SERMON SERIES, ANSWERS: If God, why Evil? 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV), “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” • The command in 1 Peter 3:15 is to PREPARE and GIVE answers and reasons for Christian hope. • Argue with answers but not be argumentative. • Contend for Christ but not be contentious. • Defend the faith but not be defensive. • Rarely, these days, do we ever see a gentle and respectful dialogue, but that is the command when we defend our faith and speak for Christ. There are two kinds of evil which challenge the Christian faith. Moral Evil Caused by Human Activity School shootings Theft Lying Natural Evil Caused in Nature Floods Earthquakes Diseases (which don’t seem to have any human cause). This problem of evil, as it is called, is not just a problem for Christians to answer. • The atheist affirms there is evil, but denies God. • The pantheist affirms that everything is God, but denies evil. • The Christian affirms God and evil are real. In the Bible, Job experienced both kinds of evil, moral and natural, which led to his complaint with God. Job 21:4 (NLT), My complaint is with God, not with people, I have good reason to be impatient. 5 Look at me and be stunned. Put your hand over your mouth in shock… 21:7 “Why do the wicked prosper, growing old and powerful? 8 They live to see their children grow up and settle down, and they enjoy their grandchildren. 9 Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them.” • Job was a righteous man, but he lost his children, his wealth, and his health while evil people lost nothing and prospered. • Job complained, “Why doesn’t God do something about evil? If God, why evil? Evil does not disprove the existence of God. • It was St. Augustine who defined evil as a privation of good. • Evil is real blindness or lameness when a person should see and walk. • Evil can’t exist unless good exists. • And Good can’t exist unless God exists. • Frank Turek says, “Evil proves there is a devil, but it can’t disprove God.” • Evil is simply knowing that things are not the way they ought to be. • Such knowledge cries out for a moral law and that requires a moral lawgiver. • C. S. Lewis thought evil disproved God until he converted to Christ. He wrote, “[As an atheist] my argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?” • Complaints about evil boomerang and show that a good and moral God exists. Evil does not prove that God lacks goodness and power. The argument goes like this… • If God is all good, He would defeat evil. • If God is all powerful, He could defeat evil. • But Evil is not defeated. • Therefore, no such God exists. This argument doesn’t deny that God exists, it just denies that God is God! • With so much evil in the world, God must not omnibenevolent or omnipotent • God must be limited, weak, or a coward. God needs our help. He needs prayer. He needs our forgiveness. • These views exist, called Finite Godism and Panentheism. • But the Christian says God is God. God is all-Good. God is all-Powerful. • God WILL defeat evil! • In fact, God has already started defeating evil in us, and in His church. There is a very simple way to undo this argument! • JUST add a 3-letter word… YET! • But, Evil is not defeated, YET! But it will be! • Evil was officially defeated at Christ’s First Coming. He disarmed spiritual authorities on the cross. (Col. 2:14-15) • Evil will be actually defeated at Christ’s Second Coming (Rev. 19-22) • Evil will be substantially defeated when we recieve Christ as Lord and Savior and experience His power and transforming grace in our lives. 2 Peter 2:9 (NLT), “So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment.” Evil does not negate God’s good purpose and plans. • Evil stems from a good gift—free will. God created humans in His image. He gave them a risky gift called freedom. A world with real freedom means a world with real love and moral good. But, freedom also means the power to do otherwise – and do evil. Since Adam and Eve, most of the evil we see and experience in this world comes from people – sometimes people we know and love, and from ourselves. God created a good world, where evil was possible. People make evil actual. • God permits evil to overcome it for a higher purpose. Think of Joseph, who was sold by his brothers into slavery. Genesis 50, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.” I can think of no greater evil than the Son of God, Jesus, being flogged and crucified on a cross. But three days later, I can think of no greater good than the resurrection of Jesus and His triumph over sin and death. JR Tolken said all the great stories have catastrophe and eucatastrophe. Overwhelming evil and the triumph of good. • Evil and suffering contribute to our soul building. How do we learn courage without danger, or patience without tribulation? How do we build character without adversity? Is there any gain without pain or forgiveness without sin? Romans 8:17 says if we are to share in Christ’s glory we must also share in His suffering. If the goal of Christian living is to be like Christ, then suffering for Christ is to be expected. • Someone said, this is not the best world, but it is the best way to the best world – from Creation, to the Fall, then Redemption, and finally the Consummation in the new heaven and earth. Our finite minds cannot and will not know all the reasons why God allows evil and suffering in the world, we can know that God knows. God in His wisdom created the best possible world for the maximum good for the most people for His ultimate glory. Elizabeth Elliot said, “The greatest gifts of my life have also entailed the greatest suffering.” fter Job suffered and complained to God about his suffering, we read his final words to God in Job 42, “I had only heard about you before but now I have seen you with my own eyes? • Job saw God for the first time through his suffering. C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” CONCLUSION Evil does not disprove the existence of God. Evil does not prove that God lacks goodness and power. Evil does not negate God’s good purpose and plans. It only enhances it! When people are facing a tragic and painful situation, they are not looking for answers, they are looking for comfort. Weep with those who weep! The best answer is probably not to answer. • The best thing Job’s friends did when he was suffering was to go to him, weep with him, and say nothing for days. It was only when they opened their mouths and started talking – that everything went downhill and made matters worse. • Suffering friends need comfort first, and answers later.