Evil is a privation. The idea that evil and sin have no independent substance or creative force of their own. Instead, sin is always a twisting, perversion, corruption, or parasite upon something good that God created. Because Satan is a created being, he lacks the divine attribute of ex nihilo creation (creating something out of nothing).
His strategy is to take God’s original, holy design and distort, invert, or substitute it. Here is a breakdown of how this principle plays out biblically across some everyday examples.
Life vs. Death - God’s Creation (The Good): God is the self-existent author of life. He breathed life into humanity (Genesis 2:7) and built creation to thrive in connection with Him.
The Perversion - The Sin/Evil: Death is not a physical substance created in the beginning; it is the absence or decay of life caused by the intrusion of sin (Romans 5:12, Romans 6:23). Satan cannot produce new forms of existence; he can only destroy or decay what is already alive (John 10:10).
Marriage - Adultery & Betrayal: God created covenantal marriage as a sacred, lifelong union between one man and one woman to reflect Christ’s faithful relationship with the Church (Genesis 2:24, Ephesians 5:31–32).
The Perversion: Adultery creates no new covenantal reality; it breaks, dilutes, and corrupts the existing covenant through breach of trust (Hebrews 13:4, Proverbs 6:32). It takes the sacred bond of faithfulness and parasitically destroys it.
Sex - God’s Creation (The Good): God designed physical intimacy for passion, procreation, and unitive joy strictly within the protective boundary of marriage (Genesis 1:28, Song of Solomon).
The Perversion - Homosexuality: Sin cannot invent a new biological or spiritual mechanism for pleasure. Instead, it detaches the act from God’s intended context, boundary, and covenantal purpose (1 Thessalonians 4:3–5), turning a self-giving gift into a self-gratifying exploitation. (Leviticus 18:1-5, 22-24, 29, Leviticus 20:13, Ezekiel 16:49-51, Romans 1:18-32)
Male & Female Design - God’s Creation (The Good): God intentionally created humanity with binary, complementary physical and spiritual identities: “male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27, Matthew 19:4).
The Perversion (The Sin): Sin corrupts the clarity, harmony, and acceptance of God’s physical design, introducing confusion, rejection of the created body, or blurring of the distinct complementary roles established by God. (Deuteronomy 22:5, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Corinthians 11:14-15, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5)
Love - God’s Creation (The Good): Love (Agape) is the foundational moral reality of God’s character (“God is love,” 1 John 4:8). It seeks the ultimate good of the other, requiring truth, self-sacrifice, and righteousness.
The Perversion (The Sin): Hate is not an independent substance; it is the withholding, corruption, or reversal of love. It replaces self-sacrifice with self-centeredness, envy, and malice (1 John 3:14–15).
Remember who your Father is. Fear Not. Neither the devil nor evil has any power over you unless you allow it.
Be blessed, be a blessing.
Peter