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:
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A. God is all good.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0B. God is all powerful.
\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0C. Evil exists.<\/p>\n
In our first 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,\u00a0 it seems logical to believe that He would want to destroy evil. If God is all-powerful, it seems logical to believe that He would be able to destroy all evil.<\/p>\n
To understand why God doesn\u2019t destroyed all evil, we must understand\u2026<\/p>\n
C. Why does Evil exist?<\/p>\n
Last time, I offered three 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
2. Evil is a corruption of what is good.<\/p>\n
3. God could eliminate\u00a0SOME\u00a0evil, but the problem would still remain.<\/p>\n
One more statement is necessary:<\/p>\n
4. God could destroy\u00a0ALL\u00a0evil, but that would include you and me.<\/p>\n
We tend to put people into categories based on their sinfulness. On one side are the really \u201cbad\u201d people.\u00a0 People like abusive parents, thieves, murderers and international terrorists. The really \u201cbad\u201d are people like Hitler, Saddam Hussain, Osama Bin Laden.<\/p>\n
Then, on the other side are \u201cbad\u201d but \u201cnot so bad\u201d people.\u00a0 People who may lust a little, may have anger issues, may tell a little \u201cwhite\u201d lie every now and then. Even less worse than them may be people like my wife, Carol, who most who know her think she is just the sweetest thing out there.<\/p>\n
We might think that this second category of people are surely closer to God than the first.<\/p>\n
But, God doesn\u2019t see it like that. While some sins are certainly more hurtful and damaging than others, God sees all sin and all sinners in the same way.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because any sin, no matter how great or small places us outside of the forgiving grace of God unless it has been forgiven through the blood of Jesus.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve heard many a person say, \u201cone sin is the same as another.\u201d\u00a0 That statement can be very misleading.\u00a0 Certainly, the consequences are not the same.\u00a0 I\u2019d much rather you steal my pen than shoot me..<\/p>\n
We may not be thieves or murderers or international terrorists, but we are all experienced in evil in our thoughts, our actions, and our attitudes.
In Matthew 5, Jesus goes beyond murder to tell us that if we\u2019re even angry with our brother, we are acting in an evil manner.<\/p>\n
Matthew 5:21\u201322 (ESV) 21 \u201cYou have heard that it was said to those of old, \u2018You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.\u2019 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment;….\u201d<\/p>\n
Jesus goes beyond adultery to say that if we even look at a person lustfully it is evil.<\/p>\n
Matthew 5:27\u201328 (ESV)\u00a0 27 \u201cYou have heard that it was said, \u2018You shall not commit adultery.\u2019 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Romans 3:23 (ESV) says, \u201cfor all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isaiah 64:6 (ESV) \u201cWe have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like\u00a0a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.\u201d
i.e. taken us far from God,<\/p>\n
Do you see that if God destroyed all evil, it would include us as well?<\/p>\n
So, instead of whining and complaining that God allows evil to exist, thank Him for not destroying you.\u00a0Because when it comes to sin and evil, it\u2019s only a matter of degrees, and God can\u2019t stand any of it.<\/p>\n
Allow me to share an observation I\u2019ve made over the years: The person who screams the loudest that \u201cif God were a loving God, why does He allow all this evil to exist?\u201d is the same person who says, \u201cI\u2019m not going to live my life for Christ. I\u2019m going to live it for myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you see the false logic?\u00a0 We want \u201cbad\u201d people to not do evil toward us, but we want to choose the degree to which we live out our lives with other people.<\/p>\n
When we see ourselves against the backdrop of a Holy God, we will all cry out as Isaiah did\u2026<\/p>\n
Isaiah 6:5 (ESV)
5\u00a0And I said: \u201cWoe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have asked the question, \u201cIf God\u2019s so good, why does evil exist?\u201d We acknowledge that these three Statements Appear Contradictory:\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0A. God is all good.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0B. God is all powerful.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0C. Evil exists. In our first two devotional thoughts, we answered, \u201cIs God all good?\u201d with a resounding YES!And, we answered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false},"categories":[140],"tags":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3622"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3622"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3631,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3622\/revisions\/3631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/southsidealive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}