The Cross and the Chaos (Ebenezer) Part 1 (Full Bulleted Script)

Introduction:

Have you ever had a problem that was hard to solve?

I remember pre-calculus.

The crazy thing about pre-calc is that, in order to get an answer right, you have to do A BUNCH of math, and if even ONE PART of it is wrong, you get the entire question wrong

Because of this, I was doing great in my pre-calculus class… until the first exam

And you know; you usually want there to be a bunch of questions with math, because the more questions that there are, the less weight that getting a wrong answer has, right?

Well, to my horror, this exam has 7 questions… I got five of them right.

It brought my grade in the class down from an A to a C. All because of tiny little mistakes to some very difficult problems!

There’s a question even harder to wrap our brains around than the hardest math questions, and that’s the problem of evil

Body:

But what even is the Problem of Evil to begin with?

Here is one of the most common ways that the issue is explained:

The Problem of Evil (POE): “If God exists and He is good, why is there so much bad stuff in the world?”

Ask: What sorts of “bad stuff” is there in the world?

One of the main things we think about is the amount of evil that we see in our world today

When we think about national tragedies like 9/11, or we think about people that commit horrible crimes like murder and the like, it feels easy to question how a good God could allow stuff like this to happen.

Another thing that we tend to think about are national disasters, such as hurricanes

I was a kid when hurricane Katrina happened, and I remember thinking, “How could God allow something like this to happen?”

We can differentiate between these two things as “moral evils” and “natural evils,” but when we are talking about the POE, we are ultimately always talking about both.

How can we reconcile the fact that God is completely good and all of the bad things that we see happen in the world?

This is an important question. And it is more important now than ever

Look at this graph from a study that Barna did in 2018:

What this graph shows us is that the biggest thing that keeps Gen Z from being Christians is the problem of evil.

The other barriers recorded are the following:

I had a bad experience at church/with a Christian

I used to go to church, but its just not important to me anymore.

There are too many injustices in the history of Christianity.

I don’t believe in fairy tales.

I believe science refutes too much of the Bible

Christians are Hypocrites

But, for Gen Z, the Problem of Evil is a bigger problem than all of these.

Here is a direct quote from Barna regarding their conclusion to their findings:

“It appears that today’s youth, like so many throughout history, struggle to find a compelling argument for the existence of both evil and a good and loving God.” -Barna

So, this conversation is more important today than it has ever been!

How can we find a compelling argument for the existence of both evil and a good and loving God?

And I think it is especially important to talk about this at Easter time, because so many of us skip past the fact that, at Easter, we celebrate the ultimate solutions to the problem of evil: The crucifixion and Resurrection

It may seem like these things are “apples and oranges,” but they really do go together

But before we get to the ULTIMATE solution to all of this, let’s take a look and see some other examples of people dealing with the problem of evil in Scripture

By doing this, we hope to obtain a foundation of how to think Biblically about the nature of evil and suffering in the world.

You see, the POE is not a new concept; people have been dealing with it since the very beginning

So how do we see that in the Bible?

Let’s look at some examples.

Example #1: Joseph

Somebody give me a brief recap of the suffering that Joseph had to deal with.

First, his jealous brothers sell him into slavery.

They throw him into a pit and give him away.

Joseph didn’t deserve this; it was something evil that was done to Him.

Second, while serving a man named Potipher, Potipher’s wife tried to convince Joseph to sleep with her, but after he refused, she tried to convince people that HE was the one who tried to sleep with HER

And guess what? She succeeded, and Joseph went into prison.

You know that Joseph had to have big questions as he went through both of these things.

“God, why are you allowing me to go through something like this?”

But he kept the faith. And eventually, Pharoah took him out of prison and made him second in command.

He ends up helping people get food during a famine, and guess who shows up? His brothers.

After Joseph reveals who he is, they are terrified at what Joseph might to do them

But look at how Joseph responds to them

I really can’t emphasize enough how important what Joseph says is

This is a MAJOR theme throughout the entire Bible and helps shape and formats the way that Christians are supposed to understand the nature of evil and suffering in the world.

Genesis 50:20 (ESV)

20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Principle: God takes what is evil and uses it for good.

“What you meant for evil, God meant for good.”

THAT’S huge.

And you see that throughout the entire Bible.

We will return to this concept throughout the entire series, as it is going to help us navigate this conversation.

So jot this down and remember it! This is central.

Example #2: Job

Ask: What evil/suffering did Job have to deal with?

He lost all of His property, and his children were killed in a natural disaster (7 sons, 3 daughters)

Obviously, this is a very difficult thing for Job to go through

And it takes him to some pretty dark places

Check out what he says here:

Job 3:20–22 (ESV)

20 “Why is light given to him who is in misery,

and life to the bitter in soul,

21 who long for death, but it comes not,

and dig for it more than for hidden treasures,

22 who rejoice exceedingly

and are glad when they find the grave?

Ask: What is Job essentially saying here?

Job is essentially asking, “Why does God allow people to be born at all if they are going to have to go through so many hard things?”

This is a form of the problem of evil, and Job is dealing with it.

But how does all of this end up for Job?

Well, the interesting thing about this story is that God never reveals to Job the reason that He allowed His suffering to take place.

In fact, when God FINALLY responds to Job at the end of the book, here is what he says:

Job 38:1–7 ESV

1 Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: 2 “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? 3 Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me. 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? 6 On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, 7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

So God answers Job’s questions with… more questions

84 of them, to be exact!

This is just a small taste of this whole section; God goes on for awhile here

And guess what? Job just responds by saying, “God, you’re right! Who am I to question the founder of the universe?”

God never gives Job the exact reasons that he allowed everything to happen to him

Principle: We will never have all of the answers on this side of Heaven.

When we get to Heaven, it will all make sense! But for now, we have to trust that God knows best.

That’s what Job does, and guess what? The book ends with God restoring to Job twice as much as he ever had.

But God doesn’t promise to ALWAYS do this for people; it is just something that happened in this specific instance.

So it is still something that we have to work through

Principle: God is in control.

But we do see another principle come forth: God is in control, and His ways are beyond ours

Example #3: Paul

In the New Testament, Paul also had a ton of suffering that he had to deal with

One of the most famous examples of this is what he discusses in 2 Corinthians 12.

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 ESV

7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Ask: What suffering is Paul dealing with right here?

This was actually a trick question: nobody knows exactly what the “THORN” he was referring to is.

But it must have been pretty bad for him to call it a “messenger of Satan!”

Notice that Paul asks God to take the suffering away (three times, to be exact).

Certainly, Paul has his own questions that he’s struggling with, here.

But guess what? God doesn’t take the thorn away.

Does this cause Paul to stop believing in God? Does it cause him to doubt Him? Nope!

In fact, he goes as far as to say that he will BOAST in his weakness

Why? Because it makes Him strong in Christ.

It causes Him to rely on Jesus and find His satisfaction in Him.

Principle: We can be content in the midst of evil and suffering.

We don’t have to have all of the answers in order to trust God

Jesus is after your contentment. Will you give it to Him?

So, do we get a clear answer to the problem of evil here? Not exactly.

But we do get some things that help us as we navigate this topic.

And the ULTIMATE example in the Bible of someone who dealt firsthand with the POE was JESUS Himself, but we will talk more about that next week.

But now, what are some of the other ways that Christians have historically answered the problem of evil over the years?

That’s what we are going to take some time to talk about now.

Essentially, there are two main answers that Christians have given for this problem throughout the years:

Christian Answers to the Problem of Evil:

Free will

This is something that I am sure many of us in the room have heard before

Ask: What is free will?

Dictionary.com: “Made or done freely or of one's own accord; voluntary.”

Essentially, free will is the ability that humans have to make choices in life.

But here’s the idea: free will is a good thing, and you can’t allow free will without allowing evil.

Ask: Why do we think that free will is a good thing?

The thought is that, you can’t really have love without free will.

For example, imagine having a boyfriend or a girlfriend that was forced to love you

They don’t love you because they choose to, they love you because you had to

Well, that would kind of take some of what makes it special out of it, right?

If when I met Samie in Guatemala, she had no choice but to love me, that would make the feeling of her loving me a lot less special.

If someone loved you and didn’t even have the choice to not love you, it might not feel the best.

What makes love awesome is that its a choice.

So, from this perspective, you can’t truly have love without having free will

And this argument is certainly useful and helpful

But I don’t think its perfect, either

One of the biggest problems with this was pointed out in an article from the Gospel Coalition that I read:

“If free will of this sort is so valuable then why doesn’t God have it, and why won’t we have it in heaven?”

Because, it is outside of God’s nature to NOT love, right? So where does free will enter the picture for Him exactly?

Also, the Bible makes it clear that there won’t be sin or any sort of suffering in Heaven. So there’s no free will in Heaven? Does that mean there’s no love?

See; its helpful, but its not perfect.

So what is the other main way that Christians have looked at this over the years?

Christian Answers to the Problem of Evil:

Free will

Greater goods

These are sometimes called a “grater good theodicy,” but you don’t have to remember that last word.

But here is how these sorts of arguments are described by the Gospel Coalition:

“A “greater good theodicy” (GGT) argues that the pain and suffering in God’s world play a necessary role in bringing about greater goods that could not be brought about otherwise.”

These types of arguments are sound; all three of the Scriptural examples we looked at involved some form of greater good

In the cause of Job, the “greater good,” is the vindication of God’s character

For Joseph, the greater good is saving the broader Mediterranean world from a famine

For Paul, the greater good is being able to truly find his strength in Christ.

And next week, we will see that the ULTIMATE greater good is found through the suffering of Christ.

Throughout the rest of the series, this is the form of the argument that we will be using to talk about the Easter narrative.

With that in mind, before we go to small groups, I would like to briefly outline what the rest of this series is going to look like.

The Problem of Evil and Easter

Just like we talked about earlier, these are two things that you would normally not put together.

But the truth is that, the true answer to the problem of evil has been under our noses the entire time

And we celebrate it every April (and sometimes March)

It is through the death and resurrection of Jesus that we ultimately see the point of pain and suffering in the world.

Does this mean that we don’t ever have questions anymore? Of course not, but it truly helps more than you might think

Next week, we will talk about the crucifixion, and the following lesson, we will finish up the series by looking at the Resurrection

Here is what we see with Christ’s death

Week #2: With the crucifixion of Jesus, God took the worst thing that ever happened and turned it into the best thing that ever happened.

This is what we will be looking at next week, and we will get there by studying Mark 15:33-39.

You DO NOT want to miss this!

And here is what week #3 will look like:

Week #3: Because of the resurrection of Jesus, the subject of our question has already been defeated.

With His resurrection, Jesus defeated sin, death, and evil.

So when we talk about the problem of evil, we have to realize that we are ultimately talking about something that has already been defeated.

Does evil still exist right now? Yes. But the Resurrection has taken its power, and it will be pushed out completely when we enter into Heaven.

That’s good! And that’s something for us to look forward to.

We will tackle this on the last week by seeing what Romans 6:8-10 has to say about the resurrection.

Conclusion:

We are about to split up into small groups, but before we do that, let’s talk about where we want to land application wise for tonight.

What does the problem of evil look like for you?

In other words, how have you wrestled with this in the past?

What things have you experienced in your life that have made you question the goodness of God?

How is the problem of evil real in your own life?

I challenge you throughout this series to wrestle with that.

Am I saying that, after this series, you will never have questions like this again? No, but I do truly believe that what we are going to cover will be fruitful for your walk with the Lord

So as we enter into small groups, be honest! Have a conversation about the questions you have struggled with in the past, and then let’s return next week to focus in on the resurrection.

PRAY

Small Group Questions:

What is an example of an evil in the world that has caused you to question God’s goodness in the past?

What has helped you keep your faith in God in the midst of these questions?

What can we learn from the examples of Joseph, Job, and Paul regarding the nature of evil and suffering in the world?

What are your thoughts on the free will argument as an answer to the Problem of Evil? What about the greater goods argument?

What aspects about Christ’s death and resurrection are you excited about diving into throughout the rest of the series?