|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions About Evil | |
| 1. | Why is there suffering in the world? |
| 2. | How could a perfect God create an imperfect world? |
| 3. | I’ve been sick most of my life, why? |
| 4. | Why are loved ones taken from us before they have lived a full life with us? |
| 5. | Why did God make poison Oak? |
| 6. | Why are people allowed to do evil to others we love? |
| 7. | Is the world getting worse or is it just my perspective? |
|
II |
Questions About Evil. |
|
1. |
Why is there suffering in the world? |
| There are a couple of implied aspects to this question that are worth
noting. The question is really, “If God is really GOOD, and He is
really ALL-POWERFUL, as they say, why do BAD things happen to GOOD
people?” Most of us don’t really have a problem with bad things
happening to bad people. And we wouldn’t have a problem at all if the
Bible didn’t state emphatically that God is both good and
all-powerful. For a detailed answer, please order our 4-tape series entitled, If God is Good, and He is All-Powerful, Why do Bad Things happen to Good People.” This is such a significant question, it is impossible to provide a satisfactory answer in the space that we have but let me summarize the issue as follows. When we talk of God being Good, in actual application, most of us seem to define good as “conducive to my happiness.” God’s goodness, on the other hand, seeks what is best for His children not necessarily what is convenient or conducive to their happiness. And sometimes, what is best for us does not necessarily make us immediately happy. Sometimes, what is best doesn’t taste good, doesn’t feel good, or doesn’t sound good. And so it seems, in some situations at least, it’s possible to mistake God’s goodness for what we might call pain and suffering. When we talk of God being All-Powerful, we naturally assume that means He can do anything He wants to, but upon closer inspection we discover that this is simply not true. There are plenty of powerful men who can do nothing to stop their children from running away or turning to drugs or stop their wives from leaving them. In order to accomplish REAL things, one needs both power AND authority. The engines that power an FA-18 aircraft are extremely powerful but only a fool would use one in a pencil sharpener. A nuclear power plant is very powerful but it won’t power my digital watch. Even the most powerful things on Earth have limitations by the very nature of what they are. Capability is a function of power, authority & internal design. God’s desire for a love relationship with His children demanded that we be given the right to choose. To choose to love God and act in a way that honors Him or to choose to follow our own desires and act otherwise. And in order for those choices to be truly free, the natural consequences of our choices had to follow: good, bad, or indifferent. When a man chooses to point a gun at his fellow man and pull the trigger, the laws of physics, set up by God to make life and interrelationships in the universe possible, simply take over and the results are often disagreeable. But those results are the consequences of human choice concerning the gun and Divine choice to desire a relationship of love with humanity. When a man or a woman acts out a selfish or malicious desire, innocent people pay the price and God is constrained to stand by and watch in grief and sadness just like the rest of us. Again, that is the Reader’s Digest version of the answer. For the complete answer, please get the tape series. The apparent contradiction is exaggerated however when we perceive that some people who do not appear to deserve it are forced to endure so much pain, hurt & relentless suffering on the path God takes them through while others, who in our opinion perhaps deserve it more so, seem to coast through unaffected? After all, the Bible tells us that ALL are sinners. Why the apparent discontinuity? We did another special service the Sunday following the day the Movie Theater we were meeting in, closed down without notice. You may order tape #T380, “Why Do We Struggle?”. Because sometimes things happen to us that have nothing to do with anything. Stuff happens. It’s not your fault, it’s not God’s fault. It’s not ANYBODY’S fault. It’s just stuff. We live in a universe in which REAL things happen. It’s unreasonable to expect that every event is going to be mutually convenient to every one of the 6 billion people who live here. We did another special service on the Sunday following the September 11 Tragedy. It’s tape #T413, “What in the World is Going on?” Because we also live in a universe that has gone bad. It is spoiled and sometimes, BAD things happen because BAD people live here. Those tapes may help you sort out the philosophical question. But, there is another aspect that needs to be addressed. GIVEN that bad things DO happen, how do we get through them? For that, there is another tape series, called “Strength for the Storms of Life”. There is no ONE answer to this question. The answer always involves individual people on 2 levels. There are the actual events in the physical universe but there is also God’s response to those events. For the Bible tells us, "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) God doesn’t make bad situations happen, but IN those situations, He is working for the best interests of those who love Him and are pursuing His purposes for their lives. |
|
| Return To Top | |
|
2. |
How could a perfect God create an imperfect world? |
| That’s a good question. The answer is, He didn’t. Speaking of God,
Moses says, "He is the Rock, HIS WORKS ARE PERFECT, and all His ways are just." — Deuteronomy 32:4 (NIV) God is perfect and everything He created, He created perfect-the material world as well as all life forms. God created His universe in perfect coordination and harmony with His Divine character. But God’s plan was to have a relationship with certain of His creatures, specifically but not necessarily limited to, angels and humanity, that was based on love and not compulsion. In order to do so, God was forced to give these creatures the power to choose freely to remain in harmony with God’s character or to dissent. A necessary outcome of that kind of freedom is the potential for one or more of His creatures to choose to break the harmony and bring discord into the universe. The imperfection that exists, exists because rational creatures exercised a God given freedom to live independently of God. The exercise of that freedom in that way is what the Bible calls sin, and the imperfection that is a result is called suffering, by someone. |
|
|
3. |
I’ve been sick most of my life, why? |
| I’m sure that all of us can relate to this question when asked
slightly differently. “I have had to deal with this handicap /
weakness / situation / difficulty / character flaw / or other life
issue that is really outside of my control, all my life, why? 70% of the world’s population is born into a level of poverty that is so debilitating it is virtually impossible to overcome it. Here in America, the land of opportunity, it is almost impossible for us to really grasp the import of that statement. It’s not so much that the per capita income of Sudan is only $184 a year. It’s that the Gross Domestic Product of the entire nation is less than the Gross Domestic Product of the city of Moorpark. That for a population of 20 million people. It’s not just that they lack the financial resources to live what we would consider a marginally acceptable lifestyle. It’s that they lack the potential of EVER achieving it regardless of their level of success. Some children are born into abject poverty. They didn’t choose to be born there, but they were. Some children are born with AIDS. They didn’t take drugs. They didn’t have unprotected sex, but they still have AIDS. Some people have physical handicaps. Others aren’t as smart as they’d like to be. Others, have chronic illnesses and immune deficiencies. All things outside of their control. Why? The disciples asked Jesus that very question in John 9. "As he went along, He saw a man blind from birth. {2}His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, WHO SINNED, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” — John 9:1-2 (NIV) In other words, why is this man in this situation that is clearly outside of his control? And Jesus said, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but THIS HAPPENED SO THAT THE WORK OF GOD MIGHT BE DISPLAYED IN HIS LIFE." — John 9:3 (NIV) The reason that we have such a hard time with these issues is that we view the universe upside down. Although we would never state our theology is precisely these terms, practically, we believe that God exists for us, when in reality, we exist for God. Check it out in your own life. Are your prayers about telling God what He can do for you or asking God what you can do for Him? The Apostle Paul himself wrestled with these issues. We don’t know exactly what his issue was but he says, "There was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. {8}Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. {9}But he said to me, “MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” — 2 Corinthians 12:7-9 (NIV) Why are you sick? Why are you not as smart as you’d like to be? Why do you struggle with something? The answer is, that the power of God might be revealed in you. If people could look at you and say, “No wonder, look how wonderful she is!” God would not be revealed to them. But when God uses ordinary people like you and I to do extraordinary things, then the power and the grace of God is revealed. There is no comfort in that, I know. Here is the comfort. For now, in this life, Jesus says, “My grace is sufficient for you.” That grace that will one day lead you to a place where there are no tears, no pain, no disease and no poverty. Where everything is perfect, even as God originally created it and you will dwell in the enviable position of co-reigning with the Son of God. Until then, "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. {2}Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. {3}Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." — Hebrews 12:1-3 |
|
|
4. |
Why are loved ones taken from us before they have lived a full life with us? |
| I understand the pain behind this question. It doesn’t seem fair. It
doesn’t seem right. Yet I know that God is Good. So it must be my
perception that is wrong. Here’s the error. We see death as the end of life. God sees death as the doorway to Heaven. I know this sounds strange but from God’s perspective, death is the BEST thing that ever happens to us. We need a paradigm shift. REAL LIFE HASN’T BEGUN YET! What we do on Earth matters, but not the way we think it does. We think that the clothes we wear and the things we say and the people we meet are the most important things about life but they are the least. The most important thing about life is that we are preparing our hearts for eternity. THAT’S what matters. Why are loved ones taken before they have lived a full life? Because EVERYONE is taken before they have lived a full life. Everyone is taken before they START to live a full life. I know it hurts us when they are taken and so we assume it likewise hurts them but we are mistaken. Real life hasn’t begun yet. This life is about making the choice as to whether that life will be full or not. If we choose Jesus Christ in this life, then we are guaranteed a life whose fullness is beyond our comprehension. If we reject Christ in this life, all that is left for us is nothing. |
|
|
5. |
Why did God make poison Oak? |
| I’m certain that everyone who has ever hiked in California has asked
this question. And it is a good example of the basic question, “Since
God is good, why is there anything unfavorable on the Earth like
mosquitoes and tornadoes and Poison Oak and sharp objects?” Let us
consider the question of Poison Oak and perhaps the answer to some of
the other hazards on Earth may become evident. The Bible makes a statement in Revelation 22:2, that lays a foundation for us. “And the LEAVES OF THE TREE ARE FOR THE HEALING of the nations.” — Revelations 22:2 (NIV) In this particular case, the reference is to a very specific tree but I think it gives us insight into God’s mind on this matter nonetheless. The bottom line is that I believe that God has placed within the ecosystem of Earth everything that we need for survival and comfort. Now, It is quite unlikely to suppose that a particular chemical that serves well in one function will serve equally well in all functions. Gasoline makes our cars run really well but if you are thirsty, don’t drink it! Poison Oak, Ivy and Sumac contain an oleoresin called Urushiol, which causes an exaggerated dermatitis when it reacts with some people’s immune system. God created Urushiol as a vital chemical that serves a variety of industries and probably many more that we are not currently aware of. God designed our immune system to ward off certain poisons and pathogens. Because Urushiol is what it is and our immune system is what it is, both for our own good and well being, and because we live in a real, not a fantasy, universe where real cause and effect relationships take place, the interaction between those two entities is unfavorable. To ask it to be otherwise would diminish the good of each of them. I am sure of this based on what I know to be true about God. It is better all around for us to have the chemical and the immune system than to have one or the other and no rash. Because this is a real universe with real limits and real cause and effect relationships, every arrangement of atoms in the universe can not be equally to everyone’s liking. God chooses the best fit down through the center which means that sometimes the arrangement of atoms will be beneficial to me and other times not. The only alternative is make-believe. |
|
|
6. |
Why are people allowed to do evil to others we love? |
| See question #1 first. But let me say this. Part of the question is
the same as “Why is there Poison Oak?” We live in a real universe and our lives were designed by God to matter. That means our choices matter. When I make an evil choice, that choice matters too. There are real consequences to real choices in a real universe. Jesus was asked about divorce and He answered, “Jesus replied, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was NOT THIS WAY FROM THE BEGINNING.” — Matthew 19:8 (NIV) That bad things happen to people we care about is not the way God designed it to be. But He permits the free exercise of human choice. When human choice is not in alignment with God’s design, that choice will end in pain for someone. Sometimes a little pain, sometimes a lot. It’s easy to think that God could just mitigate the consequences of the evil choices and still allow His children to choose but it doesn’t work that way. If ever, time an evil person pointed a gun at an innocent person and pulled the trigger, lead transmutated into feathers, the evil person would just choose some other means to carry out his designs. If God mitigated every option available to him, God will have removed his freedom to choose. We can’t have it both ways. In a universe where our choices matter, God must permit the natural consequences of those choices, else we are just robots. I know WE would like to choose whose choices get to matter and who gets to be a robot. But I think, if we let everyone choose their top 5 candidates for robots, ultimately everyone on the planet would be discounted. It’s either all or nothing. |
|
|
7. |
Is the world getting worse or is it just my perspective? |
| The question is basically this: Is the moral fiber of our world
deteriorating or is that perception just one of the results of getting
old? Our parents said it when we were growing up and now we are saying
it. Is it a reflection on our culture or is it a reflection on us? In Matthew 24, Jesus’ disciples asked Him what would be
the signs that would indicate that the end of the world was at hand.
The answer Jesus gave is quite long but, in verse 12, Jesus makes this
statement, “Because of the INCREASE OF WICKEDNESS, the LOVE OF MOST WILL GROW COLD, {13} but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” — Matthew 24:12-13 (NIV) Indirectly, Jesus has answered our question. The closer we get to the time of His return for His Church, the closer we get to the final curtain of human history, the more wickedness will increase and the more the love of most will grow cold. That is a sad testimony but the good news for you and I is that if we stand firm in our relationship with Jesus Christ, we will overcome. No, it’s not because you are getting older. It is because the world is getting older and wickedness is increasing. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Psalm 10:7 His mouth is full of curses and lies and threats;trouble and evil are under his tongue.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 Life Spring Community Church - 5384-B Kazuko Ct - Moorpark - CA - 93021  Copyright © 2009 Life Spring Community Church |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Evil