The Problem of Evil
The problem of evil is something that typically comes up early in a conversation about God. This is especially true if you are speaking to a non-believer. What is the answer to this question? Is God in control? Are there things outside of God’s control? These are important questions. Theologians have grappled with this question for centuries. In no way do I completely have this question figured out. I think at some point, we just have to claim Deuteronomy 29:29 and say that the secret things belong to God.
I just finished Piper’s chapter on suffering in Desiring God and thought this would be an appropriate place for this post. Clearly, this one post will not fully resolve the question, but hopefully I can provide some insights.
First, I believe God is sovereign. He is in complete control of this universe, even evil. There is nothing outside of His control. I think there is no verse that demonstrates this more clearly than Acts 4:27,28. The greatest evil in all the world is the murder of an innocent person and especially if that innocent person is God. This passage in Acts clearly tells us that God was in control of even that event.
The problem of evil should not be a strike against God. It is actually one of the greatest signs pointing to God. We hold a book in our hands, the Bible, that explains the problem of evil to us clearly. In the 3rd chapter of the book (Genesis 3), God tells us where evil came from. Evil entered this world when Adam and Eve, using their free will, chose to sin. From that point forward, humans lost their free will and have been held captive to their sin nature.
The Bible ends in Revelation telling us what God plans to do with evil. It will be completely wiped out. There will be a new heavens and a new earth. God has a plan for evil. He is perfectly clear about that. The question is not, “Why has God not judged evil?” The question is, “Why has God not judged evil yet?”
The Bible answers this question as well. It is because of God’s great love and mercy that he has not rid the world of evil. It is not because He is weak or not in control. He is full of love and mercy. The Bible tells us between Genesis and Revelation the history of redemption and how God is fixing this messed up world. It all points to the cross where evil was defeated.
So, why are we still here? The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3 that God is patient. He is waiting until the full number of His children have come to faith in Him before He judges the world. Once again, it is His mercy. What if Christ would have returned 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, 100 years ago, 1000 years ago. How many of us would have been left out? How many of us would have died in our sins?
The problem of evil does not tell us there is no God, or that God is unloving, or that God is weak. Evil tells us just how merciful that our God is. He would have been perfectly just to have destroyed this world at the first sin. He would have been perfectly just to destroy you with your first sin.
The Bible tells us in Romans 8:18-25 that the Creation has been subjected to frustration waiting on redemption. God gets our attention through the evil in the world. No one gives a rip about God in the good times. The only way He can get us to stop, examine our lives, and see the ugliness of our sin is through evil and pain. Evil should be a sign that screams at us the ugliness of sin.
I like what C.S. Lewis says in The Problem of Pain. He says, “But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
When bad things happen, it should cause us to repent and run to God - not question His existence or character. This is exactly what Christ said in response to a calamity in the Bible found in Luke 13:1-5.
Praise God for His great mercy and patience!