An Overflow of Suffering

Last week we looked at the question, "Does God hate Haiti?". Of course the answer is no. Yet, it seems that every time we turn around there is an overflow of suffering and evil in the world. The problem of evil is one of the toughest questions for the Christian to answer. It's a tough question for any worldview to answer. But make no mistake, I believe the are good answers and that the Christian worldview is the only worldview capable of giving a satisfactory answer. I really can't do justice to this topic in one blog post, but let's quickly examine the problem of evil together. I think you'll begin to see that many arguments that use the problem of evil as proof against the existence of God ultimately fail.

There are two general arguments involving the problem of evil that people often use to show the Christian God does not exist. The first goes something like this:
1) God created everything
2) Evil is a thing
3) Therefore, God created evil
The logic of this argument is strong, and this is a valid argument. However, premise number 2 is flawed. Evil is not a thing that was created by God or anyone else. Evil is a privation of good. In other words, evil is to good what rust is to a car or rot to a tree. Evil is the lack of good. It's similar to cold or darkness. Cold is not actually a thing, it is the lack of heat. Darkness is not a thing, it is the absence of light. Hence, while we could say God is responsible for the possibility of evil because He created creatures with free will to choose good or evil, ultimately it is not God's fault. God's creation was good, indeed it was VERY good. Yet it was man's choice that resulted in the evil we experience every day. Romans 8:20-22 says, "For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now."

The second argument says:
1) If God is all-loving He would stop evil
2) If God is all-powerful He could stop evil
3) God has not stopped evil
4) Therefore, God must not be all-loving, or all-powerful, or both
Again, this is a valid argument, but it has a flawed premise. Can you guess which one? That's right, premise 3 is missing a very simple, but very important, little word. Premise 3 is missing the word "yet". God has not stopped evil YET, but He will! You see, the greatest purpose of life is to glorify God and make Him known. It's entirely possible, even likely, that God has a very good reason for allowing evil to continue for a time. The great author and apologist C.S. Lewis once wrote, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." If God were to stop all the evil, He would have to remove the sources of that evil. We've all been the source of evil of some sort at some point in our lives. So where would that leave you and me? God promises to stop evil, but not quite yet. Second Peter 3:8-9 says, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

There are many unanswered questions regarding evil and suffering that we may never have answered this side of heaven. But we have good reason to trust that God has a purpose and that He can redeem the evil and suffering we experience just as He did for Joseph in the Old Testament. But ultimately, we know that the greatest act of evil also brought about the greatest good, salvation through Jesus Christ. Pastor John Stott said, “I could never myself believe in God, if it were not for the cross…In the real world of pain, how could one worship a God who was immune to it? He entered our world of flesh and blood, tears and death. He suffered for us. Our sufferings become more manageable in light of His. There is still a question mark against human suffering, but over it we boldly stamp another mark, the cross which symbolizes divine suffering. ‘The cross of Christ…is God’s only self-justification in such a world’ as ours.”

So when the day comes that God eradicates evil once and for all, will you be counted righteous because you're covered with the righteous blood of Jesus, or will be counted with the devil and his angels? I pray you have the stamp of the cross on your life!

For His glory,
Adam Tucker