Here is the discussion we’re having in Light Force tonight.
- Obviously we all know the facts of the shootings at Virginia Tech University this
past Monday.- A
student used a legally purchased gun to kill 32 classmates and faculty
members before killing himself. - A place of trust and tranquility was turned into a killing ground.
- A
- By all
accounts, the shooter is described as “a loner.”- Few if any friends
- Never had a visitor
- Apparently he struggled with speaking to people, so he became an English major.
- He was “an average student.”
- He attracted the attention of his classmates and professors with some
violent writing, but he never crossed a line into violence.
Discuss:
What are your thoughts on the killings? How are you
processing it?
What are some reasons people do stuff like this?
What does God think
about this? Where does He come into play? Where is God when bad things happen?
Evil displays the
absence of God. When bad things happen they aren’t proving that there is no
God, instead they are proving the existence of evil.
One person explained it this way:
“If God were less than omnipotent,
or if He allowed evil to develop and multiply itself in His
own domain of creation without His prior decree and
permission, and purpose, then He is not God, and cannot be
God. If evil there must be, let us be in the hands of God and not
of chance, for if evil comes from outside the divine decree, otherwise
than by the will of God, then there must be another god beside
God.”
– Charles Alexander
Where does evil come
from?
Evil comes from Satan.
· Lying spirit (1 Kings
22:22)
· The adversary (1 Peter 5:8)
· Evil spirit (1 Samuel
16:14)
· Belial (2
Corinthians 6:15)
· Kingdom of, to be destroyed (2 Samuel
23:6,7)
· The power of darkness (Colossians
1:13)
· UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO (Genesis
3:1,4,5,14,15; 1 Chronicles 21:1; Job 1:6,7,9-12;2:3-7)
· The father of all lies ( John 8:44)
· The liar ( John 8:44)
· The murderer ( John 8:44)
· Beelzebul (Matthew
12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15)
· With the context of (Matthew
12:29;13:30; Luke 11:21,22; 1 John 3:8)
· Our common enemy (Matthew
13:39)
· The prince of this world (
John 12:31;14:30;16:11)
· The prince of demons (Matthew
12:24)
· The prince » The serpent (Genesis
3:4,14; 2 Corinthians 11:3)
· The prince » The spirit that
works in all disobedient people (Ephesians
2:2)
· The prince » The Tempter (Matthew
4:3; 1 Thessalonians 3:5)
· The prince » The god of this
world (2
Corinthians 4:4)
· The prince » Unclean spirit
(Matthew
12:43)
· The prince » The wicked one
(Matthew
13:19,38)
Was this murderer
pure evil?
We are all born sinners, capable of all sorts of evil. To
categorize a person as ALL bad is not fair as a single act of violence cannot
undo any good. It’s likely that the murderer suffered from delusions or even an
undiagnosed mental illness.
At the end of the day, you and I are no more or less evil
than the shooter at Virginia Tech. We are all capable of evil.
Perspective from the
rest of the world
While it’s a tragedy to have 33 people killed at Virginia
Tech, this wasn’t the sole place of mass murder on Monday.
- 365
people were murdered inDarfur
,
Sudan, and the world didn’t notice.
- 87 Iraqi’s and 6 US Soldiers were killed in
How are we, as
believers, supposed to respond to evil?
Paul answers this question specifically.
Romans
Where does hope and
comfort come from?
Praise
be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and
the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can
comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from
God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also
through Christ our comfort overflows. II Corinthians 1:3-5
What if I am afraid
that this is going to happen to me?
God is the author and creator of life. Just like your birth
didn’t surprise God, neither will your death. Even if something happens that is
terrible to you… if you know Christ, you rest in Him and Him alone.
“Therefore, brothers, we have
an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For
if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit
you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are
led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that
makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by
him we cry, "Abba, Father." Romans 8: 12-15
Some Promises I Can
Make to You
- I will always look out for you. I will never put you in harms way… intentionally. Life in Jesus isn’t safe.
But I also don’t believe life in Jesus is foolish. If I’m ever asking you
to take a risk know that I would never ask you to go anywhere or do
anything that I would not be willing to go. - I can’t promise you nothing bad will ever happen to you. It will… it’s not a
matter of if bad stuff happens to good people, it’s a matter of how it
Leave a Reply