The Known Unknown

Feature by Corporal Nathan Chan of 10th Kuala Lumpur Company

Evil is everywhere. Unreasonable as it may seem, it is in every company, no matter how old or well led. Due to its being sensitive and diverse in nature, we rarely discuss it directly. Thus it has become something known yet unknown.

A popular story goes something like this:

A university professor challenged his students with this question. "Did God create everything that exists?" A student bravely replied, "Yes he did!", "God created everything?" The professor asked. "Yes sir", the student replied. The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."

The argument then continues with the student eventually concluding: “Evil is simply the absence of God.” Simple as it may be, there is more to it than just that.

Sin and evil are small words, yet they carry gigantic impacts. Sin is mentioned over 1500 times in the Bible with 9 different words, and can be literally translated as “to miss the mark” of God’s standard. Such is what an act of sin is: Failing to follow God’s Law to the fullest.

It all started with the desire of a single one of God's creations to be greater than the Creator. We know him as Satan, as he brought that desire to the freshly created world. Today, we see the effects of this desire and the actions performed to try and fulfill it, and call it evil, or sin.

With sin comes consequence. With the first sin came the first judgement God ever had to bring upon us. From that day on, every living thing would eventually cease to live, and die. Such is the punishment God brings upon sin. Since when were push ups harsh?

God is omnipresent - he is everywhere. He is present in all time and space, everywhere and in every now. God hates sin, which separates us from God, preventing us from even seeing Him in His Holy glory. Yet He does not leave anyone alone when that someone sins. No matter where you go, God is there. Sin, or evil, cannot be the absence of God.

Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:24 NIV)

If God truly leaves whenever we sin, we would be hopeless. The whole world would be devoid of God. There would be no judgement, and the world would be in chaos. Neither would there be no forgiveness, as God would separate himself from everyone who needs it.

Instead, sin we see is an indirect result of our God given free will and subsequently His mercy. From the very beginning, we have been allowed to chose, to make decisions. Unfortunately, one of our first decisions was to disobey God. So the sin of Adam and Eve became the first of a very very long line of sins.

Despite this abuse of God’s gift to chose, we are still alive. The sheer amount of mercy that God exercises is unimaginable. God has every right to blow us off the ground and out of the sky. Yet today, we are still alive, untouched.

The Boys’ Brigade was founded to “promote habits … that tend towards a true Christian character”. If sin is what separates us from this goal, why not study it?