Is there any Good in this world?
Scripture: Romans 12:9-21
Theme: Evangelistic – There is only one Good and he is God
Prayer:
Introduction:
Today we are looking at the topic of “Is there any good in this world?”
The assumption is that there is evil in this world – so there is a need for us to search for good – Is there any good in this world?
Looking around us – we cannot help but acknowledge that there seems to be lots of evil around us:
Just this week in Monday’s paper – “Today” – I cannot help but notice the headlines: “Car bomb terror, from Baghdad and Bali to the streets of Britain.”
- it was about the recent car bombs incidents in Britain – two were found by the police and defused and the third was driven into Glasgow airport – thankfully causing only structural damaged.
- Such happenings are so common these days.
- We hear or read about the genocide that took place and is still on in Africa. Not too long ago in former Yugoslavia. Some people calls it the ethnic cleansing.
- China – human slavery – in ST, Thursday, 5 July 2007, pg. 7, “Shanxi brick kiln slavery: Five men in the dock.” “The kiln owner, labour contractor and three foremen accused of enslaving 32 migrant workers…”
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- It is amazing that slavery still goes on in such modern era.,
- CNN news on 5 July 2007, Thursday, a 3 year old British girl was kidnapped – most probably for ransom/money. She was on the way to school - gunman at a junction snack her from the car. It is in Nigeria – Africa.
Quote: Evil brings men together.
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), (attributed)
“Evil brings evil men together to do evil things.”
The September 11, 2001 attacks (often referred to as 9/11—pronounced "nine eleven") consisted of a series of coordinated terrorist[2] suicide attacks by Islamic extremists on that date upon the United States of America.
That morning, nineteen terrorists[3] affiliated with al-Qaeda[4] hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. Each team of hijackers included a trained pilot. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners (United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11) into the World Trade Center in New York City, one plane into each tower (1 WTC and 2 WTC), resulting in the collapse of both buildings soon afterward and irreparable damage to nearby buildings. The hijackers crashed a third airliner (American Airlines Flight 77) into the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia, near Washington, D.C. Passengers and members of the flight crew on the fourth aircraft (United Airlines Flight 93) attempted to retake control of their plane from the hijackers;[5] that plane crashed into a field near the town of Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania. In addition to the 19 hijackers, 2,974 people died; another 24 are missing and presumed dead
- The list goes on – mind you it is a long list.
- That is out there in the world – how about some of us – we too see evil in our small circle of people – bullying, unjust practices, bias treatment of individuals, ill-treatment,…
Evil is real in this world.
Bible:
Ephesians 5:16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.
Even the Bible acknowledges that there are evil in the world – that is the reality.
If there is evil – is it right to conclude that there is good – the opposite of evil.
Yes and no – it is not so simple because:
Good does exist because there is evil or that because there is evil therefore there must be good – somewhere.
This form of dualistic thinking is dangerous – it gives rise to the thinking and believes that Good and Evil exist on equal term – which they are not.
This thought gives the excuse for some nations to wage war against evil – just because they seem to be evil. This makes the people who wage war in the name of justice no better off than the every evil they seek to eliminate.
Winston Churchill: “Certain it is that while men are gathering power and knowledge with ever-increasing speed, their virtues and their wisdom have not shown any noticeable improvement as the centuries have rolled. Under sufficient stress – starvation, terror, warlike passion or even cold intellectual frenzy, the modern man we know so well will do the most terrible deeds, and his modern woman will back him up.” (Before WW2)
There is evil in this world because man chose to do evil.
Psalms 52:3 You love evil rather than good,
2 Timothy 3:13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Matthew 24:12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,
What “love” was Jesus talking about – that will grow cold??? Here Jesus was referring to peoples’ love for God.
Here is the key to the question that we started with “Is there any good in this world?”
Allow me to propose to us that yes there is.
According to the bible – there is only one place that you can find “Good.” – is in God
Mark 10:18 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone.
God is good and goodness can only be found in God.
Allow me to give you a few reasons why God is “Good”
(A) All that God did was good.
(i) Creation – was good.
In the creation of the world and mankind – it was recorded for us that all God’s work was good – Gen chapter 1.
1 Timothy 4:4 For everything God created is good,
In such any environment the question “Is there any good in this world?” becomes redundant – a non-issue.
Some may asked – why is there evil if everything God created is good? Did God created evil as well?
Story: Does evil exist? The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists? A student bravely replied yes, he did!" "God created everything?" The professor asked.” Yes sir", the student replied. The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil”. The student became quiet before such an answer. The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth. Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question, professor?” Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked,” Professor, does cold exist?” What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man’s question. The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction in that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat. The student continued.” Professor, does darkness exist?” The professor responded, "Of course it does”. The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.” Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?" Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course, as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world.” These manifestations are nothing else but evil." To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.” The professor sat down speechless.
Why is there evil if everything God created is good? Answer – it is the corruption of man’s heart – the desire for evil –
Genesis 6:5 The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.
If this statement is true – we are people with great potential to do evil.
Take a moment to examine ourselves – did we ever do this in our lives:
- Did you ever wanted to cheat?
- Did you tell a lie to cover up something you did which was not right?
- Did you ever have thoughts of wanting to do harm on someone?
- Did you have fun at the expense of others?
Man’s desire brought evil into a world which was created Good.
(ii) The good news (The 2nd thought on the things that God did which is good.)
Another of God’s action in the past is what we call the good news.
Because of man’s evil deeds or sins as we call it – God being a righteous being – had no choice but to judge all our evil deeds or our sins.
Hebrews 9:27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are doomed people – BUT –
There is the Good News – eternal life for all who chose to believe in Jesus Christ.
Take a moment to consider this – the Good God is offering this good news of eternal life to all who wants it. You have to choose it.
(B) All that God will do is good.
(i) Romans 8:28 We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him,
Sometimes we just want things to turn out well – especially in a bad situation.
Story: Before Tom left for deployment to Iraq – he prayed that God will guide him in doing good in a land full of violence. Recently – his platoon was on patrol. A sniper opened fired and Tom was hit and went down. His platoon mate managed to isolate the position of the sniper and counter attack. The sniper was badly injured, Tom who was the platoon medical orderly – he was saved by his bullet proof vest he was wearing. Tom went to look at the badly injured sniper who had seconds ago tried to kill him. Tom pray for wisdom and strength – with everyone looking – Tom bandage that man who tried to kill him and help bring him to the aid post for further medical attention.
(ii) Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Sometimes we just need this peace isn’t it. Peace to do the right thing.
Story: Corrie Ten Boom, a lady who suffered in the Nazi concentration camp during WW2 – she lost all her family members in those camps. She saw God’s hand protecting and providing for her during those difficult times. One of her worse difficulty was after the war – she had just finished preaching in a church when she saw a man she recognized as a guard in the concentration camp walking toward her to shake her hand. She could not accept it because he represents all those atrocities/evil she experienced in those terrible camps. She prayed and God gave her the peace to shake his hand and forgave him. There was reconciliation between her and that ex-guard. She realized it comes from a good God who first did it for us when God died on the cross for us and gave us his grace.
What it means is that – God is willing to forgive us our sins if we want it. And develop a relationship with us to bless us as his children.
(iii) Go to God – he is the source of our goodness on this earth.
Matthew 7:11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Story: This story about Hudson Taylor – a well known missionary to China. While preparing for overseas mission work as a medical student in London – he came upon a poor family – the man asked him to pray for his family who were living under the stairs. His wife was so sick she could not even sit-up. The oldest was holding a new born baby – who was so weak from lack of nutrition. The rest of the 5 children were all skinny and bones from lack of food. Hudson prayed for them but felt the need to help them physically – all he had was the money for his rental, which was due the next day. He did not even have money for his own food. Hudson gave it all to the man. Hudson went home thinking what a foolish thing he did – if he cannot pay the rental – he too will be homeless. He prayed about it and prepared himself to appeal to the landlord for an extension. The next day, late in the morning he heard the landlord coming up the stairs – Hudson prepared himself. The landlord knock on his door – he opens it – the landlord handed him a letter and said “ your rent is due today” and left to do other things. Hudson had no opportunity to appeal for an extension. He opened the letter to read – still with an empty stomach. Inside the letter said “We hope this will be of use to you” – money for the rental and food.
God do give good gifts to his people.
(iv) The list goes on about the goodness of God.
Is there any Good in this world? The answer to that is yes – it is found in God.
(v) God is inviting us to Him where there is good in the midst of a world gone wild – In fact his offer is for eternity and it is offered to us free. Do you want to accept it???
Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Invitation:
1. For those who wants to know this God who is the source of all Good on planet earth.
John 1:12-13 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God — children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
John 3:16 "For God so the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
2. 2nd invitstion – is for those who are the children of God – today we are struggling with problems and issues of life – we want to seek God – we need help – we need his grace and his blessing – if you need to seek God afresh – I would like to invite you to raise your hands and I would pray for you.
3. Lets now rise to sing a last song of worship as we think and consider God’s invitation for us this evening / morning.
