The elimination or transformation of evil (final)

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. Genesis 50:20

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son... Romans 8:28-29a

Even though I had to read 49 chapters in Genesis to get to this verse I think that it sums up the full transformation that God has performed on evil. Because He is righteous (really righteousness given His simplicity) God must have hated all of the things that Joseph's brothers did to him and to their father. Now this is rather presumptuous on my part but I would think that, given the fact that God hates evil, if God could have accomplished His will any other way then He would have done that. But He didn't. He permitted what He hates in order to accomplish what He loves. He saved Jacob and his family and, in so doing, gave me a glimmer of the picture of the transformation of evil.

Then, through progressive revelation, I finally come to the boldest statement I can find in the Bible that God has harnessed evil - He will conform me into the image of Christ as a result of it. Of course He will also do this when I get a vanilla ice cream cone too, but I can believe that on my own. It took the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth in Romans to Paul for me to even come close to accepting that there is a connection between my Christ-likeness and evil.

So not only does God more fully and completely reveal Himself as a result of evil but He uses it to make me more like His Son. I don't understand it, I don't even think that I like it, but I am not His adviser. And I am happy that I am not. And I think you, dear reader, would be happy to hear that too.

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