As I was heading out to get lunch one day this week I had an unusual thought pop in to my mind. I was thinking about the movie “Amazing Grace” and the whole topic of human slavery (the movie’s central theme is the abolition of slavery in England) and I had to ask “where does such a horrible idea come from?” Who first came up with the idea of treating human beings as objects to be used and abused for free labor or worse? What makes one person completely strip the humanity from an entire people group and then decide to forcibly remove them from their home so that they can be used as slaves on a different continent?
The easy answer would be to say that humans come up with bad ideas all on our own. We’ve been practicing slavery in one way or another since the beginning of recorded history and it’s still going on today in some parts of the world. And of course as horrible as slavery is it is by no means the only bad idea that we’ve come up with. Our history books are littered with people who had bad ideas and the terrible fallout that came after beginning with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
But even that wasn’t the original bad idea. The original bad idea came from the place where bad ideas still come from today. The original bad idea came from Lucifer who wanted to set himself up higher than God. Before mankind existed Lucifer decided that his way was better than God’s way and rebellion entered his heart. His fall his recorded in Isaiah 14:12-14
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
His “I will” statements are a case study in how bad ideas are formed. Anytime you or I or any created thing decides in our heart to act outside of God’s law and God’s way, evil occurs. The beginning of evil is Lucifer himself who was the original rebel against God. All rebellion against God since that time can be traced back to his influence including man’s fall in the Garden where he played the part of the serpent who tempted Eve.
The application is this: Lucifer is still plotting and whispering bad ideas to anyone who will listen and with our rebellious nature he has found willing participants for his schemes. But, as we discovered last week we have the power to choose to do good and not evil. God has given us everything that we require if we will only put it to use. He has given us new life through His son Jesus Christ and He has put His Spirit in us as a guide and teacher. He has also given us His instruction book in the form of the Bible as well as our brothers and sisters in Christ who comfort us and share in our journey.
Next week we will examine more closely the tools that God has given us to overcome evil and to choose the right path in every situation. Until then, may God bless your faithfulness.