We have asked the question, \u201cIf God\u2019s so good, why does evil exist?\u201d<\/p>\n
We acknowledge that these three Statements Appear Contradictory:
A. God is all good.
B. God is all powerful.
C. Evil exists.<\/p>\n
In our last two devotional thoughts, we answered, \u201cIs God all good?\u201d with a resounding YES!
And, we answered the question, \u201cIs God all powerful?\u201d with an emphatic YES!<\/p>\n
Of course, answering \u201cYES\u201d to both of those questions leaves us in a bit of a bind. If God is all-good, it seems logical to believe that He would want to destroy evil.<\/p>\n
If God is all-powerful, it seems logical to believe that He would be able to destroy all evil.<\/p>\n
So, why hasn\u2019t God destroyed all evil?<\/p>\n
We must understand\u2026<\/p>\n
C. Why does Evil exist?<\/p>\n
Let me give some statements to help us understand a little more how a good, loving all-powerful God could allow evil to exist:<\/p>\n
1. God did not create evil, but He created the potential for evil.<\/p>\n
God created us with the ability to choose. We often call this free will. It means that we have the capability to make decisions in everyday life, and we have the capability to decide whether we will love and honor God or if we will reject Him. When we reject Him, evil becomes a reality.<\/p>\n
Now, God could have made us without the ability to choose. But, without the ability to choose, we would end up being His puppets. He wanted us to be able to freely choose to love Him and express that love to Him. He didn\u2019t want to force us to love Him, because any love that is forced is not genuine. It needs to be offered willingly.<\/p>\n
Of course, along with the ability to choose to love God comes the ability to choose not to love Him.
And when we reject Him and reject Biblical morals and values, we\u2019re left with what we call evil.<\/p>\n
Listen to what Peter Kreeft, a philosopher at Boston College had to say about this\u2026
\u201c\u2026it is not logically possible to have free will and have no possibility of moral evil. In other words, once God chose to create human beings with free will, it was up to them, rather than God, as to whether there was sin or not. That\u2019s what free will means. Built into the situation of God deciding to create human beings is the chance of evil, and, consequently, the suffering that results.\u201d
~ Peter Kreeft<\/p>\n
2. Evil is a corruption of what is good.<\/p>\n
Think about rust. Rust isn\u2019t something that a metal piece was built with, and it\u2019s not a feature that was added later on. It\u2019s simply something that is developing on the metal that is already there. It does not exits on its own. It\u2019s part of the metal it contaminates. And, now that it\u2019s appearing it\u2019s spreading to parts that previously showed no sign of rusting. That\u2019s what evil is like.<\/p>\n
God created us with the ability to choose. But, when the choices we make lead us away from God, that\u2019s when evil comes into the picture. Free will is a good thing that God created us with, but evil is a corruption of that free will. You can trace it all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
God gave them the will to freely choose from a variety of fruit in the garden. But, to be a truly free will person, there must be the ability to choose between obedience and disobedience. When Eve and then Adam first chose to disobey God, evil entered into our world. And, like rust it spread through every generation and even into nature.<\/p>\n
In fact, in Genesis 3, we learn that thorns and thistles appeared in the ground for the first time as a consequence of Adam and Eve disobeying God.<\/p>\n
Genesis 3:17\u201318 (ESV)
17 And to Adam [God] said, \u201c…cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.<\/p>\n
This helps us understand why natural evil exists\u2026 things like earthquakes and floods and volcanoes and famines.<\/p>\n
3. God could eliminate some evil, but the problem would still remain.<\/p>\n
Could God have stopped the terrorists of 9-11? Yes. Could He track down Osama and take care of him in advance? Yes. Could he have kept the Chinese Leaders from inflicting the world with Coronavirus? Yes.<\/p>\n
Could God eliminate all the really evil people? Yes.<\/p>\n
God could take care of all of the biggies, but if there are still people who suffer from illnesses and diseases, if there are still people who are the victims of fraud or robberies, if there are still people who suffer the loss of a friend or loved one, then evil still exists and the question remains: Why does a good God allow evil to exist?<\/p>\n
But, this way of thinking is based upon our individual definitions of evil. What we fail to realize is that in God\u2019s eyes all of us are evil. The only solution then would be for God to destroy all the evil, not just some of it.<\/p>\n
The problem is, that would mean He would have to destroy you and me. Tomorrow, we will look at this thought more thoroughly.<\/p>\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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