using evil for good

As we mature and our trust in God grows, we discover that pain is maybe the primary means of getting to know God, be that self-imposed by chosing self-denial - i.e. taking up our cross and following Christ - or imposed on us through circumstances outside our control/choice. 

Through our pain and struggle, we find we must grow deeper roots into God in order to weather life's storms and overcome its challenges. We come to see our pain and struggles are used - even designed - to aid us in developing a stronger connection with God so we might ¹know and experience him who is love and life itself, more fully. The bigger the challenges are and the stronger the winds of life blow, the deeper our roots into God must grow to anchor us. This is not necessarily a fun process but it is a good one and ultimately in our best interest.

The more we see (believe/trust) this the more ²thankful we become in and even for our pain. To embrace pain in ³this way becomes the means by which we are able to more wholly embrace God.

Pain is bad

Ironically pain, in itself, is not good. It is the fruit of our rebellion. When Adam and Eve chose to be their own god, they rejected the only true God, resulting in their separation from him and ⁸loss of their continued participation in his unobstructed love and presence. Everything came "unglued" afterward. Thorns and thistles now existed in working the ground, causing pain and hindering our effort to be fruitful/productive - pain in childbirth - decay, death and destruction - alienation from ourselves (guilt and shame), each other through offences and unforgiveness and most importantly from God himself.

We get further indication of the destructive nature of evil if you look at the definition in the OT hebrew... 

H7451b  רַע - ra (948c); from the same as H7455; evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity: — adversity (7), calamity (4), disaster (2), evil (94), harm (2), harmful (1), hurt (1), ruin (3), surely (1), trouble (2), unpleasant (1), wickedly (1), wickedness (1).

Knowledge of good and evil

The following are key passages in Genesis using the word for evil (H7451b); all dealing with "the knowledge of good and evil" except Gen 31 which instead translates the word as "harm." There is clearly a direct connection between harm (suffering) and evil. To say it another way, that which causes harm/injury is evil and evil always causes harm/injury in some form or fashion i.e. either physically, emotionally or spiritually.

Gen_2:9  Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil^H7451b.

Gen_2:17  but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil^H7451b you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die." 

Gen_3:5  "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be ⁴like God, knowing good and evil^H7451b."

Gen_3:22  Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become ⁵like one of Us, knowing good and evil^H7451b; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"—

Gen 31:29  "It is in my power to do you harm^H7451b, but the God of your father spoke to me last night, saying, 'Be careful not to speak either good or bad to Jacob.' 

Simply stated, pain in itself is not good but evil and was not part of God's original creation. It causes destruction and harm due to our disconnect from God and his presence. If it were part of his ongoing design God would allow it to ⁴continue instead of do away with it all together one day.

So how can something evil be used for good? 

Even though pain in itself is not good but bad (evil), causing harm/injury, it becomes the means of appreciating the good that is God i.e. the greater the absence of good, the greater the ⁶appreciation of its presence. As an old saying goes, the negative accentuates the positive. Evil/harm/pain reveals to us the desperation and injury that occurs from the absence of God thereby increasing our appreciation for the presence of God and all the good that flows from him. 

Though directly, evil is bad, indirectly it is good. Or to say it more precisely it is the means by which God brings about our ultimate good i.e. our discovering and experiencing more of God, who is our ultimate good. But it does so indirectly, by being contrasted with good i.e. our appreciation for good is enhanced by experiencing the absence of good i.e. by experiencing harm/evil. Experiencing bad enables us to better appreciate it's opposite.

The good news is evil does not thwart the good purposes of God but actually becomes a tool in his hands to help us see our need for him and bring us closer to him. It is the ongoing means of drawing us ever nearer to him if we let it. 

To say it simply, God is bigger than evil and uses evil for good, our good. The most dramatic example of this is recorded in Act 2:23  

"...this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men..."

The highest purpose of God - revealing his infinite glory in sending Christ and restoring rebellious men and women to himself - was accomplished by means of the hands of lawless (evil or wicked in many translations) men. Consider this for a moment. The greatest good was accomplished by means of the greatest evil. When we "get" this, it shifts our entire view of suffering and life.

As Joseph said to his brothers who sold him into slavery - clearly an act of revenge and evil - "you ⁷meant it for evil (harm) but God meant it for good."

God is in perfect control and accomplishing his perfect plan even (maybe especially) through evil. 

For a further discussion of how we are in a constant state of pain click here.

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/grace click here.

For a further discussion of the significance of paradox click here.

Were Calvin and Arminius both wrong? Click here.

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¹The exact opposite of what we normally think. Normally, when we go through great pain we think God has abandoned us. He no longer cares or loves us. When in fact he loves us so much he desires we experience his love to even greater degrees and knows that is often best accomplished through pain. Pain causes us to press into him and his love more fully, which is ultimately for our greatest good because God himself is our greatest good i.e. our knowing and being in union with him is far more beneficial than immediate relief from pain or avoiding it all together. One day when we are fully in God's presence and face to face with Him, pain will no longer be needed but will have completed its purpose and done away with completely and forever "...for the former things have passed away.”

It is also the exact opposite of what we experience if we do not receive our pain in faith; faith that God is using it for our good, not our harm.

I once heard it said, pain can either make us better (press us closer to God) or bitter (cause us to turn further away from God). The difference is faith...in knowing and believing God is working for our good in and through the pain. 

²Actually we are not thankful for the pain itself, but the fruit of that pain i.e. the stronger connection with God that comes through the pain. In short, we are thankful for seeing and experiencing more of God. 

³If God allows you to experience great pain, it is only because he trusts your faith in him. He knows your faith in him and trust in his love for you is strong enough to ultimatetly press you closer to him, empowering and enabling you to handle it. 

1Co_10:13  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

God's desire is to increase your faith so that you might experience him even more and find in him greater comfort and joy than in what we lost. The greater your faith the greater your opportunity to experience more of God. 

If you know and believe this, pain will be the means of your advancement. If you do not, it will only be the means of your harm and destruction. 

This is why scripture says "all things work together for good of those who love God..." If there is no love in our heart for God, it is because there is no trust in God (he's already proven his love in Christ so now all that is left for us to do is believe Him). 

If no trust, then no gain from "all things" we go through. To gain, we must trust. To trust we must love. To love we must first believe in his love for us. For evidence of his love we look to Christ and all he did to restore us back to the Father.

⁴Though pain discontinues for us it still exists. Those who are separated from God will continue in this state of separation and the pain that comes from it. 

⁵Though experiencing ("knowing") evil in itself is not good, knowing (having a growing appreciation for) good contrasted to that evil is. 

This is why the knowledge of good and evil (evil contrasted with good) is a legitimate part of God's character.

⁶Victory is sweetest when the greatest adversity is overcome. The greater the adversity, the greater the sweetness and joy in overcoming it. 

Christs victory over death (caused by our rebellion and the evil it brought) is the ultimate victory. It is also our victory if we are in Him.

⁷This is the key to forgiveness. Joseph was freed of righteous anger towards his brothers and was able to let the hurt go (which was real i.e. it really happened with real consequences) because he came to see there was a much higher/bigger/ good purpose in the offense against him - he saw beyond the offense. God was involved and working for his good in/by the evil his brothers intended. 

This was also what enabled Christ to say, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do" while in the throes of hanging on a cross and suffering the greatest evil/injury possible; an evil being committed by the very ones he asked his Father to forgive. He understood there was a much higher purpose in and through the evil he was experiencing which enabled him to embrace and overcome it. 

⁸Note, they hid from God not the other way around. God sought them out from the outset of their turning away from Him. The loss of His presence and everything else was the result of them turning away from God not him turning away from them.