Where Does Evil Come From?
Dear Mike,
Did God create evil and its properties?
The simple answer is no. The reason? "He cannot even tolerate to look upon sin." Habakkuk 1:13
In other words, God cannot abide by, deal with, partake or cause sin to take place, let alone actually create all of its ugly scenarios.
Of course, your question then is, "Then, where does sin and its outworking evil come from?"
The quick answer to this is that evil is the natural consequence of disobedience. When we disobey God, our actions from that moment on begin to deteriorate and this deterioration produces the evil that is in the world.
People often mention the tree of good and evil. However, the proper term found in Genesis 2:17 is, "..but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die."
Notice that this was a test of Adam and Eve's obedience! If they obeyed, they would be allowed to eat from the "tree of life" also situated in the Garden (Genesis 3:22), and thus live forever. Should they disobey, then they would be subject to the deteriorating experience of sin and ultimately die physically and because they were separated from God, also die spiritually. Of course, the sending of Jesus to atone (make payment) for this disobedient act and the consequences that followed, takes up the content of the rest of the Bible.
Let me put this another way. Ford makes the F150 truck and at one point it is brand new, without a scratch or mechanical problem (I know it's not perfect but stay with me here). Ford does not create the results of careless driving or lack of proper maintenance in that truck like damage or even worse, death. These things happen as a result of the driver, not the manufacturer.
Now, because God is eternal and lives outside of our human time/space continuum, He knows the results of actions before they take place. In other words, He knows the future, however, He doesn't cause our future, we create our future by our decisions and actions for the most part.
In the end, we are the ones who create evil. For example, we lie and that sets in motion a chain of negative events and feelings. We do not contain our anger or jealousy and we kill and that action creates other negative scenarios around us and those we know and live with. Multiply Adam's disobedience in the innumerable sins of those who came after him (ie. Cain kills Abel - Gen. 4:8) and you have the complete evil backdrop against which our lives are experienced today.
