The Problem with Evil
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· 7 viewsWhy do bad things happen to good people?
Notes
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Introduction:
How many of you this morning can say that you’ve been hurt? You might be thinking, in what way? We can be hurt physically or emotionally. We live in a broken world full of broken people. And one of top objections that many people have to believing in God is in regards to evil in this world. Why does God allow evil. The question can be worded several ways and we will look at that in a moment, but first, let’s turn to and listen to what Jesus has to say on the issue.
Read Text. Pray.
1. The Question: Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen (v.1)
1. The Question: Why Does God Allow Bad Things to Happen (v.1)
The question can be worded a couple of different ways
Why does God allow evil at all if He is sovereign?
Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?
The first question is answered when we recognize that God is not the source of evil. God allows evil and He uses it to accomplish His overall plan for good. The prime example of this is the cross.
Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
We need to understand that evil is not a thing, so much as it is a relational choice.
We choose to ignore God’s commands and do things our own ways.
We are finite in our ability to understand how all of our choices affect others.
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you?
You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask.
2. Jesus’ Counterquestion: Are Some People More Sinful than Others?
2. Jesus’ Counterquestion: Are Some People More Sinful than Others?
Two sources of evil
Man
Natural Disaster and Life in a Fallen World
Man: Sacrifices mixed with Galilean’s Blood
Pilate had executed some Galileans for some reason and mixed their blood with their sacrifices to desecrate the victim and the sacrifice.
Romans were not known for their hospitality.
Watchtower at Shiloah
Watchtowers were common in Israel. They also were made of stones stacked upon one another and these stones were just like any other structure that is built. They can topple, especially since the region of Israel is in a rift valley that is prone to earthquakes.
A watchtower had fallen. This
3. The Answer
3. The Answer
Before I answer this question, I want to take just a quick moment to say that when someone asks the question, If God exists, why does He allow bad things to happen, or why does He allow evil, you have to understand that the question alone begs the question. What I mean by that is that even questioning evil or asserting that something is good implies that there is a universal morality that applies to everyone.
If this were not true, then you could only say that something is good for you and not necessarily for me. This is the flawed logic that our world tries to use. Everyone should not judge others because we should be allowed to choose for ourselves what is right and wrong for our own lives, but there are some categories like sexuality, or murder, or genocide that are so evil that we have to say they are wrong for fear of looking foolish. However, the moment we do this, we beg the question of a universal moral law and by doing so we have to imply that their is a moral law giver, God, who exists.
But for the rest of the question, How can this God allow evil, even if h
A. All Are Sinful and Deserve God’s Wrath
A. All Are Sinful and Deserve God’s Wrath
as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one;
no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.
Romans 3:10-19
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
B. We Are Saved Only By Grace through Repentance
B. We Are Saved Only By Grace through Repentance
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Conclusion:
Things in the Bible that are repeated are especially important to pay attention to. Jesus repeats this phrase twice in our passage this morning. “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Will we listen to Jesus this morning?
Some may still feel that they struggle with the problem of evil. That’s understandable. We should never be comfortable with evil. We should never be satisfied with injustice. Our discomfort should lead us to long even more for the future where Christ will come and judge ALL evildoers. He will restore the fallen world that we live in by creating a new heaven and a new earth. He will give us new bodies that are not affected by the Fall, and we will never sin again. Ultimately, all of the evil that is done on this earth will be judged and the guilty will give an account; but praise God that we are covered by the blood of Jesus and we are saved by His grace!