Evil in a world ruled by an omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God brings about a serious philosophical question. How can a good God allow evil to exist.
First, God gives us free will. I know that answer sounds trite, but it is the foundational truth of evil in the world.
So long as God gives us free will there will be people who refuse the gospel and choose to live in rebellion to God.
Those folks will create wars, commit crimes, extend poverty and create heartache wherever they go. Sadly, some will do so in the name of God or the church. There will also, so long as we live in a fallen world, be some level of sickness, disease, famine a n d disaster affecting even the church.
While the main benefit of Christianity is the eternal relationship with the Almighty, the side benefits include less war, less crime, less poverty and less heartache.
It will be Christians, or those who at least understand Biblical principles, who will stand in the gap to alleviate such suffering.
Along with the reality of free will, we also need to understand that God is surprised by neither rebellion nor obedience.
God knew long before He said, “let there be light” that the humans He created and loved would break his heart.
He knew and planned that Jesus (God incarnate) would be born of a virgin, live a sinless life and become the vicarious sacrifice to bring justification and redemption to all mankind through his death on the cross.
He knew He would raise Jesus from the dead on the third day and that the risen Christ would sit at the right hand of the Almighty, always making intercession for the sins of the world.
He knew about the manger, the wise men, Herod, Judas and Pilate.
He knew about Peter – both his denial and his reformation.
He knew about Paul and the road to Damascus. Paul tells us that God planned all of that before time began and that He worked through history in order to bring the plan to fruition when the time was right.
We can therefore have confidence that our trust in God is not misplaced in spite of all that we may see or be forced to endure.
The plan in place, worked out through the gospel – the foundation of which the death, burial and resurrection of Christ – does not negate free will. Man is free to choose God or Satan, good or evil, salvation or sin. Perhaps that confuses us, but think of God as a parent. He, like a loving father, does not wish anything bad for his children, but also knows that they must make their own decisions, even when those decisions break his heart.
He will do almost everything to bring us – who are His creation and His children – into the right relationship that the first couple enjoyed.
The only thing He will not do is force us to do right. On the other hand, and thankfully, He will not force anyone to do wrong, either. He will simply work with our choices to bring about the salvation of all who desire it enough to lay hold of it.
Therein lies a rub. It is not enough to want to be in heaven. We need to want it bad enough to prepare ourselves for the destination.
It is said that heaven is a prepared place for a prepared people. That means that this life is the journey in which we prepare ourselves for the next.
We cannot work our way into heaven, nor can we, on the other hand, fumble our way in by accident.
God had prepared the place and done the work. It remains to us to accept his grace.