Introduction:
First let us understand one simple fact; many people think that God is in control of everything. If God was in control of everything, He certainly has things in an awful mess! The Bible is clear; Man is in control of what happens in the earth for the present. God has, as it were, “leased the earth out to mankind”.
Genesis 1:26: Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
Genesis 1:28: God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Psalms 8:4: what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet:
Often when “bad and evil” things would happen to us we blame God, that is to say that God is a liar, he does not really love us, we accuse him of breaking his word and being unfaithful. Then if good things ever happened we often do not stop to consider that maybe it was God doing it. God is not evil as some think.
I discovered there are 2 spiritual forces at work in the Earth, one is “good and righteous and just” and the other is “evil and wicked”.
Originally Adam was the “lord” or “god” of the earth. “Free will man”. When he bowed the knee to Satan’s lie and partook of the tree of the Knowledge of good and evil, man’s nature was changed, now that man could be influenced by evil, essentially, Satan became the god of this world.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4: And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
This is why Jesus came as a man, to defeat Satan at his own game as a man and recover man back to God.
1 Corinthians 2:7-8: No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. 8 None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
Satan is an outlaw in the earth; Jesus came into the sheepfold of the earth legally and has given back to man authority over the devil. The devil can only have authority if man gives it to him. Ironically, God can only have authority if man gives it to Him. So I ask you, who is in “control” of your life? Wicked men give control to Satan and righteous men give control to God. Even though God is not in control over the earth at the present, He can be in control over the part that you have dominion over.
1. If God’s so good, why does evil exist?
Good question and a question that theologians, philosophers, and even sceptics have dealt with for centuries. Several possible answers have been proposed, but each one seems to spark more questions.
The problem that we face really boils down to three statements which at first glance seem to contradict each other. You could take any two of them and have no problem, but when you take all three together, that’s when you need to think a little harder.
Three Statements that Appear Contradictory:
A. God is all good.
B. God is all powerful.
C. Evil exists.
These three statements don’t seem to go together. If God is so good and evil exists, why doesn’t he do something about it? He must not be able to, in which case he is powerless. But if God is able to eradicate evil, why doesn’t He? He must not be so good after all. And that’s the dilemma.
A. Is God all good?
Men and women throughout history would answer this by saying yes, without a doubt. God is entirely good. He provides for our most basic needs, and some of our wants, too. He blesses us with life itself. He gives our lives meaning and purpose. He embraces us with His love and tender mercy. He gave us beautiful creation, gave us the ability to love and experience joy and happiness. Think right now of all the positive things of life.
Many people, including myself would say from personal experience that God is good. No question. He loves me and has never given me any reason to doubt that.
The Bible itself would say that God is good, without any hint of evil.
James 1:17-18 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.
1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.
Is God all good? YES
B. Is God all powerful?
Well, let’s see. Just by speaking, God created the world and everything in it. He created the stars and arranged them in galaxies throughout the universe. He gave life to every plant, every animal, every person. He set the moon in orbit around the earth, and organized all of creation at the sub-atomic level. He built Mount Everest, and wrote the blueprint for your DNA. From the vastness of space to the minute details of life itself, God is in control. Seems to me that the creator of the cosmos is pretty powerful.
Let’s see what the Bible has to say…
Isaiah 40:25-31 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Psalm 62:11 One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard: “Power belongs to you, God.
Matthew 19:26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Is God all powerful? YES
Of course, answering “YES” 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.
If God is all-powerful, it seems logical to believe that He would be able to destroy all evil.
C) So why does evil still exist?
Let me give you some statements to help you understand a little more how a good, loving all-powerful God could allow evil to exist:
1) God did not create evil, but He created the potential for evil.
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 honour God or if we will reject Him. When we reject him, evil becomes a reality.
Now, God could have made us without the ability to choose.
But without the ability to choose, we would end up being his puppets or just robots. He wanted us to be able to freely choose to love Him and express that love to Him. He didn’t want to force us to love Him, because any love that is forced is not genuine. It needs to be offered willingly.
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’re left with what we call evil.
There were Two trees in the garden for a reason.
“…it 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’s 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.”
2) Another way to look at it is that Evil is the absence of God
Love this story – not sure its true, but whether it is or not doesn’t take away from the truth of the principle:-
The professor of a university challenged his students with this question. “Did God create everything that exists?” A student answered bravely, “Yes, he did”.
The professor then asked, “If God created everything, then he created evil. Since evil exists (as noticed by our own actions), so God is evil. The student couldn’t respond to that statement causing the professor to conclude that he had “proved” that “belief in God” was a fairy tale, and therefore worthless.
Another student raised his hand and asked the professor, “May I pose a question? ” “Of course” answered the professor.
The young student stood up and asked : “Professor does Cold exists?”
The professor answered, “What kind of question is that? …Of course the cold exists… haven’t you ever been cold?”
The young student answered, “In fact sir, Cold does not exist. According to the laws of Physics, what we consider cold, in fact is the absence of heat. Anything is able to be studied as long as it transmits energy (heat). Absolute Zero is the total absence of heat, but cold does not exist. What we have done is create a term to describe how we feel if we don’t have body heat or we are not hot.”
“And, does Dark exist?”, he continued. The professor answered “Of course”. This time the student responded, “Again you’re wrong, Sir. Darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in fact simply the absence of light. Light can be studied, darkness can not. Darkness cannot be broken down. A simple ray of light tears the darkness and illuminates the surface where the light beam finishes. Dark is a term that we humans have created to describe what happens when there’s lack of light.”
Finally, the student asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?” The professor replied, “Of course it exists, as I mentioned at the beginning, we see violations, crimes and violence anywhere in the world, and those things are evil.”
The student responded, “Sir, Evil does not exist. Just as in the previous cases, Evil is a term which man has created to describe the result of the absence of God’s presence in the hearts of man.”
After this, the professor bowed down his head, and didn’t answer back.
3) Evil is a corruption of what is good.
God created us with the ability to choose. But when the choices we make lead us away from God, that’s 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. When Eve and then Adam first choose to disobey God, evil entered into our world. And spread through every generation and even into nature. 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. That helps us understand why natural evil exists… things like earthquakes and floods and volcanoes and famines.
Genesis 3:17-19 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
4) God could destroy all evil, but that would include you and me.
We may not all be murderers or rapists or international terrorists, but we are all experienced in evil in our thoughts, our actions, and our attitudes.
In Matthew 5 it goes beyond murder to tell us that if we’re even angry with someone and treat them with contempt or call them names, we are acting in an evil manner. It goes beyond adultery to say that if we even look at a person lustfully it is evil. It says if you’ve every sought to get even with someone for something they’ve done to you, it is evil.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
So instead of whining and complaining that God allows evil to exist, we should be thanking Him for not destroying us.
Because when it comes to sin and evil, it’s only a matter of degrees, and God can’t stand any of it. Analogy of piles of sin and 9 ft, 6 ft, 3 ft man being viewed from an Airplane
5) God has provided a future without evil for those who choose Him now.
This is the whole message of the Church: that God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to face the death sentence that we deserved for our own evil so that we could experience a full and abundant life with Him now and forever in heaven.
2 Timothy 4:18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
6) God has provided peace and hope in the face of evil.
Philippians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 15:54-55 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
Ps 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
1) It’s okay to question God.
It’s okay to ask God, “Why?” It’s okay to express your grief and your disappointment and your frustration and your pain. God understands all of that and welcomes your honest questions. He’s faced worse.
You may or may not be aware that David wrote many of the Psalms we find in our Bible. Psalm 13 is one of them. Listen to this:
Psalm 13: 1-4 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
David obviously had some serious issues. He had faced evil and actually felt abandoned by God. So he expressed that openly to God. And I don’t think God minded that at all. Because God cares deeply about what we’re going through. And He wants us to be honest with Him.
2) God is still trustworthy.
You may be able to identify with David in feeling like you’ve been abandoned. You may want to know what the deal is with God. You may not understand why He doesn’t fight against the evil on your behalf the way you want Him to.
But remember that God is still trustworthy even when your emotions may be trying to convince you otherwise.
We looked at the first four verses of Psalm 13. Let’s look at the rest:
Psalm 13:5-6 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.
3) God is working through the evil.
God doesn’t cause the evil, but He can use it for good.
Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.
Ps 23:6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
4) Do what you can to ease suffering.
Much suffering comes from peoples own sin or just life, illness, age, inexperience. Sometime to comes from Satan as in the case of Job, or from God as in the many cases of Israel’s sin or in the case of
John 9:2-7 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him. As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”After saying this, he spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes. “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing.
We help people who are suffering. We represent Jesus to them. That’s what it’s all about. Suffering can be the first step to people seeking and finding God. Humbling for many people. In that way suffering is not a bad thing but a good thing
5) Wait and Trust.
This is not always easy, but sometimes it’s all we have left. We’ve done everything we can do, and it’s now up to God to do the rest. And when you wait for Him and trust Him, he’ll always come through for you.
Psalm 34:6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.
Trust in God because He is trustworthy.
Conclusion: Footprints Poem
One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints, other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed that during the low periods of my life, when I was suffering from anguish, sorrow or defeat, I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord, You promised me Lord, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life there have only been one set of footprints in the sand. Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
The times when you have seen only one set of footprints, is when I carried you.”