You‘re probably somewhat familiar with the idea behind the yin and the yang symbol.  Part of the idea is that good and evil necessarily coexist.  They always have coexisted, still do coexist, and always will coexist. 

The Bible teaches something radically different.

Ponder these words from a Christian theologian:  “Nothing about sin is its own; all its power, persistence, and plausibility are stolen goods.  Sin is not really an entity but a spoiler of entities, not an organism but a leech on organisms.”

That‘s right.  The message of the Bible is that sin is not necessarily inherent in this world.  Nor is sin necessarily inherent in the human condition.  Prior to the rebellion we read about in Genesis 3 there was no corruption, no stain, and no sin in all of creation. 

The goodness of creation preceded (and is therefore distinct from) the fall into sin and all of its effects.  Evil can in no way be blamed on creation.  Evil can only be blamed on the fall.

Think about what this mean… No matter how closely sin and “the stuff of creation” may be intertwined in human experience, sin is never to be identified with the stuff of creation.  Sin always remains distinct from the stuff of creation.

Let’s consider some examples:  Prostitution (and other sexual aberrations) do not eliminate the goodness of sexuality.  Political abusiveness cannot wipe out the God–ordained character of government and the state.  Blasphemous art cannot obliterate the creational legitimacy of beauty and art itself.

Do you see what sin is doing in each of those examples?  Sin is something like a parasite.  Sin cannot exist by itself; it has to feed off of something good in God’s creation.  Sin is an uninvited guest that has to keep tapping its host for sustenance. 

In C.S. Lewis’ wonderful book The Screwtape Letters, the demon Screwtape admits that “Pleasure is God’s invention, not ours.  He made the pleasures — all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one.  All we can do is encourage the humans to take the pleasures which God has produced at times, in ways or in degrees which he has forbidden.”

In another place Lewis wrote this:  “Goodness is, so to speak, itself.” What he means by this is that goodness is original, independent, and constructive while sin is derivative, dependent, and destructive.  “Goodness is, so to speak, itself:  badness is only spoiled goodness.  And there must be something good first before it can be spoiled.”

That’s the scenario… sin is a parasite on the goodness of creation.  It is not itself a part of creation.  Evil is a completely other entity that introduces itself to creation and feeds off of it.  It doesn’t naturally fit or belong there!

This is an incredibly important point if you want to properly understand the Bible and Christian thought.  Every other religion / philosophy / worldview will in some way fall into the trap of identifying some aspect of creation as THE VILLAIN.  (And sometimes even as THE SAVIOR.)

The Bible is utterly unique in rejecting that view.  Only the Bible keeps creation and sin distinct.

Only the Bible shows us that sin is really just the ugly distortion and perversion of something God created to be good.  Sin is a caricature of the good.

Human beings after the fall — though they are now travesties of humanity, as God originally created humanity — are still human beings, which God originally pronounced as “Very Good!” Now we are just spoiled human beings.

A humanistic school that utterly rejects God is still a school.  Knowledge and education are still good.  But it’s a “spoiled good” now.

A hurtful relationship (say, with your mother or father) is still a relationship, and relationships are good.  But this one, sadly, is a spoiled good.

A crooked business is still a business.  Atheistic culture is still culture.  Ungodly thinking is still thinking.

In every case, what something “still is” points to the remaining goodness of creation.  But it’s now been spoiled by the fall.  It’s been twisted and warped by the parasite of sin.

We need Someone to attach the parasite to Himself and take it all away from us.