Did God create viruses? Of course He did! Genesis 1 says that all things were created by Him. Man (the discoverer) has created nothing that God had not already seeded and planted, such as the vast amounts of diamonds in Africa. Scientists and doctors alike have discovered and will tell you that even viruses are useful to our bodies to keep bacteria in check; which is also useful to us. It’s called good virus, and good bacteria.
However, when a virus mutates and becomes something outside of God’s purposes, it then becomes a problem – remember the movie, “The Gremlins?” – it becomes a sin; and sin is nothing more than falling short of what God intended for and expects from His creations.
Because of sin, the whole earth is groaning. That’s what “fallen mankind” means when you see all of creation going topsy-turvy, out of order, gone rogue. It’s like a parent who made a basic, reasonable condition for a child to finally have their own bedroom – “Here are the rules: Make up your bed every day; hang up your clothes; put your dirty laundry in the hamper; and keep the room clean.” Inevitably, the child rebels, ignores the rules; and what was once an orderly haven is now a disastrous smelly junkyard. The child was given freewill and blew it. Now there’s consequence. Get my point?
God promotes and demotes people as He pleases. We read about it throughout the Old Testament. So, if we characterize a free-willed, mutated virus as “rebellious” and “disobedient,” we can associate it with some characters in the Bible.
Before his fall, Lucifer (the adversary) in all his glory decided he wanted to “mutate” and be equal with God. He was out of order. God ultimately condemned him and cast him and a third of the rebellious angels out of heaven. The created gone rogue!
Out of fear that the sojourning Hebrews (Israelites) were outnumbering the Egyptians, Egypt’s pharaoh – as a manner of birth control – ordered all Hebrew firstborn males to be killed. Furthermore, he enslaved the Hebrew people. Years later, when Moses (Hebrew by birth) came out of exile to free his people, pharaoh refused.
The more plagues that God consigned to Egypt, the more pharaoh’s heart was hardened; until finally, God did the same to pharaoh what had been done to the Israelites years ago – He allowed a plague to cause the death of all the Egyptian first-born males including pharaoh’s son. Pharaoh finally relented. In the Book of Romans, God said He created pharaoh for His purposes. Did pharaoh “mutate” beyond his realm?
The same could be said about King Herod, who when he found out that Jesus was born (according to prophecy), had all the male children under the age of two killed in an attempt to safeguard his throne. He was out of order.
Even Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was out of order. But, because of God’s love and mercy, He gives us all freewill and uses our failures and mistakes for His purposes. There is a cost for liberty and free-will; for acting on temptation. We bring things upon ourselves.
The good news is what the Bible says in Romans 8:28, “…all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Are you enjoying the freewill life that you’ve been given to jump, shout, move it in and move it out!
Think about The Creator that gave you the gift to make your own choices; but know this – everything you place in the shopping cart will have to be paid for at the checkout counter.
Larry Buford is a Los Angeles-based writer and the author of “Things Are Gettin’ Outta Hand” and “Book To The Future” (Amazon). Email him at [email protected]
