Jesus is NOT the Reason for the Season

Everyone loves Christmas! Getting together with family, enjoying a big meal, exchanging gifts. I believe it's safe to say that Christmas is the biggest holiday of the year. I have many memories of growing up and having Christmas with the family, whether it was going out of town to spend it with extended family, or staying home and spending it with our parents. 

The more the time passes, the more I see what Christmas really means and this got me thinking: not everyone knows what Christmas is really about. 

Christmas is the second highest grossing holiday in America (Halloween being number one) and I believe there is more than one reason for this. One of the reasons is a misunderstanding of Christmas. Big meals, presents, Santa, elves, snow, Christmas carols, bells, sleighs, green and red, Christmas trees, lights, family gatherings, and more. Most people focus more on these things than what is really important. 

I work in EMS and it seems like after the holidays, we get an outburst of depressed patients and suicides. Why is that? Most of the reasons involve a feeling of loneliness or sense that they don't belong. And I think the reason is because they do not understand what Christmas means. If it's all about getting together with family, then being alone is devastating. 

There's a popular slogan amoung Christians for Christmas: "Jesus is the reason for the season". It's a nice little slogan that many Christians use innocently to try to keep Christ in Christmas (which is getting harder these days). But that is not the whole truth and is only half the story. 

I want to call you to think through the Christmas story a bit. I'm sure all Christians can agree that Christmas is about the celebration of Christ's birth. But I want you think about why Christ came to earth. Too often we celebrate the baby Jesus in a manger with the Christmas story and stop there. But why did He come and why was His birth so glorious? 

Romans is a great book that spells out what it means to be a Christian and what it is to be saved. Chapter 5 give the reason why Christ came. Verse 12 says "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned". John 3:16 tells us "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." When we look at these two verses, amoung many others, we see the real reason Christ came down. Christ came because we are sinners. If we were not sinners and did not sin, would Christ have come as He did, to die? Would we even have Christmas?

As I thought long about this post, my answer to "what is the reason for the season?" I would have answered that WE are. We are the reason Christ came, because of who we are as sinners. But I also believe that it goes deeper than that. Yes, we are the ones that Jesus came here to die for, but He did not have to come. The moment Adam sinned in the garden, God could have wiped humanity from existence and start over. The reason why we are still here, why Jesus came to die for us, and why we have Christmas is because of God's love. Think about that for a minute!

From the minute Adam sinned, God prophesied that Jesus would be born to die, thousands of years before it happened. And what I find amazing is that Jesus voluntarily left a perfect Heaven, born into a sin filled world, just to die for us so we can spend eternity with Him. Is that not love? John 3:16 tells us that God sent his Son. But Jesus also voluntarily came. John 6:38 is the account of Jesus saying "for I came down from Heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him who sent me". And in the account of when Jesus was in the garden, preparing to be arrested, he asked to not have to go through with the crucifixion. Jesus was a servant that loved us enough to stoop down lower than the common man and die for us. That is really what Christmas is about: Gods love. 

This is why it bothers me to see all these people who are so wrapped up in having to see family, getting the meal fixed in time, getting the "right" gift, and obsessing over Christmas decorations. Our country has changed Christmas into a winter holiday revolving around gifts and "holiday" trees. I think this is why it's harder for people to reflect on the real reason for Christmas. I have come to the point where I don't like Christmas decorations or celebration norms. Instead of following tradition of celebrating the modern version of Christmas, I take time reflect and remember Gods love and forgiveness. When that is your focus instead of what everyone else focuses on, your Christmas will be much more meaningful. 

But if you haven't experienced the forgiveness of God, you have not experienced what Christmas really is. Christmas becomes an empty holiday that revolves around greediness and holiday tradition, followed by depression because you know there must be more. If you haven't accepted Gods forgiveness, his Son and love, I encourage you to accept Gods gift, the greatest Christmas gift you will ever receive. 

"Don't Make Me Adult"

More and more on social media, I see the same thing: "don't make me adult", "I don't want to grow up", "don't make me get out of bed", "I don't want to adult". What I see is the attitude of irresponsibility. Many young people say they don't want to grow up (or some say they are grown up when it's the opposite). But what does it really mean to grow up?

Let's look at our terms. When we think of the word adult, we are meaning the legal age when you can have your independence. When I say "grow up", what does that mean? Does it mean to get a house or apartment, get a good job, work 40+ hours a week, give up fun and hobbies, do things you don't want to do, and pretty much give up your life as you know it? Many people think so. They think that when you graduate high school, you are forced into a grownup life involving work, college, and no longer living an enjoyable life. I don't believe this is necessarily the case. These people think they are a grownup because they are forced into that position. I hope I can explain clearly what it truly means to grow up. 

As I see it, today's norm of growing up involves the things I previously stated, but there are a lot of people who get jobs, move into their own place, go to college, even raise kids. Unfortunately, many of these people do not grow up. 1 Corinthians 13:11 states "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." This verse is the definition of growing up (along with Luke 12:42-46). 

What are the childish things that Paul mentions? Are they playing with toys, making childish jokes, laughing at farts, and hanging out on the playground? I don't think so. I think sometimes adults can partake in some of those things (especially with their kids) and still be grown up. Childish things can involve these to a point, but there's a deeper issue. What I believe this verse is talking about is the heart issue. Growing up involves thinking before you speak, learning to listen, learning to give up things to take on responsibility. 

You see, the meaning of growing up is to take on responsibility because that is what God calls us to do. It is following God's commands, not because we have to, but because we love God and choose to. The Bible is full of instruction for daily living, dealing with work, raising kids, marriage, and every aspect of life. It means to take on responsibility with integrity because it is the right thing to do, being good stewards as God commands. (Titus 1:7-9, Colossians 3:23, 1 Corinthians 4:2, Luke 12:42-46)

I know a lot of people who believe the opposite. They are "grown up" because they have a job, car, maybe an apartment, and supporting themselves. But to grow up means also to manage your money in a God-honoring way, giving sacrificially to others, making good use of the time given us, and sometimes doing something we don't want to but know it needs done. It's called maturity. Not just physical and mental maturity, but spiritual maturity. 

What I have been seeing is more young adults and youth deciding to only do things because it is required to live. They do the bare minimum just to get by, then squander their time on video games, TV, and useless hobbies. These are not inherently wrong, but when they stand in the way of responsibility and following God, they become sin. It is sad to see these young people with absolutely no desire to take on responsibility and waste their time. 

We should strive to grow into mature Christians and into the people God intends us to be. The Bible has clear instructions to grow spiritually and it should be our continuous goal to follow those instructions. We should make good use of the time given us as told in Colossians 4:5 "Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time." As you consider these things, remember the passage Luke 12:42-46 "And the Lord said, 'Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful"

Is Lying Really THAT Bad?

Recently, I did a study through Genesis chapter 3 and found something that astounded me. As I dwelled on it, more truths came to life. Some things seeming to be almost paradox, others profound. And some things I found continue to remain an enigma. I have read through Genesis more than once, but one certain truth stood out to me that never really occurred to me before. I am talking about the subject of lying. For those who have read through Genesis, and particularly the fall of man, we know of the obvious lie that Satan told to Eve. But is there something deeper than just a "simple" lie? This was the question that peaked my curiosity and later on, I taught the same topic to our youth group.

Before we can go further and deeper into the subject of lying and lies, we need to look at God's perspective on lying. Today, we take lying as a norm. We are lied to in the news, in magazines, on TV, on the radio, at school, at work, and even with friends and family. Because of this, we often downplay the seriousness of lying. We rate is as much less serious than say, theft or abuse.

In Proverbs 6:16-17, God calls lying and abomination. He states that He hates lying not once, but twice in this passage. He even calls it an abomination. Abomination is translated from the Greek word "Toebah" which is translated literally into "dangerous, sinister, repulsive". We don't normally think of lying in this aspect, but we see clearly that God hates it as also seen in Proverbs 12:22.

When we read in Isaiah 32:7, "he deviseth wicked devices to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right", we see that God not only calls lying an abomination, but also calls it destructive. How often do we see the evidence of this? Abortion, evolution, gay marriage, relative truth, atheism. We see destruction come about because of a single lie. Currently we are undergoing the issues of the invasion of Islam. They are lied to, made to believe that if they go to war with non-Muslims, they will make it into Heaven. Look at the destruction, war, and death that lie has caused. That is ultimately the end result of lies: death. Revelation 21:8 says "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." Lying not only results in physical death, but God lists it specifically as a sin that leads to Hell. Let's look at the proof of this.

If you have never read Genesis chapter 3*, I recommend doing so. In this passage, we see the account of the fall of man. But this fall resulted from the first sin on this earth: a lie. We oftentimes agree that Satan lied to Eve, but when we compare this chapter with the previous, we see that Eve had lied as well. In chapter 2, verses 16 and 17, we see that God told them not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but in this account, He does not specifically say to not touch the fruit. Eve exaggerates by saying "Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." Following this lie, Satan gave a cut and dried lie. He tells Eve that they will, in fact, not die. And from here, everything started. The result was destruction, ending in death. Even in this single chapter, we see and abundance of death.

The first death is apparent in verse 7 where we read "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons." Here, we see the death of innocence. Before this, Adam and Eve had no understanding of sin, right and wrong, good and evil. The second they believed the lie and sinned, they were become sinners and no longer innocent.

We see the second death in the next verse: "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." We actually see two deaths here, but the first one in this verse is the death of a relationship with God. We could also call this separation from God. Because of this death, humankind was (and is) doomed to an eternal death, resulting in the need for a propitiation (Christ). Adam and Eve walked every day with God and communed with Him just as you do with your friends, but now they no longer had that privilege.

The third death (and the second one in this verse) is the death of peace. Before the sin, they had no need to fear. They had an ingrained sense that God was with them and would take care of them. In fact, I'm led to believe that they weren't even conscious of the fact that God was taking care of them because they never knew the need for it in a perfect world. But now we see that they had no peace. They hid in the garden knowing they were naked, and knowing that they were no longer innocent. They walked with God up to this point and had never hid from God. But we see that they hid from Him because they were scared and no longer had peace. This death of peace goes beyond the personal in verse 15 where we see "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." This is a promise of conflict, of wars. Not only will people not have an inner peace, but this world will no longer have peace.

The fourth death is closely related to the third and is found in verse 10: "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." They had a death of security. Because God protected them and they lived in a perfect world, they had no fear. Can you imagine having no concept of fear, then within a split second, are scared for your life? I can guess this is what Adam and Eve had. They knew that they were separated from God and no longer would have His protection.

In verses 12-13, we see the fifth death. This is when Adam tries to escape his responsibility by blaming his wife. Then his wife tries to escape her responsibility by blaming Satan. This is the death of healthy marriage, or more generally, the death of a healthy relationship. This was Adam and Eve's first marital conflict. We don't know exactly how much time had passed between their creation and this event but they would have never had a fight or disagreement until now. Now we have drama, fights, divorce, hate, resentment, abuse, and conflict in relationships because Adam and Eve believed a lie.

The sixth death is seen in verses 16-19. This is proof of death of an easy life. We could also say the death of a perfect world. Now don't get me wrong, working is not a curse. God designed us to work. But after the fall, work became significantly harder. God sustained all plant life. Adam never had to water the garden, pull weeds, or fertilize. But now, work has become back-breaking. And before this sin, childbirth was not painful.

The seventh death is in verse 21 where we see God making clothes for Adam and Eve to hide their nakedness. We see God making these clothes out of skins. The skins were taken from a lamb where we have the first bloodshed: the first physical death. In addition, we see in verse 19, the phrase where we get "ashes to ashes, dust to dust". This is the death of life. This is our physical death here on earth, our growing old, our sickness and pain and diseases. This is restated in Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death..." and again in Romans 5:12 "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned". And this is the reason (along with the second death) why we have the final death.


The final death is actually seen in verse 15. With some reading into it, we see the prophecy of Christ's coming to die for us. Because of Adam and Eve believing a lie, God the Son had to come to earth to die not only physically, but to become our sins. We see the death of our LORD. This is proof, though, that we have a loving God. As soon as Adam and Eve sinned, God could have erased their existence and started over. But instead, He allowed them to continue, knowing that the world would reject him. He saw one of His creations (Satan) tear down another one of his creation that was actually made in His own image. The world, at one point, grew so much of a hate for God that He flooded the earth, only allowing Noah and his family to live. He gives chance after chance after chance for His creations to come to Him.

Jesus came to this earth with the purpose to die. He was born to die. As he hung on that cross, he cried "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This was the first time Jesus ever referred to God as "My God" and that is because there was a separation of the Godhead. Jesus literally became sin which was completely contrary to his nature. He did all of this because he loves us.

On an ending note, I would like to share something I found interesting. Satan could have used any lie to drag Eve down, but he used the lie "you will not surely die." Don't you find it interesting that the very thing that Satan lied about was the exact result of Eve believing the lie? Because of that lie, we now have the world we live in: with death. Today, we see the world rampant with sin, atheism, blaspheme, and an absolute hate for God. These chances that God gives us will soon be up. When judgment comes, only those who have accepted Christ will enjoy God's presence. But that leads to a final point. The lies did not stop in the garden. We continue to face Satan's destructive lies today and we must decide whether we will believe him or God. Eve had a choice of whether to believe God (you will surely die) or believe Satan (you will not surely die). We are faced with the same predicament: who to believe. We Christians have calling to inform others of Satan's lie and offer the gospel and present Christ. What will you do?




*Genesis 3
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
² And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
³ But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
⁵ For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
⁶ And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
⁷ And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
⁸ And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
⁹ And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
¹⁰ And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
¹¹ And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
¹² And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
¹³ And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
¹⁴ And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
¹⁵ And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
¹⁶ Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
¹⁷ And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
¹⁸ Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
¹⁹ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
²⁰ And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
²¹ Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.
²² And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
²³ Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
²⁴ So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

How "Miraculous" Were Biblical Miracles?

All throughout the the Bible, both Old and New Testament, we see many miracles. Some of these miracles were performed by prophets, God allowing them to have the power to perform the miracles. Others were performed by the apostles, particularly after Christ's ascension. And of course, many miracles were performed by Jesus himself. In Exodus, we see the account of Aaron turning his staff into a snake, but followed by Pharoh's magicians doing the same (Exodus 7:8-13). This brings up the question of "were these miracles actually 'miraculous'"? And if so, how miraculous? What separates a miracle from say, an illusion or an amazing feat? We are going to look at a few miracles and the impossibility of them.

Several times in the Bible, people were raised from the dead. Jesus, Lazarus, and the centurion's daughter to name a few. We marvel in awesomeness of bringing someone back from the dead, but what impossibilities makes this a true miracle? Let's simply take a look at blood glucose. 

Every cell in the body requires energy to function and that energy comes from what is called adenosine triphosphate or ATP. This ATP requires 2 main factors: glucose and oxygen. Normal blood glucose levels in the body is 70-120. When it gets too high or low, the body, and particularly the cells, have to compensate. When a person dies, immediately the process of glucose breakdown begins. Someone who is alive uses aerobic metabolism (using oxygen) to creat the ATP needed for cells to function. When someone dies, anaerobic metabolism (without oxygen) takes place and the glucose is converted into lactose or lactic acid. Essentially, when we die, the two important factors for cell energy are gone and cells begin to die off. That is a partial factor in decay. 

When someone is brought back from the dead, it would be impossible for the cells to function because of the absense of glucose. That would mean the heart couldn't beat, the diaphragm couldn't allow breathing. For this miracle to take place, not only would the person need to be revived, but glucose levels restored along with essential amino acids and proteins that are already broken down. Not only would these need to be restored but blood coagulates when not circulating. When someone is revived like this, the blood would have to be restored to its original viscosity without a single embolism. This would require a supernatural divine intervention. And glucose and blood are a single factor in many factors that would need a divine miracle. 

Let's look at the brain. The brain as well needs oxygen to function. When someone has a stroke, blood supply is cut off, inhibiting the oxygen and nutrients from reaching the cells. That is why people have immediate deficits when having a stroke. When someone dies, the blood supply stops and the brain cells are no longer receiving oxygen and essential nutrients. Immediately, brain cell death begins to take place. Within 10-15 minutes, the brain will no longer (normally) function. If the person is revived, they will not have a normal life and would probably be a vegetable their whole life. For someone to be revived and have normal brain function immediately would take none other than an act of God. The amazing thing is, sometimes God intervenes like this today. People will be down for a length of time and after CPR, are revived and have normal brain function. Under ordinary pathophysiology, these people would have mental deficits but some come back with their original mental capacity. 

Let's take a look at another miracle: the lame man walking. In John 5:1-9 we see the account of Jesus healing a lame man. According to this passage, the man had been unable to walk for 38 years. When a muscle group is not used for a length of time it undergoes a process called atrophy. The muscles begin to shrink up and the muscle cells degenerate or die off. Today we see this happen. When someone has say, a broken limb, that limb isn't used for the time the cast is in place. When the cast is removed, the person doesn't have full movement and requires physical therapy to restore full movement. This miracle can seem very real to us because we see atrophy like this is short term. Now imagine a man who has been unable to walk for 38 years. His legs have completely atrophied. When Jesus restored him and allowed him to walk, we see that the man stood up and began walking. Thinking through this, we know that the man would have had to undergo major physical therapy to be able to walk again. Jesus would have not only had to restore his ability to walk but also restore his muscles and create new muscle cells that had died off. A true miracle. 

Let's take a look at one more miracle. In John 2:1-11 we witness the account of Jesus turning water into wine. When we read this, we think of it as a good miracle (Jesus' first miracle) as well as an elementary Sunday school story. But what would actually be involved when turning water to wine? We know that water is a combination of 2 hydrogen and 1 oxygen molecules (H2O). Now if we turn our attention to wine, we see that wine includes acids, sugars, proteins, many minerals, glutathione, esters, along with many other organic compounds. If it was a sparkling wine, it would also contain carbonation (or CO2 compound). For Jesus to turn water into wine, he did not just change the look and taste. He changed the complete chemical makeup. He would have had to creat molecules, minerals, and nutrients that did not currently exist in the water. And if he was turning WATER into wine (where none of these ingredients were present), he would have to create all of these from nothing. Again, this was a true miracle that could only take place by the hand of God. 

As we look at all of the miracles and realize the impossibility of each one, we realize the awesomeness and omnipotence of God. We realize just how marvelous the hand of God is. We should be awed at the power of God, but should not be surprised or shocked. God is the One who created the entire universe from nothing, as we see in Genesis. He simply spoke and everything that exists came into being. Why should we view the God, who created our world from nothing and created us from the world, as limitless in our world. Oftentimes, people are baffled at the works of God but if He can create everything from nothing, he can create organic compounds to make wine; he can create the proteins, cells, and nutrients that are no longer present in the body. He can cause a virgin to become pregnant and give birth, he can consume whole cities in fire with just His will for it to happen. For a God who created the universe, these miracles are trivial. We really do serve an amazing God. And in that, we should all the more have the desire to worship Him and live for Him as He asks of us. 

The most amazing thing about all of these miracles? The God who created the universe with simple words, who created everything from nothing, and who sustains the universe and maintains its order, also loves us enough to come to this earth and die for us so that we can dwell with Him one day. The almighty God who has the power to destroy the entire universe and eradicate sin, rather chose to come die for us. That is amazing love. Don't think that you are not important, not special, or unloved. God loves each of us and has a specific plan for each of us. He died for everyone, even people like you and me. And to think that He has individual plan for each one of us: the God who created the universe and makes the impossible, possible!

Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?

There's a very common question that is oftentimes difficult to answer and that is: "why do bad things happen?" Quite often Christians are asked this with a loss for an answer and even amoung Christian circles, the question continues to arise: "why do bad things happen to good people?" Naturally, this is a question people long to have answered. 

We can look at this question in two different perspectives that the Bible lays out. The first is judgement. All throughout the Bible, when a nation or person turns against God, judgement follows. God tells us "vengeance is mine, I will repay saith the Lord". (Romans 10:19) But this also has its own perspectives and that is in the dealing with Christians vs. non-Christians. God will have vengeance on people who reject him. He also will not protect people who are his own. People who reject God do not receive His hand of protection. So an unsaved person has bad things happening because of his own sin and rejection of God. Likewise, a child of God (as Christians are referred to in John 1:12) have Gods protection. So why do bad things happen to Christians? Keeping it in the current perspective, if we are Gods children, we are chastised for the wrong things we do just as a good parent does with his child. 

Now let's change the perspective back to why "bad" things happen to "good" people. Well if we are going to look at good and bad, we must define our terms. What is a "good" person? Is it someone who does good deeds, lives a good life, gives to charity? Romans 3:23 says that we all have a sinful nature, we are born "bad". Societal norms would like to say that there's "good people" and "bad people" or that it is a grey area. Some believe that good is relative to your own personal truth. But we know that ever since the fall of Adam, we are born sinners. 

The good news is in 2 Chorinthians 5:17. When we accept Christ, we are made "a new creature". So looking at who is bad and who is good. We are all bad, but those who accept Christ are made perfect in His image. We are made sinless in Christ. 

Now that we know the difference between a good and bad person, what is a "bad thing"? Most people would define it as a death, cancer diagnoses, an accident, etc. We chose what is good and what is bad in today's society. But God defines bad as sin and sin is anything that is an antithesis of the love for God. Bad is the sin that God cannot allow into His presence, according to Galatians 5:19-20. 

That is the straight up definition of bad. So what is good? Everything that God does is good. Romans 8:28 says "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose". God is incapable of imperfection. It is by our own doing that there is imperfection in this world. 

When we look at the facts given throughout the Bible we know that 1) good people are sinful people who are made perfect in Christ's blood. 2) bad things are imperfections and sin that is a result of our old nature. And 3) God is incapable of anything "bad". So why do "bad" things happen to "good" people? The first reason could be a chastisement from God for sin that we are currently in. A second reason is that it may not be a bad thing to begin with. God puts us in the life we live and puts things in our lives that we may perceive as bad. But God has an ultimate plan for our lives and whatever you are currently going through may just be a part of God's perfect plan. We may not see it, but ultimately God has a better plan for us. Remember that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.