Cover to Cover: Colossians (Part 6)

What is your view of the world? Was the world originally created to be good by a God who is good, or is it the outcome of a set of accidents without purpose or meaning? If you pick the first, then you can call deviations from God’s plan “evil.” If you pick the second, and all is purposeless and meaningless, then death and chaos is no different than life and peace—and there is no true distinction between “good” and “evil.” Some ask, “How can a good God exist if there is evil in this world?” A better question is, “How can I know what evil is unless I know good exists—and how can I know good exists apart from being created by a God who is good?” Good and evil are not feelings relative to my circumstances or changing cultural attitudes. Good is what is consistent with the character, creativity, and mind of God. Evil, like rust on a car, is not a competing force but a dismantling or a degradation of what is good. Like a good, powerful mind leveraged to devise evil plans or a loving heart used to unhealthily “fix, manage, and control” others, ground zero of the problem in the world is the human heart. And the solution begins there too, with Jesus offering the opportunity to “die” to the old sinful heart and be given a “new life” accessed through repentance (turning TO God) and being buried and resurrected WITH Jesus through baptism (see Acts 2:38 and Romans 6).

If you are a believer, 1) rest in the promise, and 2) obey the life-giving command:
1) “When Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.” 2) “Put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.”