John 8:42-47 “If God were your father,” said Jesus, “you would love me, for I came from God and arrived here. I didn’t come on my own. He sent me. Why can’t you understand one word I say? Here’s why: You can’t handle it. You’re from your father, the Devil, and all you want to do is please him. He was a killer from the very start. He couldn’t stand the truth because there wasn’t a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies. I arrive on the scene, tell you the plain truth, and you refuse to have a thing to do with me. Can any one of you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act? But if I’m telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? Anyone on God’s side listens to God’s words. This is why you’re not listening—because you’re not on God’s side.”

Can we truly recognize evil? It seems most of us want to be on the ‘good side’, but unless we know He who is Good, we end up playing for the wrong team. 

We recently talked about Pax Romana, the great period of Roman peace, which lasted from 27BC to 180AD. We crucified the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, in the name of keeping the peace. We consistently miss the point. We also studied Kissinger a couple weeks ago – a man who believed and openly stated it was ok to manipulate the masses for what he himself defined as good. That seems awfully like playing God… which is NEVER good. We don’t have a clue what Good even means until we know He who is Good. And as we get to know God, we see what an absolutely beautiful miracle He is working throughout humanity, using our wickedness for what is truly Good – reconciling His fallen creation. As we rest in His truth, we find ourselves less sure of our earthly perspective and  instead grateful to surrender our control to the Miracle Worker and lover of our souls. We fight and bicker over our noble agendas, but if we get down to the root cause of why we are fighting, we may find we are not as noble as we would like to believe. John 2:24-25 But Jesus didn’t entrust his life to them. He knew them inside and out, knew how untrustworthy they were. He didn’t need any help in seeing right through them.

Jesus is the only one who at the root of His intentions hid no sin. “Can you convict me of a single misleading word, a single sinful act?” Because His intentions were rooted in Good, in God. 

We are in a story… the greatest and most beautiful story of all time. We must put up a fight for Who is Good – letting God have His way with us instead of self, which I have learned, is the devil. If we truly want Good to prevail in our lives, we can’t be a slave to sin, to the father of lies. This isn’t about starting another movement; this is about letting God prevail in each one of our hearts, as individuals, that is how His Gospel will reach the ends of the earth, one unique, beautiful, loved soul at a time.