Light and shadow

The curse Second of four

Believers tend to blame everything that is wrong on this planet on the fall into sin and the curse that followed (Gen. 3).

Last time, we considered the possibility that the curse persists because of God’s tolerance with evil and imperfection. In the end-time, God will separate good and evil, rewarding the first and punishing the latter (Matt. 13:2430, 36-43).

As the author of creation and salvation (Heb. 2:10), God probably had both in mind before he started to make something that is not God. Paul said that God chose believers before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). The curse was not a sudden, unexpected development that caught God off guard. It was part of this Author’s

story from the beginning.

God is not the author of sin, Satan is. But God included the fall of Satan and humanity into his story. God is the author of the curse that followed sin. He promised that at the end of this world, he will cancel the curse and create a new Earth (Rev. 21).

In the meantime, we have to put up with the disrupting influence of Satan and the curse issued by God.

However, despite these negative factors, God is showering us with many blessings. In his general grace, he provides for us through nature — our food, water, clothes, homes, cars, appliances, oxygen and infrastructure come from his creation.

In his special grace, God offers his salvation to all (Matt. 11:2830, John 3:16, 2 Pet. 3:9, 1 Tim. 2:3-6, Rev. 22:17). He sent his Son in human form to live among us, to demonstrate God’s love by healing, helping and caring, and eventually paid our sin-debt by his death, and overcame death for us by his resurrection.

While we still endure the curse in this life, we can also enjoy God’s blessings in nature and Scripture. We should never be so focused on the consequences of sin and the curse that we can’t see and enjoy all the blessings which the gracious Creator and Redeemer bestows on us. There is much mercy in the misery.

Job 2:10 says we must accept both good and bad from God. Romans 11:22 says that God’s goodness and strictness work together in salvation. The Bible teaches the love and wrath of God ( John 3:16, 18, 36, Deut. 28). Jesus said that nothings happens without God’s will (Matt. 10:29). The One who cursed the ground is the same One who will create the new Earth (Rom. 8:19-22, Acts 3:21, 2 Pet. 3:10-13, Rev. 21).

The Chinese yin-yang principle holds that opposite forces (dark/light) are often complementary. Indian Hinduism worships Vishnu (preserver) and Shiva (destroyer).

On what are we focused — the light or the shadows?

Jacob Van Zyl of Lethbridge is a retired counsellor and the author of several faith-based books.