Sermon Tone Analysis

#We Never Know When Our World Is Going To Fall Out From Under Us

After the events of this past week with Virginia Tech,                                                                          I felt this might be a good time to re-ask the age old question                                                                that theologians, philosophers, and even skeptics have dealt with for centuries:

#*If God’s so good, why does evil exist?*

Good question, and a question that Several possible answers have been proposed,                   but each one seems to spark more questions.

And we’re not going to be able to exhaustively answer                                                                              that question here this morning in just 30 minutes.

\\ \\ What we will do is give you a bit of a framework to help us understand                                           how a good and loving God could allow evil and suffering                                                                             to be so prevalent in our world.

\\ \\ The problem that we face really boils down to three statements                                                        which at first glance seem to contradict each other.

You could take any two of them and have no problem,                                                                              but when you take all three together,                                                                                                                    that’s when you need to think a little harder.

\\ \\ *#*Three Statements that Appear Contradictory: \\             A.

God is all good.

\\             B.

God is all powerful.

\\             C.

Evil exists.

\\ \\ These three statements don’t seem to go together.

#Skeptics approach the problem something like this: \\ \\

            If God is so good and evil exists, why doesn’t he do something about it?

He must not be able to, in which case he is powerless.

But if God is able to eradicate evil, why doesn’t He?

He must not be so good after all.

And that’s the dilemma.. \\ #

            A.

A “good” God would destroy evil.

\\             B.

An “all-powerful” God could destroy evil.

\\             C.

Evil has not been destroyed.

\\             D.

Therefore, there cannot possibly be such a good and powerful God.

\\ \\ \\

The problem with such deductive reasoning,                                                                                        as is often the case with “God questions,”                                                                                                      is that we often start with our faulty and finite human reasoning.

Perhaps this would be a good time to remind all of us:

            Isaiah 55:9 \\                         / //“As the heavens are higher than the earth, /

/                        so are my ways higher than your ways /

/                        and my thoughts than your thoughts./

\\ \\

So let’s look at these statements again, one at a time.

We’ll go through the first two fairly quickly                                                                                                             and then spend a bit of time on the third.

\\ \\ *A.

Is God all good?* \\ \\ The Bible itself would say that God is good, without any hint of evil.

\\                                                                                                                                                                         Psalm 34:8 (NLT) \\             /Taste and see that the LORD is good.

Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!/ \\ \\             James 1:17

/             //Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the                  heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows./

\\ \\

            1 John 1:5 (NLT) \\             This is the message he has given us to announce to you:

            God is light and there is no darkness in him at all.

\\ \\ Is God all good?

God’s word says YES \\ \\

Men and women throughout history would answer this by saying yes, without a doubt.

God is entirely good.

He provides for our most basic needs, and chips in for a lot of our wants, too.

He blesses us with life itself.

He gives our lives meaning and purpose.

He embraces us with His love and tender mercy.

\\ \\             And many people, including me, would say from personal experience that God is good.

No question.

He loves me and has never given me any reason to doubt that.

\\ \\ *B.

Is God all powerful?*

\\ \\ Let’s see what the Bible has to say… \\             Isaiah 40:25-31 (NLT) \\             "To whom will you compare me?

Who is my equal?" asks the Holy One.

\\             Look up into the heavens.

*Who created all the stars?*

He brings them out one after       another, calling each by its name.

And he counts them to see that none are lost or have   strayed away.

O Israel, how can you say the LORD does not see your troubles?

How           can you say God refuses to hear your case?

Have you never heard or understood?

Don’t you know that *the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth?*

He never grows faint or weary.

No one can measure *the depths of his understanding*.

He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak.

Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up.

But those who wait on         the LORD will find new strength.

They will fly high on wings like eagles.

They will run          and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.

\\ \\             *Is God all powerful?

YES*

\\ *C.

So why does Evil exist?* \\ \\ Let me give you some statements to help you understand a little more how a good, loving all-powerful God could allow evil to exist: \\ \\ *1.

God did not create evil, but He created the potential for evil.

\\ * \\ God created us with the ability to choose.

We often call this *free will*.

It means that we have the capability to make decisions in everyday life,

                        and we have the capability to decide whether

                                    we will love and honour God

                                     or if we will reject Him.

 

            *When we reject him, evil becomes a reality*.

\\ \\ Now, God could have made us without the ability to choose.

But without the ability to choose, we would end up being his puppets.

He wanted us to be able to freely choose to love Him and express that love to Him.

He didn’t want to force us to love Him,

                                    because any love that is forced is not genuine.

It needs to be offered willingly.

\\ \\ Of course, along with the ability to choose to love God

            comes *the ability to choose not to love Him*.

And when we reject Him and reject Biblical morals and values,

                                    we’re *left with what we call evil.

\\ * \\ Listen to what Peter Kreeft, a philosophy professor at Boston College had to say about this… \\ \\ “…it is not logically possible to have free will and have no possibility of moral evil.

In other words, once God chose to create human beings with free will, it was up to them, rather than God, as to whether there was sin or not.

\\ That’s what free will means.

Built into the situation of God deciding to create human beings is the chance of evil, and , consequently, the suffering that results.”