this is a question that has bothered me for years, over a decade to be honest. please understand that i'm not trying to start an argument here i am simply someone who is earnestly searching for an answer.

in the bible when it talks about the mystery of iniquity, sin, evil, whatever you would like to call it, something has not made sense to me. first, if God is omniscient, omnipresence and omnipotent, and created everything that was, is, and ever will be, did He create sin? if He did doesn't that contradict Him being a compassionate, loving God who only wants the best for us? if He didn't then what did and doesn't that contradict with Him creating everything?

The following text comes to mind:

Doesn't verse 15 answer your questions?

The short answer is that God didn't exactly create everything. Some things, such as evil, exist only when God is not involved. God didn't create evil; it popped up when a creature decided to go contrary to God's character.

thank you both for your replies, i was up last night till past midnight reading " The passion of love" from amazing facts.
i understand now, sin is not something that was created, it is the effect, and the cause was imperfection, disobedience of perfection, God being that perfection.

i have read thru the desire of ages before growing up, but last night it effected me like never before, what i was reading struck closer to home then ever before, i was in tears thru most of the book.
maybe growing up in a very strict Adventist home (where reading of the bible and such books was pretty much mandatory)had the reverse effect on me then my parents hoped, in a way pushing me away rather then drawing me closer, i just viewed it back then as something i had to do or i would get in trouble with my parents, so i pushed it away.

i am happy to say that last night i finally stopped fighting, and surrendered my will to Christ, and i feel a sense of peace that i had been looking for since i left the church when i was 15 or 16.
all i can say is that if it were not the everlasting love of Christ, i would be lost forever.
i find myself choking back tears right now as i type this, when i look back at how deeply i have sinned and fallen from grace in these last 8+ years since i openly turned my back on Him, when in my mind i was "finding a better path"
nothing compares, and i have in my "search" have fallen into the grasp of pretty much any sin you can think of, trying to find happiness when it was right there in front of me.

i see now that Christ is the only path to true happiness, and everything else fades and leave you more hollow then before, because i have experienced it myself first hand.

i ask for your prayers as i start a new life in Christ.
Andrew

Amen!

And what is the "mystery of iniquity"? It's a mystery why anyone would want to live in iniquity. At least, after one has tasted and seen that the Lord is good.

You might be interested in a sermon series I've been working on for a while. I'm just going through the Exodus account and picking up lessons and insights on how God leads us from sin to salvation. It's called From Egypt to Canaan. You'll find threads on it in the sermon forum here.

I also send out a VERY BIG AMEN to Andrew's last post here.

We will also be remembering you in our prayers.

Amen! Praise God.

asygo perhaps you could create a link to the sermon forum? I'm not sure where it is myself.

Here's the link to that forum: Messages/Sermons. Just look for the threads started by asygo. But now that I look at it, it doesn't look complete.

For a complete listing of that series, go to the sermon page on my website: Assorted Ramblings. Scroll to the bottom of the page to find all the installments of the series in one place. I think I'll be adding to it on my next turn, in August.

Asygo My Brother in Christ, Praise God that you have found your way back, the devil puts questions without answers to discourage us., I was away from God for 20 years, now back for 15 years and they are the happiest in my whole 60 years of life. I will be praying for you the path you have chosen back will be difficult at times, the devil doesn't give up on you but Christ is the victor and the devil is a defeated foe, I tell him this often to keep him up to date with his destiny. God Bless Angela, Western Australia

Angela to the Maritime forums and chat rooms.

I noticed you had registered back in 2005, however, seeing that this is your first post here almost three years later, I felt you deserved a welcoming post.