Why, God: The Problem of Evil
Monday, November 12th, 2007This is the title of a sermon that I delivered at my home church on October 28. The main texts that I used were Luke 13:1-5 and Romans 8:18-25. I really enjoyed doing the studying for this sermon. This actually grew out of an earlier post that I had called The Problem of Evil.
I replicated my outline here in my blog. The audio of the sermon and the notes can be found here. The audio files are at the bottom of the page.
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“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.” -C.S. Lewis
If God is all powerful (sovereign) and all loving, then why is there evil in the world?
Types of Evil
- Moral evil (sin)
- Murder, rape, child abuse, terrorism…
- Moral evil results from the sinful choices of humans.
- Natural evil
- “Accidents”
- Wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, flooding…
- Death, diseases, deformities, disabilities…
- Natural evil is a product of the curse caused by moral evil.
God is Sovereign
- If God is not sovereign, then God is not God.
- Matthew 10:29; Mark 1:27; John 10:18; Proverbs 16:33; Proverbs 21:1; Isaiah 45:7; Lamentations 3:37; Amos 3:6; Isaiah 46:9-10; Matthew 8:27
- Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. (Acts 4:27-28, NIV)
- God is not the author of evil and sin, but He can still use them to accomplish His purposes.
God is Loving
- John 3:16; Romans 5:8
- Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13, NIV)
The Bible answers key questions about evil
- Where does evil come from?
- Genesis 3:1-6
- Where is evil going?
- Revelation 16
- Revelation 20:11-21:5
- What is the solution to evil?
- Jesus Christ!
- Genesis 3:15
- John 3:16; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
Why is evil still here?
- To show us the patience, mercy, and love of God
- Why has God not judged evil YET?
- 2 Peter 3:8-9
- Romans 2:4-5
- God’s “slowness” in ending evil is not because He lacks power or love; it is actually because of His great love that He holds off judgment another day or year.
- To wake us up to the reality of death
- Disasters and evil wake us up to the reality that death happens every second of every day.
- Hebrews 9:27
- To lead us to repentance
- Romans 8:18-25
- God Himself disordered the natural world.
- God did this to get our attention.
- We should ask - Why haven’t disasters come upon me?
- When we see evil, it should cause us to repent of our own personal sin before the day of salvation passes.
- God did this to show us the horrors of sin.
- God put the natural world under a curse so that the physical horrors that we see around us in diseases and calamities would become a vivid picture of how horrible sin (moral evil) is.
- Natural evil is a signpost pointing to the horrors of moral evil against God.
- This is true even when the most godly people bear those signs.
- God did this to get our attention.
God does not tell us why He does what He does, but He does show us who He is.
- When we experience evil, we do not need answers - we need theology.
- And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28, NIV)
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
(Habakkuk 3:17-18, NIV)
Our hope in the midst of this evil-filled world is in Jesus Christ and Him alone.
Further Study
Genesis 39-47; Job; Psalm 73; Isaiah 45; Jeremiah; Joel; Habakkuk
Will you continue to show contempt for God’s kindness, patience, and mercy?