Bible Question and Answers #5

Things happen to us against our will and well-being. Fires, accidents, disease, earthquakes, and all those things that cause suffering on this earth (non-discriminatory).

Moral Evil

Crime, violence, immorality, selfishness, etc.) The things that people do to themselves and others which are evil and cause suffering and death.

Problem, happens to the innocent and defenseless

"I'd like to believe in your God, but cannot because if He existed He would not let bad things happen to good people."

To Fully understand Evil

Where Does Evil Come from?

Started with Satan

2 Peter 2:4 ESV

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment;

Adam and Eve and their offspring

Romans 5:12 ESV

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

We see it expressed in both moral and natural evil and the consequences of each.

Moral Evil Causes Suffering

The violence, immorality, and hatred in the world is caused by man's unwillingness to love and obey God, and love his neighbor as himself.

Some people think that injustice and poverty are the source of evil, but this is not true. Sin is the source of evil, and is the chief cause of injustice and poverty.

If you could trace every crime, every broken home, every case of emotional and physical abuse to its root, you would find the sins of pride, lust, selfishness, and anger (just to name a few) as the true causes for man's suffering.

Romans 6:23 ESV

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Suffering is the result of man's disobedience.

Natural Evil

The results of the Flood

The Genesis Record by Henry Morris

What was the reason for the Flood?

Genesis 6:5 ESV

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Moral and natural evil can find their source in man's disobedience to God and His law.

Why Does God Permit Evil?

God permits evil to exist because it is the downside of free will,

and free will is necessary if man is to be truly made in the image of God.

Genesis 1:26 ESV

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God had willed that man have the ability to choose. He said "Let Us make man."

This action indicated that man's creation was a choice agreed upon by the Godhead. Man, in God's image, also has the ability to choose (free will).

This was made clear when God informed man that he had to exercise his free will in choosing to eat or not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16-17).

Why Did God Create Man at All?

Because He’s God

Psalm 145:17 ESV

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

What Does God Do About Evil?

1. God Limits Evil

Ever thought about that? There is terrible evil in the world and the rate of suffering is great, but from the very beginning God has used a variety of ways to limit the amount of evil and the scope of suffering. Here are a few ways that He has done this:

He Limits the Lifespan of Man

Before the flood, when the earth was still in relative harmony, man lived for centuries (Genesis 9:28-29). After the great flood, however, man's lifespan diminished to what it is today (Psalms 90:10). This average lifespan of 70-80 years was written about almost 4,000 years ago. This limits the time of evil men in their pursuit, as well as the time good men must suffer. In the context of eternity, 70-80 years is not all that much.

He Gives us the Power to do Good

God has created man in such a way that despite his sins and weaknesses, he is still capable of great good. This is another way that God deals with evil. Despite the evil in the world, there is still a possibility of joy that comes from family life, the appreciation of beauty in all of its forms, the delights of the creation around us, as well as our work and recreational activities. God could have completely cursed us and left us with no possibility of joy on this earth, but He did not. We can still find things to smile about despite our suffering and disappointments. All of these good things (blessings) come from God, not Satan.

He Gives us Knowledge

God has provided knowledge in order to solve the many problems we face here on earth. Scientific and engineering breakthroughs, discoveries of medicine, social and technological advances are all possible because the mercy of God enables and multiplies these to man's comfort and advancement.

All knowledge comes from God and the progress that man has made in understanding and exploiting the creation for his own good and for the relief of suffering is nothing more than what God has commanded in the garden when He said that man was to fill the earth and to subdue it (Genesis 1:28). Man has not improved his lot despite God; man has reduced suffering and eliminated much of the evil in the world through God's mercy and enlightenment.

2. God Uses Evil to Teach us Something

God does not remove evil because it is the direct result of man's choice. To remove evil is to remove choice, and to remove choice is to eliminate man as a free thinking, independent, and eternal being. You cannot be an eternal being if you do not possess free will. You need free will in order to be eternal. For this reason, then, God uses the evil in the world to teach mankind lessons about good, things man once knew but lost because of sin.

Throughout the Bible we have instances of this type of teaching. Job is a prime example of God's use of evil to teach and mature one of his sons. In this story, Job is the victim of both natural and moral evil. His children are killed by a storm that destroys their home and Job contracts a terrible skin disease. He suffers from both moral and natural evil because his servants and property are plundered by attacking hoards, and his body is stricken by disease. This good man could not understand why a righteous person like himself should suffer from the effects of evil, but he finally learns that he was unable to judge God and understand His creation based only on his human experience. Job's knowledge was valid but limited. In the end, his suffering taught him to trust God as the ruler of the universe even if there were things in that universe that caused him to suffer, because God was still capable of taking care of both the universe and Job as well.

This is what happens when we suffer, we begin to lose confidence that God can take care of us. We begin to think that maybe God has fumbled the ball in some cosmic way. We have difficulty understanding why this particular "evil" is happening to us.

The Bible is full of stories where through the experience of hardship God teaches men and women important lessons concerning hope, perseverance, mercy, forgiveness and victory through ongoing faith in Christ.

7Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! 8Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. - II Corinthians 12:7-10

In this passage, did God know that Paul was suffering? Yes. Had God lost control? No. Did God care? Yes. However, God's agenda with the suffering was different than Paul's agenda. Paul's plea was, "Stop the suffering now!" God's agenda said, "The suffering will stop when you learn the lesson that this evil is teaching."

Paul the Apostle served God faithfully. He succeeded in planting churches throughout the Roman Empire, he wrote a good portion of the New Testament and yet it was through suffering that God was able to teach him the priceless lessons of contentment, trust and submission.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. - James 1:2-4

James tells us that we should consider it all joy when we meet various trials. Why does he say this? He teaches this because through the evil and suffering present in this world God is able to teach us some of the most important lessons we need to learn about faith.

3. God Allows Evil to Exist but He Doesn't Allow it to Win

People who become discouraged on account of the evil in the world and refuse to believe in God because of it have a short view of history, as well as a limited view of God. Evil has damaged the earth and caused suffering but despite its worst attack, people still rejoice when goodness in any form appears.

We saw this phenomena take place following the 9/11 attack, when Islamic terrorists crashed two airliners into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City killing thousands and witnessed on television by people all over the world. As dramatic as this was, the lasting images that affected the people during that crisis were the ones showing first responders literally giving their lives (because many died in the wreckage or as a result of the poisonous fumes) to search out survivors in the dangerous rubble left behind. Images of ordinary people risking their safety to save others. Volunteers working to exhaustion in order to serve others. Folks lined up around the block to give blood or to give millions of dollars to help the fallen. Innumerable unseen acts of kindness that crossed every social, religious, cultural, and economic line where the only bond that linked people together was their common suffering. These were done in an effort to overwhelm the unspeakable evil visited upon the innocent on that day. The good did not erase the evil but it showed that good was immeasurably better and stronger than evil, no matter how egregious.

Of course, the ultimate response to evil is Jesus Christ. God has allowed evil to exist but He has answered the problem of evil once for all through His Son, Jesus. We've said that sin is the source of evil, and death is its inevitable end, but Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty due for every sin (and the evil it has caused) committed by every person that ever lived.

and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. - 1 Peter 2:24

In other words, the problem of evil, sin, was taken care of by the cross, and the problem of death was overcome by Jesus' resurrection. Evil exists now. Evil creates suffering now. Evil leads to death now. However, God has dealt with evil, suffering, and death by offering us forgiveness for the evil that we do and hope for a life with God where will be no evil or suffering.

Imagine if there was no possibility of forgiveness for the evil that we all commit? God has provided a measure of relief from the suffering we experience, as well as support and reassurance while we go through our various trials. He has given us His word. Has given us His Spirit. These are the things that sustain us in our suffering. He has also given us the promise of resurrection and eternal life after death, and these have been confirmed by the resurrection of Jesus and offered to everyone through the gospel.

Please know that even though God permits evil and suffering, He does offer solutions to these. Isn't it sad that people too often see the evil in the world but refuse to accept God's solution for it?

Jesus Christ reveals and proves the existence of God. (Romans 1:1-4)Jesus Christ removes the barriers of sin and condemnation, and makes peace between God and man. (Romans 5:1)Jesus Christ allows a person to be at peace with himself and have hope for the future. (Romans 8:1)Jesus Christ empowers all who believe in Him to live in harmony with God and with others in the world despite personal failings and suffering caused by evil. (Romans 12:1-2)

We are insignificant and it seems that we don't have much influence in stopping the evil in this world. However, the good news is that God has given each of us the power to stop the effects of evil in our own lives through Jesus Christ. We mitigate the evil in the world by first removing it from our own lives through Christ and then lessen its impact with every soul we bring to Him through the gospel.

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