously revealed regarding Himself. That character is consistently revealed as the opposite of evil. Evil is totally alien to God and so rigidly incompatible that it is the defining element for the test devised for humankind. Simply said, God cannot share the Divine Nature with evil.

Humankind rightly observes the suffering in the world, the unfairness, the greed, and evil seems to be everywhere. There are good times, beautiful moments but nothing is lasting as all recognize the shortness of life and even if one avoids the tragedies of life there is bound to be suffering with aging. God with His infinite capabilities could have created a world without all this evil, all this suffering. Although it might be counterintuitive God has provided enough for humankind to understand Him and one significant understanding is that God has placed restraints on Himself. The correct picture of God is provided and understandable to those who love the truth. It will easily displace humankind's logic that concludes God is evil. Then one will declare, "I never thought of that." Significantly more important than discovering God is perfect in goodness (zero evil) will be learning the truth about what you must do to share in the Divine Nature.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alan Gill
• Release date: Oct 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986097008

Book preview

Chapter 1: God is the Perfect Absence of Evil

Note: The first fourteen chapters focus on showing that God is the perfect absence of evil.

God is the perfect absence of evil. If you properly understand the scriptures, you will know this. If you listen to people there will be some using their comparatively frail logic and lack of understanding of God’s word to proclaim God is evil. They will go on to say they would reject God if they ever came face to face with Him for the evil He has done. This is particularly atheist speak yet most in the religious world also fail to respect the perfection of God. They may not say God is evil, but instead of respecting His perfection, they take God and His word casually and with great liberality.

The atheists are implying humankind is more benevolent than God as they would not allow suffering. They argue God is not all-powerful or He could have avoided the suffering of humankind. They have defined how God must be, and any other way does not fit their definition of God. Human suffering, God-defined sin, and the associated future punishment arguments are typically their most powerful reasons for being atheists.

Christians so-called essentially deny God by changing His word, and so the largest bodies of Christians so-called namely, Catholics and Protestants, will share the same fate with atheists since neither have God. Admittedly, this is difficult to grasp because of their long histories and many members, but not difficult to understand from the scriptures – thus very, very sad!

The truth is, God is the perfect absence of evil. It would also seem appropriate to say that God is perfect in goodness as absolute goodness exists because evil is absent. Understanding God in His perfection will help bring clarity to your life. It should be obvious that God is the absence of evil from an overview of scripture. In this book we will bring some help in better understanding the importance of God’s perfect goodness and thus the seriousness of God’s message.

Here is God creating humankind with the purpose of sharing His Divine Nature, and indicating He wants all to succeed. This does not sound like evil. Here is God, Himself perfect in every way, and needing to identify those who are the opposite of evil to share eternity. Here is God in making the determination of good versus evil, and humankind universally being evil, since all have sinned. Here is God in His perfection needing a solution to sin, and it will require the suffering and death of His beloved Son. God, being the perfect absence of evil sacrifices His Son to allow some to share in the Divine Nature. Suffering and evil are NOT always synonymous, and Jesus would not in any way be evil, but would suffer to allow evil (sin) to be forgiven. It is hard to see any evil in God, but the opposite. We see His Goodness and His love, and yet looking at the world we see suffering; and because God is responsible for all things, God must have placed evil into the world. This is weak, circumstantial logic and inconsistent with what we see in God. How can God having done all these wonderful things, be evil – very inconsistent; and God in His perfection is not inconsistent.

Basically, all those promoting God as evil are left with there is suffering in the world. We will see that God allows suffering yet did not initiate suffering but allows its continuation. This acceptance is the result of limitations He placed on Himself necessary to achieve His purpose. We will also see that God’s perfection demands retribution for evil – God being perfect in justice. His goal is to share the Divine Nature, but those rejecting God in this last age, meaning rejecting His Son, will be rejected by God. This all says life is very serious and you need to understand life’s meaning. Thus, it may be helpful for some to better understand God, and that He is indeed the perfect absence of evil.

Chapter 2: Begin at the Beginning

Let us begin at the beginning – Adam and Eve. The account in Genesis reveals that Adam and Eve lived without any suffering, and this was God’s design. God gave them one instruction regarding something they were NOT supposed to do. That is not to eat from the tree in the midst of the garden. Following their disobedience, God indicated to Adam and Eve that suffering would now exist. Suffering is associated with sin and this model holds true throughout time. Sin caused two other things to come into play, previously not in existence, namely, 1) physical death, and 2) spiritual death. Every person would physically die and the spiritual relationship that existed between God and humanity was gone. God and sin are not compatible. However, here is God (the Father) who wants humankind to succeed, and He promises a solution in Genesis 3:15. He would provide through woman one who would bring about the reconciliation. Now, move forward about 4000 years, and we have in the Son of God, the solution to sin. God’s Son must suffer – bruise to the heel, which would be the terrible suffering and death of God’s Son, who became man for this purpose. God does not like suffering, and He did not bring it; but His Son would have to suffer. Jesus would live without sin but carry the weight of all sins, allowing those who obeyed Him to have their sins covered, forgiven. Suffering made its entrance because of sin and as mentioned, not being part of humankind’s existence until that time.

At this point we will have some saying, "He is God, all powerful and thus, why couldn’t He do all this without suffering?" The answer to this question is, He could not! We know this because God abhors evil and is the perfect absence of evil (we will learn) yet is allowing it, and, in His perfection, there must be a reason. God does not directly state the reason, but the scriptures provide enough information to reach something, understandable. For the readers to understand, I am going to suggest the following for your consideration. God created humankind to share His Divine Nature (2 Peter 1.4).

2 Peter 1:4

4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped corruption that is in world through lust.

However, it might be obvious that unless God’s creation were able to make choices, there could be no evaluation. Humankind would be no more than robots and there would be no meaningful worship or association but only programed, forced responses. This seems to be at the core of this issue of suffering – properly understood. Adam and Eve were created with free will. How would they do in relation to one very simple rule? As previously stated, they would fail, although they had no needs, no suffering, and everything required was provided. God places this one restriction, and when Eve is tempted, she fails, and Adam follows. Everything changed for them, from pain in childbearing to difficulty in physical labor. There were no problems of any kind for Adam and Eve before sin, but now the world was different, and they would have limited lifetimes. The worst of the penalties was their separation from God. At the end of their physical lives, God would not be there. This meant they could not partake in the Divine Nature. God would reveal that all would sin; that is, decide to violate the law of God. Going forward from the time of the first sin there would be other laws from God. These would be disobeyed, and sin would fill the world.

Note: It is worth a pause to consider something that often confuses people regarding the fate of those who lived before the gospel message. It was mentioned there would be other laws from God; but what about those who lived without knowledge of any laws. In God’s perfection, particularly concerning justice, there will be no mistakes. Although interesting, this is something you do not need to understand, and frequently it is a way to create a personal excuse – maybe by finding some inconsistency in God’s plan – maybe something missed. The basic thinking is problematic – God is indeed perfect, and justice will be perfect. Anyway, I looked to the scriptures to see if and how God addressed this concern. I have written several posts on the subject and the link for a subject entitled saved and unsaved through time is below:

https://heavencoach.com/saved-and-unsaved-through-time/

God addresses this issue in a general manner in Romans 2:12-16. There could be millions of questions that people may have, and the answer is simply that God can and will handle all concerns and do so perfectly. In your life God has been very clear regarding what to do and how to live and this needs to be your focus. If you live seeking to find some flaw in the scriptures, you will probably satisfy yourself but lose your soul.

God will not share His Divine Nature with just anyone, and He CANNOT share the Divine Nature with evil. God’s purpose to share is the reason for the existence of everything. Humankind created in God’s image (one aspect of being in the image of God is an eternal nature) is the object of the test to determine those that qualify. The stage is the physical world. So, here we are eternal beings locked in a physical body, locked in a physical world, and locked in a time domain. This describes the conditions for our test. There would be laws, and life would not be easy; but God would be able to differentiate those for heaven by their own choices.

Free will brings the potential for evil, and it is not from God, but poor choices made by humankind. Simply said no free will means no suffering but also no reason for a test, no reason for creation. God remains the perfect absence of evil but allows suffering. We can again say suffering is a consequence of poor choices. Certainly, choices and suffering play a part in fulfilling God’s purpose. God can do all things, yet to determine those souls worthy He had to limit Himself. This idea of providing free will is somewhat complicated to understand regarding what it requires from God, and I cannot do it justice. It is easy to understand free will from humankind’s point of view. It is simply that we can choose – do what we want. God controls everything in physical terms down to the depths of the sub-atomic particles and infinitely beyond our possible understanding. Nothing exists without God, and that means everything is under His control. God creates humankind in His image and that includes free will, and now suddenly humankind can cause all sorts of problems and God will not (or cannot, since God limits Himself) interfere with their choices. What could go wrong? Obviously, a great deal, but this is the cost of sorting out good from evil among His creation. Humankind’s tagging God as evil seems very careless in view of what we are now considering.

Note: Again, this is not in any way doctrinal, as though you need to believe it. This is something that can be extracted from what God has revealed. The truth regarding God’s nature is clearly one of perfection and goodness, and what is suggested is consistent with what has been revealed. It is for you to consider if the conclusions drawn from observations of God’s word are correct. It is easy to understand the gospel message and come to trust God, believe God. In this regard there is no concern for accuracy regarding what God requires. People get into trouble when they try to go beyond what is revealed. It may appear I have done a little of that here to justify certain statements such as, God is the perfect absence of evil. However, on this page we will show this statement in no way goes beyond the scriptures but is apparent throughout God’s revelation. Additionally, it is a necessary inference and can be seen in the ways God describes His nature. We will also address the frivolous thinking of those who blame God for human suffering. If this is done correctly, then it can help some to better understand God as He has truly and purposely revealed Himself.

Due to God’s perfection in everything, He has some built-in limitations. We might say, built-in by perfection of a being who is the perfect absence of evil. God says it is impossible for Him to lie. How could that be? God can do anything. However, being perfect and perfectly absent from evil, He cannot lie and thus is limited. God does not bring evil or suffering to anyone, but in the framework of people’s free will and poor choices there can be suffering. Ultimately, to satisfy perfect justice, God tells humanity there will be eternal punishment. God does appear quite constrained by His perfection as a result of providing free will to humanity. In some way perfect justice brings with it, eternal punishment. Similarly, perfect justice for those with their sins covered brings eternal life.

Some persons see evil in God, but they really DO NOT KNOW. God knows the outcome of evil and does all He can, within His limitations, to help people succeed. The most significant thing would be His promise in Genesis 3.15 that would restore the opportunity for sharing in the Divine Nature (heaven, reconciliation with God). Along the way, God would do various things of a supernatural nature that demonstrated His power and confirmed Jesus as His Son and confirmed the word of God delivered by the Holy Spirit. God is on your side wanting you to succeed. God’s word is perfect in conversion but requires a person to seek Him with their whole body, soul, and mind – a significant free will decision. The method of doing this is consistent with Hebrews 11:6 (as well as other places). The first nine words of that verse tell you faith is a requirement, and if you know God’s word, you know faith originates from the word of God (Romans 10:17) or, as the scriptures indicate, that which is perfect. If you are going to have an association with God, you must believe that He is and a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Hebrews 11:6

6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

God tells His creation to fear Him, and people in opposition to God use this as a reason to even deny His existence. In truth, God knows there is a great advantage in fearing Him in terms of eternal success. There is a continual bombardment by people turning the goodness of God into something evil. In this case of fear God it is just pride such as, No one threatens me. Yet to another person who is seeking truth, seeking heaven, they see the love of God.

2 Peter 3:9

9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Solomon had an amazing life as the wisest man but seriously stumbled and was overcome with pride and lust. Near the end of his life, he realized all was vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:14,"I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for the wind") and concluded:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all.

14 For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.

Instead of being offended by God when He indicates you should fear Him, you should consider that in some way this is in your best interest. God tells you why that is; namely, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7).

God, in the framework of His perfection, realizes the terrible cost of failing in life and is doing all He can to help people succeed. Jesus tells us that only a few will succeed (Matthew 7:13-14), and it will always be their choice. God is not evil in any way, and God will not fail in His purpose, but in fact will succeed with those who fear God and keep His commandments.

Sin ushered in suffering, physical death, spiritual death, and there were other changes such that the character of the world was different. I do not understand this, but with God’s oversight before sin I do not think Adam and Eve would be in danger of earthquakes or other natural disasters or attacks from animals, and that certainly was not the case following their fall. You would be right to think a lot of things happened because of sin. Yet God remains unchanged, and the perfect absence of evil. The one thing that can be observed in the scriptures is God’s love for humankind.

In life there are many tragedies and there is considerable suffering. It is obviously true that the innocent suffer, and, in this world, by observation, often more so than the guilty. Although, I may not fully appreciate the heartbreaking suffering of an innocent person, especially a child, I do know this is not an evil brought about by God. I also know that one of the seven things God hates is hands that shed innocent blood (Proverbs 6.17). God does not interfere to end suffering and once sin enters the world suffering plays a part in God achieving His purpose. However, there can be relief in response to prayer for those in His body. There is a picture developing about God’s nature in relation to evil, and that is why praying to God is limited to those in Christ or those righteous (not self-righteous). They CAN reach God through their relationship with Christ, their advocate. The prayers of those NOT in Christ need to be related to seeking God and getting into a relationship with Christ, and then a person can make a whole range of requests to God.

Note: Accessing God by the means of prayer is not as the world and the world of religion have defined it. It is not complicated, but one needs to take what God says about prayer and not change it. See this post on Miracles, Healing, and Prayer....... https://heavencoach.com/miracles-healing-and-prayer/

Indeed, with God nothing is impossible UNLESS God makes it impossible for Himself. It is logical that if God were evil, nothing would be impossible, as He could lie. I cannot think how or why an evil God might be limited or want to limit Himself. The problem is that being the perfect absence of evil, He CANNOT accept evil, or share with evil, e.g., the Divine Nature, heaven. He CANNOT provide free will then, during humankind’s existence, take it away. In the same sense God cannot eliminate suffering as it is intimately associated with disobedience. God CANNOT determine who is worthy of eternal life without a test. Let me say again, I do not understand the complexities of God, and if I have some of the intricacies of God’s nature wrong, it does not affect the big picture.

Note: I do not believe there is anything wrong with my characterization of God, since it is consistent with all scripture.

The truth is, God is not in any way evil, and He wants you to succeed. It might be obvious to anyone that they should not be assigning evil to God because they really do not know. However, those that do assign evil to God possess one thing God also hates, A proud look.

Chapter 3: Continue to Better Understand God

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