The taking of human life is horrible. We have to say it. With the horrible murder of 19+ individuals in Uvalde, Texas, It is incredibly important to seek God’s guidance and insight into the problem of evil, how we approach this evil as individuals and as a nation, how do we get through this to reduce such evil in the future with God’s help? We are looking for the source of this evil, the control of this evil and the solution to this evil.
Source of evil
Our culture has many approaches to this issue. Some have worked and others have not; the majority fall somewhere in between. How can we, as the people of God, governed by the Word and will of God, encouraged by the presence of God, seek God‘s advice in a situation like this? Very simply, we go back to the Word of God and discover God‘s holy, perfect and wise insight on the topic of sin, evil and wicked behavior. We need to know what it is that leads to murder (source) and then also learn how we can avoid it (control and solution). Let’s begin with the very first murder that ever occurred in this world: Cain kills Abel.
Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man.” Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
(Genesis 4:1-5 NIV)
Adam and Eve, after they were kicked out of the garden, followed God‘s direction to fill the earth by having two of their own children, Cain and Abel. There apparently was a rivalry between the oldest, Cain, and the youngest, Abel. The rivalry seems to be more on the shoulders of Cain than his brother because God comes close to Cain and seeks to help him with the sin that is brewing inside of his heart.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”(Genesis 4:6-7 NIV)
Here is where we can see the beginnings of murder - the source. I was not happy with one particular headline in a newspaper article this week: “Gun violence has killed more children and destroyed another community.” The reason I’m not comfortable with this headline is that it does not point to the source of evil: the human heart. We cannot blame inanimate objects like knives and guns and bombs for the murder perpetrated by humans and stemming from the human heart! If that were the case, then the Waukesha parade murders would lead us to ban SUV’s and other vehicles. God addressed the root cause. God took Cain back to his own sin, growing and brewing in his heart but not yet reaching the capacity of murder. That infantile sin would soon sprout and grow into the world’s first murder. So God initiates a solution and asks Cain questions.
Asking questions is excellent and wise step because it engages the frontal lobe of our brain. Asking questions addresses something that we all need to do; that is, we need to examine the consequences of our action or lack of action. Spinalchord.com records it this way: “The frontal lobe is the home of much of what makes us human. It plays a role in everything from movement to intelligence, helps us anticipate the consequences of our actions, and aids in the planning of future actions.” God wanted Cain to see where his current emotions were leading him. “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted?” (Genesis 4:6-7).
Then we see God pointing Cain and all of us, to our role in the growth of sin: “sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”(Genesis 4:7 NIV) We must learn to rule over the sin that crouches in our very soul. Sin is crouching in us. Are we allowing it to take control? In what area of our life are we allowing it to control us? In our anger, in our pride, in lust, in selfish miserly living, in disdain for others, etc.? Or are we, with God’s help, mastering this sin (and any sin)? The minor sin of pilfering will grow to petty larceny and eventually to an act of felony. The sin of hate and anger leads Cain to murder.
The Book of James tells us how this works also.
When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. (James 1:13-15 NIV)
The origin is inside the person - “their own evil desire”. This is within the person. It is not the gun in their hand or the ax, the stone, the sling, the rope or any other violent tool of aggression. Since the issue is in the human heart, the solution must take the person’s heart (soul) into account.
Controlling Evil
Genesis 9 and Romans 13 provide the control factor. First, let’s look at Genesis 9.
And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being. “Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made mankind.” (Genesis 9:5-6).
God invokes corporal punishment as the means to control the outbreak of sin. This is a deterrent that stems from self-preservation in the sinner. If you value your life, then such “accounting” for the life of another will cautiously lead you away from murder because of the threat of equal and just punishment. You don’t want to be killed. The heart is not changed but the crime is deterred or prevented in many cases. This is extreme, especially in our modern American setting. But this is not me speaking about a deterrent, this is God.
He also says this in Romans 13.
The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. (Romans 13:1-4 NIV)
The government (the rulers) are God’s servants to be “agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer” (Romans 13:4 NIV). If anyone commits murder, or a felony, even larsony, the government is there to be an agent of wrath - bearing the sword and bringing punishment. There is to be a chastisement fitting of the crime for the sake of preventing crime. This is not a complete fix because some are so driven by sin that even the threat of punishment will not hold them back. But it is, as God described, a deterrent.
Solution to the problem of evil
The second way to prohibit events like murder and theft comes from a deeper and more permanent solution: repentance. Since the source of evil is in the human heart, deterrents like capital punishment can only slow down the fiery soul. The human heart will still brew and stew with vengeance, one day breaking out in the most vile manner. Even the harshest of punishments do not reform the heart of a man or woman bent on evil.
Since the source of the evil is in the human heart, this is the place where we must go to find a solution to this human perpetrated evil. President Biden wants to have an impact on this carnage. So does God. Here is God’s solution.
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14 NIV)
As individuals and as a nation, we are to humble ourselves and see our own selfish, ungodly desires. Then, after humbling, we are to be led to seeking God’s face and turning from wickedness by His mercy and grace. God’s promise to those who humble themselves, seek his face and turn (repent means turn around) from evil is that He will forgive their sins and heal their land (2 Chronicles 7:14). The fix to the issue is the cleansing of the human heart. This is not just for the murderer. This is for all of us. Jesus even punches this point (Matthew 5:21-22) higher by saying that anyone, ANYONE, who has ever had a hateful thought or word toward another is guilty of murder. The apostle John also emphasizes that point: “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.” (1 John 3:15).
If this article, which I quoted earlier, would have simply said, “Another evil-hearted human has killed 19 people in Uvalde, Texas,” then such a headline would line up more correctly to God’s perfect diagnosis. God’s insight into the source of murder comes from seeing the evil in the human heart and addressing it with truth (“this is evil”) and with forgiveness when the person is humbled. Let us all be on our knees, in humility, confessing our many sins and the sins of this nation so that forgiveness and charity reign in our hearts instead strife, anger, lust, greed, disdain, laziness or even murder.
And don’t forget from where that forgiveness comes. An innocent man had to hang, bleed and die the most horrific form of capital punishment in order to satisfy the justice of our holy God. Jesus is that man and our salvation and forgiveness was accomplished in that one very selfless, painful act. Thank you Jesus, for taking my punishment! Thank you, Jesus, for bearing the cross I should have borne. Thank you, Jesus, for delivering us from the dominion of darkest evil so that we could live forever in Your kingdom of Light!
