God is good, and God is love, and does things for our benefit. After all He doesn't need anything. He made us because He wanted us and looks forward to us wanting Him and loving Him as He loves us.

Now, although God is so good to us, an attitude that is seemingly becoming more prevalent today is that of thinking that God controls all events. The thought seems to be that although God is good, all the bad things in our lives can be put at His door because, if He didn't want us to suffer and learn from our suffering then He wouldn't have allowed it to happen! Some even give the Apostle Paul as an example of Christians being given major trials by God Himself!

May I suggest that this is not true and the problem with this thinking is that it kills our love for God. We will fear God for the evil we think He might bring on us, and not be in awe of a powerful and loving God who looks out for us.

So are the bad things in our life done at God's permission?

Does the perfect Father give His children diseases and pain to teach them lessons?

Is this properly portraying the perfect Father, whom we should emulate?

Is this the Father of whom Jesus said, "I only do what I see the Father doing"?

Since Jesus is our mentor, then if He only did what He saw the Father doing, so we also should only be doing what we see the Father do! Although if we did to our children what some say God does to His, then we would be thrown into jail, and rightly so!

This is surely NOT God! But let's dig deeper and see who is really responsible for the evil things in our lives.

Let's find out about God's real character, and see how God really teaches and corrects us.

1. The bible tells us that God gave Adam dominion over the world.

So it's not God who's responsible for allowing bad things to happen. We (Adam's seed) are in the position of dominion or responsibility/authority in the earth!

Genesis 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

At the beginning this would have included Satan walking to and frow in the earth!

1A. Now Satan sucessfully tempts Adam and Eve and becomes God of this world!
Adam ceeded this dominion to Satan when he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, at the devil's instigation. We can see the principle by which this occurred by reading Romans, chapter 6, verse 16.

Rom 6:16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

1B. By HIs perfect life, Jesus defeats Satan.

Two thousand years ago Jesus defeated Satan and got back the dominion. Then He gave authority over the earth back to us in the Church. The power is God's but the authority is ours!

Mat 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in(to) the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

This was the authority that Jesus had as a perfect human and the disciples operated under that umbrella of his authority before His death and ressurection.

Luke 10:19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you.

"Serpents and scorpions" is bible talk for demonic forces and Jesus tells us that He has given us back the authority over them, on the earth, and over all living things on the earth once more. We have to be bold and use that authority though, in Jesus' name, for things to change for the better!

So we now have authority over demonic forces here, and dominion over the earth, granted by God and backed up by His power; for all power has been given to Jesus our elder brother, who lives in us. And just to make it clear that this was always God's plan, He tells us in Psalm 115 and verse 16....

Psalm 115:16 The heavens are the Lord's heavens, but the earth He has given to the children of man.

Notice it's "has given" - NOT "will give". It's not a question of us waiting for God to act; it's God who's waiting on us! We have the authority and if we do not use that authority then Satan operates unchecked as the 'god of this world'!

2. This is a fallen world and there is pain and suffering because of the changes from the perfection that God made, because of Adam's sin.

Genesis 3:17-19 ...cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

God has withdrawn some of His sustaining power from the universe and we see the effect of sin on the earth and the people. Decay, ageing, disease, suffering.... stuff happens!

3. The bible shows us that sickness is oppression, and it's brought into our lives by Satan.

Acts 10:38 You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

The sick are said to be oppressed by the devil, not learning great lessons from God!

Now the immediate reason for the sickness may not be Satan but ever since the deception in the garden of Eden, the underlying cause is Satan and the fall, and man's continued disobedience in following Satan. But Satan does not stop at bringing sicknesses and diseases. It gets worse!

4. We have an adversary who comes only to 'steal, kill and destroy'.

This is Satan, and if he can get people to believe that their pain and suffering comes from God then they will not resist him and he will not flee from them! Basically, what you don't object to, you keep! But since Jesus came, we (Christians) have the authority to rebuke, resist and send Satan and his demons packing from our domains; in Jesus' name.
In James, Chapter 4, vers 7 we read this...

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Of course if you somehow think God is the cause of your trials then you won't resist and James says YOU have to resist, not be passive and hope for the best!

But we have the authority now to defeat the devil and remove the yokes and break the chains that hinder people and hold them in bondage.

5. God does not punish his children because they have committed sins against Him!

You can see this stated in Hebrews 8:10-12.

Hebrews 8:10-12 "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

God says that for those who are Christian, "I will remember their sins no more." How can we believe God will punish us for our sins when He says He will not remember them? In fact Holy Spirit repeats this promise in Hebrews 10:15-17.

Hebrews 10:15-17 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

God has forgiven the sins of all Christians on their accepting Jesus' sacrfice on their behalf. Since Jesus has been punished for their sins, can God also punish those Christians for the same sins? Is Jesus' sacrifice for sin not enough? Can a just God practise double jeopardy regarding crime and punishment?

It also seems that no-one has noticed that Jesus Himself gave a prophesy in John_16:33.

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”,

We will have persecution but it's not coming because of God bringing it on us. From Jesus we have "peace" not persecution. Having forgiven us God is not imputing new sins onto us. So, what is there for which He can punish us? To say that He does is to make God a liar. Look at Romans, Chapter 4, verses 6-8...

Romans 4:6-8 Even as David also describes the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputes righteousness without works, Saying, "Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."

Christians, like Jews, both people of the book, will have persecution because of their faith or people group. We should be careful not to blame God for the persecution and anti-semitism in the world.

6. Jesus has defeated all Satan's temptations, so through Him we have the victory.

We are to let Jesus live through us, (be guided by His Spirit), so that we also can be victorious when attacked by Satan.

Jesus was tempted in all points like we are and was victorious, not sinning at any time.

We are told of three example temptations which illustrate the three main areas of temptation we also face.

No. 1. To give in to pride like Adam and Eve.
No. 2. To give in to our appetites like Esau.
No. 3. To crave power without God's blessing like Korah.

In that last temptation Satan tempted Jesus with all the power and nations in the world. If he did not own those nations at that time it would not have been a temptation! If you try to sell me the Tower of London I would not be tempted because I KNOW YOU DON'T OWN IT! In the same way Jesus could only be tempted because Satan DID own the nations as, "the god of this world".

Satan got it all when Adam chose to obey him. The principle under which Adam surrendered dominion to the devil is, as mentioned before, seen in Romans 6, verse 16...

Rom 6:16 Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

Only Genesis 1:28 shows God giving someone dominion over the earth, and it was to Adam. Satan stole it from Adam!
[Some think Satan was given dominion over the world eons before. But of course if God gave dominion to the same territory to two different people, then He had to lie to one of them, or even both! And God does not lie.]

But now, having defeated Satan as a "man", Jesus has got back that authority over the earth that Adam lost for mankind when he chose to obey Satan.
And Jesus has delegated that authority to us as His representatives here on earth.
Let's not give it back to Satan through wrong thinking!

7. God says that He teaches and corrects us by His word.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

God does not use disease and death to teach us lessons, He uses His word!

If we believe it's God bringing disease and death and not Satan, we will not go about expecting to heal all those who have been oppressed by the devil.

Mark 16:17-18 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; .... they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.

If you think it's God giving the diseases, etc., then how can you have faith for their healing? You'd be acting against God's will! Without faith for this healing, and with doubt and unbelief in your mind no healing is likely to ensue. Actually you'd be attempting to demonstrate that God's kingdom was divided and could not stand!

But, we know God is good and that all good things come down from Him. The bad stuff is not from God. Rather God HAS given us authority to heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead and cleanse lepers. We're here to help the world and bring it to Jesus!

James 1:7 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

So let's have a look at an overview of how the world got to be the way it is today as a background for any conversations we have with people about God's part in the world situation.

1. God made the heavens and the earth, the seas and all that is in them, in six days. (Gen 1:1-31, Exo 20:11, Mark 10:6-9)
2. God gave Adam (mankind) dominion over the earth. (Gen 1:28, Psa :115:16)
3. Adam sins and puts himself under Satan's control. (Gen 3:1-6, Rom 6:16)
4. Because of this fall, Satan becomes the God of this world and instigator of evil. (Rom 6:16, 2 Cor 4:4)
5. The deterioration in the animal and plant kingdoms and the sin in the world stemmed from, and increased steadily, after the fall. (Gen 3:16-19, Rom 8:22)
6. Jesus came as a "Man" so that His perfect life, and death on the cross, would give Him the victory over Satan. Since this defeat, all dominion and authority over/in/under the earth is back in the hands of a "Man"; the second Adam. (Mat 28:18-20, Col 2:15)
7. We are to live by grace through faith in Jesus and continue to enforce Jesus' victory in overcoming the world and Satan. Jesus has delegated the authority over all things on the earth to us, the believers!(Eph 2:8-9, Jam 4:7, Mar 16:17-18, Gal 3:1-12)
8. Satan has not been removed from the throne of the world while we grow into our rulership positions, so he is able to continue bringing evil to the earth. (1 Joh 5:19)
9. We are tasked by Jesus, nevertheless, through our faith in Him and the authority He has given us, to destroy the works of the devil, just as Jesus did! (1 Joh 3:8, Joh 20:21, Act 10:38)
10. In the end times there will be a gathering which no believer will miss! (2 Thes 2:3 WEB, 1 Thes 4:16-17, Mat 24:26-31)
11. Then when Jesus returns, Satan will be shackled and Jesus will reign with His saints in righteousness and bring peace and plenty to the earth. (Rev 20:1-3)
12. After one final period of testing God will set up a righteous universal kingdom with all His converted saints, which will last forever. (Rev 21:1-2)


Now we know who really brings evil things to pass, it will help us to have the right attitude towards God and by so doing work the works of God.

Since the evil in our world and in our lives comes via Satan, we then, with this backdrop, can ask the question, "What does God see as potential benefits to us undergoing these attacks from Satan?"

1. To glorify God; As in the lives of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!
2. To discipline us to remove sin; Like the guy put out of the Corinthian church.
3. To keep us from pride.
4. To build and grow our faith in God.
5. To equip us to help others whom Satan attacks in the same way.
6. To prove the reality of Christ in us.
7. The testify of God's works to the angels.

But note that these are benefits to the Christian who is covered by Romans 8:28. "Rom 8:28 All things work out for the good of those who are 'the called' according to His purposes. (Yes I know I stopped at 7 because God likes 7's!) And, God does not bring it on you, but He can use it to help you. Satan is the one who comes to steal (your health, etc), kill (disease, etc), and destroy (wars, etc).

So let's give God His true due and reputation. And when we know God for who He really is, we can and will love Him with all our heart, soul and mind and we will trust His Word and His Word will work in our lives.

Best wishes for Grace and the Peace of Jesus.
Attlee.

Another thought...