Got the flu, why did God create viruses?

[DoctorW]

As I lay here in utter misery, I'm wondering, why would God create viruses???

 

[Robinsegg]

We all wonder such things. . . mine is usually about mosquitoes

I think it possible that God created these things for a positive purpose, but they were corrupted with man's Fall in Genesis.

Rachel

 

[DoctorW]

Ok, but what would their purpose be before original sin?

Also, why were some organisms corrupted (viruses, mosquitos) and other organisms were not corrupted (cows, helpful bacteria)?

 

[peacechild4]

Hi and welcome to Christian forums..

God did not create viruses!! Everything God created was good..

 

[peacechild4]

Sorry I don't know how I got here I just realised I wrote welcome to Healing Ministry and then had to edit my answer.. I thought I was in healing ministry.. LOL.. anyhow would you mind if I prayed for your healing?

 

[DoctorW]

Hi and welcome to Christian forums..

God did not create viruses!! Everything God created was good..

Didn't God create everything?

If not, who created viruses?

 

[peacechild4]

God created everything in the beginning.. and it was good.. And we as mankind were part of that creation.. we were told to rule over the earth.. Take care of it.. there was no mention of anything imperfect then..

When we sinned though and desired to have the knowledge of good and evil.. we disobeyed God and our eyes were open and we had a choice to make.. Because of our knowing good and evil.. God placed a curse on the earth.. We now had a choice to do good or evil.. Most chose from that point to do evil.. Where mankind chose to do evil.. all thing evil started to come on earth.. murder, eventually sickness came too etc.. and God even shortened the life span..

If you read through Deuternomy 28... you will find that obedience to God brought blessing on the people of earth.. and disobedience to God brought the curse..

As I read through Deuteronomy it does say God brings this on us if we don't obey choose to obey.

The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. v 20

But the choice is ours.. we don't have to have sickness.. we can choose the blessing.. but we must obey God.. V 1 below

If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

Viruses are part of the curse.. Part of the evil that our eyes were opened too when we ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good/evil..

Satan also rebelled in the beginning.. it was he who tempted mankind to sin and doubt God... and we opened that door for him to work through our world and our spirits when we sinned.. He was then able to work in our world through our sin and tempt us to destroy ourselves.. He is known as a destroyer.. one of his jobs is to destroy Gods creation and especially man and woman who are made in Gods image.. He would have began to taint the world even at the very beginning..

Thankfully we have a choice to follow God and He sent Jesus who took the curse on Himself.. and therefore He crushed death, sickness and yes also satan..

 

[suestks]

this is deep turn to your bible for answers

 

[~RENEE~]

I got pnuemonia.

Trust God din't create it.

God is the giver of all that is good.

This ain't good.

 

[DoctorW]

God placed a curse on the earth...all thing evil started to come on earth.. murder, eventually sickness came too etc.. and God even shortened the life span..

If you read through Deuternomy 28... you will find that obedience to God brought blessing on the people of earth.. and disobedience to God brought the curse..

As I read through Deuteronomy it does say God brings this on us if we don't obey choose to obey.

The LORD will send on you curses, confusion and rebuke in everything you put your hand to, until you are destroyed and come to sudden ruin because of the evil you have done in forsaking him. v 20

But the choice is ours.. we don't have to have sickness.. we can choose the blessing.. but we must obey God.. V 1 below

If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God:

Viruses are part of the curse.. Part of the evil that our eyes were opened too when we ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good/evil..
Thankfully we have a choice to follow God and He sent Jesus who took the curse on Himself.. and therefore He crushed death, sickness and yes also satan..

So, if we strictly follow God, we reduce the amount of sickness we endure? If that were true, wouldn't Christians get sick less than non-Christians? Wouldn't priests/pastors never get sick? I have never seen any data to support this. Please explain...

 

[peacechild4]

Good point.. This is how it should be.. but God Himself said.. for lack of knowledge my people perish..

You might take note of Jesus battles with the Pharisees and Sadducees in His day.. They were the "religous leaders in that day" yet they missed the very Messiah Himself who was even telling them it was Himself?? They were seeing but unable to see.. and did not want to hear what He was saying because they were believing something other then the truth..

It is the same these days as well.. Many miss the truth.. even very religious people.. So don't be mislead by what you see happening to Gods people.. Gods Word is the best explanation of this..

Many are weak and sickly because they do not recognise the Lords body and how it was broken for us so we could be made whole.. He didn't just die to forgive our sins.. but take upon Himself.. the whole curse.. the full extent of our sin!! Sin is suffered in the body.. and Jesus came in the body to fully redeem us from sin and its effects!!

1 Corinthians 11:29-30
For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

 

[peacechild4]

Another good point of this.. which I thought of just as I hit reply.. was the fact the religious leaders got angry when Jesus healed the man on the sabbath.. All they were worried about was He was breaking the Sabbath.. but Jesus was God.. the one who created the Sabbath.. He was doing good.. and they could not even fathom this.. They were not concerned about the sick at all.. not even happy in the slightest that this man was well??

Find the story in Luke 6.. the religious people in this story were enraged this man was healed.. instead of happy he had been set free..

Another instance was.. in John 9.. Jesus again healed on the Sabbath.. I love Him for doing that.. turned the "religious" world upside down..
The religious folk ended up throwing this man who had been born blind but now could see.. out of the temple simply because he was healed by Jesus..

These stories are amazing.. you can read them online at Bible Gateway!! http://www.biblegateway.com/

This is great isn't it and very very good news.. Jesus saves.. and Jesus heals.. We just have to know it.. and believe!! Then the truth will set us free!!

 

[LovebirdsFlying]

As I lay here in utter misery, I'm wondering, why would God create viruses???

I've wondered the same thing about poison ivy...

 

[DoctorW]

Good point.. This is how it should be.. but God Himself said.. for lack of knowledge my people perish..

...

It is the same these days as well.. Many miss the truth.. even very religious people.. So don't be mislead by what you see happening to Gods people.. Gods Word is the best explanation of this..

Many are weak and sickly because they do not recognise the Lords body and how it was broken for us so we could be made whole.. He didn't just die to forgive our sins.. but take upon Himself.. the whole curse.. the full extent of our sin!! Sin is suffered in the body.. and Jesus came in the body to fully redeem us from sin and its effects!!

...

I think you miss my point. If 'religious' people get sick at the same rate that 'non-religious' people get sick, does that mean that the religious people are doing something wrong? Are they no closer to God than a pagan?

What about a christian, or group of christians that are trying to follow the word of God. They are doing their best, and although they are not perfect, they are on the right track. Wouldn't God reward them with less sickness (reduce the curse)? If so, does this happen?

Basically, my point is, someone must be close to getting it right, not perfect, but close. Why are they still stuck with God's curse? That doesn't sound fair to me...

 

[peacechild4]

Ok.. yes I think some are getting it right.. but they are not out there telling their message enough perhaps.. Or perhaps we are not trying hard enough to find them.. most every one of us has been like those religious people.. not really seeing.. But I tell you.. once you realise that this is happening.. You begin to see it everywhere..

Have you ever noticed that bad news spreads fast.. and good news doesn't seem to spread the same..

I don't think that it isn't happening.. but that there is a force at work out there trying hard to stop it..

Yes... as I believe in good.. God.. I also believe in evil.. the devil.. I would say there is your culprit.. stopping the flow of Gods goodness... He was marring it right from the start.. But remember he only has the power to blind people to what God is and what He is doing.. he does not actually have the power to stop God!!

When Gods people start to realise they are greater then the evil that comes against them.. simply because of who is with them.. They will rise above.. and the world will begin to see Gods people as they should be seen..

His protected.. chosen.. and holy people.. Not because of anything they are.. but because they are sided with Almighty God..

All I can say.. is God said.. If we seek we shall find.. if we knock the door will be opened unto us..

Our best is not ever good enough.. but I do believe.. that there are people out there who are getting much closer to the truth then ever before.. And brother.. if you just set your eyes on what is the truth.. you will see and experience much more including healing etc..

 

[DoctorW]

peacechild4, let me summarize:

According to you, God did not create viruses, he placed a curse on the world that included sickness and murder when we became sinful.

We are all affected (infected?) by this curse regardless if we are 'religious' or not. Jesus took on this curse for us when he died for our sins, but Christians today still deal with God's curse from the Old Testament even though Jesus died 2000 years ago. These Christians haven't quite figured it out.

Those that do have it 'right' are not sharing their message (although my question was 'do those that do have it right avoid the curse?' not 'does anyone has it right?'). Although we can be on the right track, the devil still can cause us pain.

Is this correct?

You still haven't answered my questions:

Do Christians get sick (due to God's curse) as much as non-Christians?

If we follow the bible more closely, do we reduce disease?

What does the devil gain by causing us to become ill? I can't see that causing someone to sin.

If Jesus died for our sins, and we accept him completely, why are Christians still affected by God's curse of murder, sickness and evil?

When Gods people start to realise they are greater then the evil that comes against them

What is stopping God's people from realizing this? Don't you realize this?

if you just set your eyes on what is the truth

What truth is that? Please ellaborate.

 

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

As I lay here in utter misery, I'm wondering, why would God create viruses???

Viruses are used by single-celled organisms to transmit DNA (genetic information) between individuals.

Bacteria, for example, reproduce by splitting themselves in half and growing to full cells. That means that the genetic information can only come from an ancestor. Whereas with humans, because we reproduce between two individuals, we can rapidly swap information and produce new combinations.

Let's say a bacteria gained the ability to digest plastic and use it for energy. It would have a certain segment in its DNA for how to make the protein needed to 'eat plastic'. If a virus gets into the bacteria, it can copy that segment and carry it to another bacteria and insert that ability into its DNA.

If it worked in humans, for example, you could have a virus get into the DNA of a brown-eyed person. They would then spread the virus to a person with blue eyes and they would get brown eyes. Their children would also have brown eyes. Most viruses, however, just transmit junk DNA (you have quite a few useless, sleeping retroviruses in your DNA right now) or force the cell to die by reproducing the virus so much it bursts the cell open and infects neighboring cells.

 

[SpiritualAntiseptic]

as for usefulness to humans, they already provide a wealth of knowledge to researchers who can play with genes by using them and learn what they do. In the future, it may be possible to design viruses that infect people to heal people with genetic abnormalities.

 

[Robinsegg]

I've always looked at this passage to understand unpleasantness in the world.

17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.

One other thing: I was unaware that angels (of any degree or type) were given the ability of creation? I thought they could only use the created for good or bad, but not create things?

Rachel

 

[peacechild4]

I thought this was good..

God created man in his own image and placed him in the Garden of Eden with free will. God set up the rules stating that they could eat of everything in the garden but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God stated that "surely in that day that you eat of it you will die". (Genesis chapters 1-2) Man used his free will to choose evil. Convinced by a serpent Eve chose to disobey God. Adam chose to follow his wife and eat the fruit as well. Much like we do today. Choose to disobey what God has clearly outlined in His Word. God cursed men, women and the earth. (Genesis chapter 3) That is the wages of sin. See Romans 3:26 For the wages of sin is death.

The book of Romans talks about the curse and the curse that sin brough on all mankind. It is just like if you break the law and the police come and arrest you. You broke the law knowing that there would be consequences to your breaking the law. Sometimes the consequences are as minor as a ticket but sometimes the consequences are as major as life in prison. He warned Adam and Eve in the beginning that they could eat from any fruit tree in the garden. They chose the one that God told them not to eat from.