This is a topic I’ve been meaning to write about for some time but keeps getting put on the back burner.
A surprising and positive result of the strange events of the last three years is that they have awakened many people to the existence of real spiritual evil, including some who may not previously have been open to such a conception at all.
Most of us born after World War II in the “Christian” West had never experienced evil on a massive scale. Whatever our personal circumstances, we lived in a society which enjoyed a basic level of comfort, prosperity, and safety which we took for granted. We may have known that our governments and societal institutions made mistakes, but we trusted that they were mostly working in our best interests.
The covid scam, for those who had eyes to see, was an “apocalypse” in the sense of an unveiling, or revelation, of the truth.
This was certainly the case for me. I moved from trusting that the outsized reaction to the news of a novel virus was probably justified, to thinking that leaders making these decisions were simply uninformed, to realizing that something actively evil was going on.
I am a Christian and so it wasn’t a huge leap for me conceptually to recognize the manifestation of evil, although it took longer than it perhaps should have.
But interestingly, many non-religious people have also been awakened to the existence of evil, and from there been driven toward belief in God. Among them are people like Naomi Wolf, a previously non-practicing Jew; and JP Sears, who describes himself as formerly “spiritual but not religious”.
This is interesting because a common objection atheists raise to faith in God is that a good God cannot exist because of all the evil in the world. This is a straw man, an intellectual-sounding justification for their unwillingness to believe. I find that people who have come face to face with the existence and reality of evil are quite the opposite: the horror of evil leaves us with no choice but to flee to the goodness of God.
Evil cannot be the last word; it is like darkness. If evil exists, good must exist, just as if darkness exists, light must as well. We instinctively know this and strive for the light.
Neither Naomi Wolf nor JP Sears seems to have become full-fledged believers in Jesus, but I hope and pray for them and all of those whom the covid scam awakened to do so.
Why? They both claim to believe in God, so why do I think it is necessary to specifically make a faith commitment to Jesus?
Because Jesus Christ is God himself who, coming down into the realm of evil, darkness, and death, became subject to that evil and suffered its ultimate outrage, a humiliating, excruciatingly painful death by crucifixion, which the Romans devised to inflict maximum torture.
But paradoxically, Scripture tells us that precisely by becoming the victim of evil, Jesus overcame it. He didn’t stay dead. God vindicated him as the victor over death and evil by raising him from the dead on the third day.
Since therefore the children [us] share in flesh and blood, he himself [Jesus] likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. (Hebrews 2:14-15)
How do I and other believers in Jesus know he is still alive today? How do we know it’s not just a story told by his grieving disciples who desperately wanted it to be true? Why do we believe this is the most powerful event in human history, one we want to bear witness to so that everyone else can partake in Jesus’ victory over death?
We know because of the powerful working of Jesus’ Spirit in our lives.
Before his death and resurrection, Jesus hinted to his disciples that he would be going away. But although they would no longer have his physical presence, he would come to them by his Holy Spirit whom he would send to be his very own presence and power, dwelling within every single person who believes in him throughout history, not just the original disciples:
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:16-18)
This promise was fulfilled shortly after Jesus returned to heaven when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples at Pentecost, who began speaking in languages they had never learned. Peter specifically connects the powerful working of the Holy Spirit to evidence that Jesus is not dead:
This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. (Acts 2:32-33)
The even better news is that nothing has changed today. Jesus is still alive, he is still working powerfully in the same ways he did in the book of Acts, he is still pouring out his Spirit on those who call on him for salvation. His victory over evil and death is still available to all who trust in him.
This is why I don’t fear a renewal of the kind of evil we saw during the covid years, even though I think our society is fast sliding into greater and greater depravity and darkness.
I don’t fear the things that even many freedom activists tell us to fear, such as more mRNA vaccines, mRNA in our food, supply chain breakdowns, food shortages, artificial intelligence, digital currency, and so on. All of these evils and more may very well come.
But whatever I have to face, I will overcome by the grace of the one who already overcame evil, the one who said:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
My hope and prayer is for all who read this to have their eyes opened to the truth of Jesus’ promises, to trust in him and become part of his victory over evil, sin, and death. My hope and prayer for you is that you too do not have to fear whatever may come but can have the incredible joy of Jesus’ presence with you even in the midst of trouble.
Thanks you. I know Him. And yet still, I need this reminder too. Maybe more than some...... I appreciate you. One day we will meet. I look so forward to it sister.
Thanks for this. I agree. More people who maybe haven't been incredibly devout in the past are now coming around to the idea that there is a God .... because they know there is real evil.
I took a stab at this topic a few months ago. We're living through a battle of "Good vs. Evil."
One take-away is that we need our faith leaders to step up and lead us in this battle. They have the numbers sitting in their pews every Sunday that could make a difference.
https://billricejr.substack.com/p/the-real-battle-is-good-vs-evil