Evil

The word ‘evil’ is used to describe beings, attitudes or things that are opposed to God and His law. The concept of evil is first seen in the Bible in Genesis 2:9 where, in the Garden of Eden, there is the tree of ‘the knowledge of good and evil’. Adam and Eve are made ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31), and they are instructed not to eat from the fruit of that tree as, if they do, they will face the certainty of death. These first human beings had a choice to make: would they keep God’s instructions, trusting Him that He knows best? Or would they want to make up their own minds over how they should live?  Adam and Eve made the choice to go their own way because they wanted to put themselves in God’s place (Genesis 3:5) and ate from the tree. In doing so, they were obedient to Satan (an evil angelic being) rather than God, and evil infected every part of the universe. Since that time, the hearts of human beings are naturally inclined to be anti-God or ‘evil’: they want to rule their own lives rather than accept His authority (Genesis 6:5). (See Devil, Satan)