We have this inside joke in our family (now your on the inside of it), that names the reason for the bad luck. We call it the “curse!” Anytime something goes wrong we blame it on the “curse!” It has become humorous over the years, as many family stories pivot on the statement, “and then the ‘curse struck again!” Do I really believe that there is a curse, no but it does give us a way of making light of and find humor in some of the mishaps that somehow come our way.
There are things that happen in this world and in the lives of people that we can find no humor in. These things go beyond mishaps and small blunders. Evils such as rape, incest, murder, war, terror attacks such as 9/11. These are real Evils that impact lives everyday. These are the things that lead people to question God’s motives, God’s ability, and even God’s existence. The fact of past, present, and future evil compel philosophers, educators, and even theologians to believe and argue against the existence of God.
Allow me for just a second to lay out the the popular argument of why evil proves there is no God.
1.If God is all-good, He would destroy evil.
2.If God is all-powerful, He could destroy evil.
3.But evil is not destroyed.
4.Hence, there is no such God.
This same argument occurs with us regular people as well. Yes, even me as a pastor have moments that I have said, “If God, why this?” Moments that I was completely unable to understand why something happened and for many of those moments the reason still remains a mystery.
I am sure that in your life there have been experiences and events that have happened that you caused you to just say, “If God, why this?” Let me assure you, that doubt is a natural part of life and it is a mandatory component of faith. Without some level of uncertainty, faith would not require trust in God. God desires you to depend on and trust in Him. Doubts actually help us as we journey and experience life. When properly handled they actually grow our faith and relationship with God.
“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: Isaiah 1:18
Listen, God wants to discuss with you and help you work out your doubts. And for some of you this idea of Evil has really got your doubts in God pretty high. So I would like to walk you through a couple of points now and prepare your mind for our talk on Sunday morning.
Because we are talking about “God is Good” this Sunday. I am going to hold off on addressing Premise 1 (If God is all-good, He would destroy evil), until then. Now, let’s reason together starting with Premise 2.
Premise 2- (If God is all-powerful, He could destroy evil.) This we talked about last Sunday. The God who is powerful enough to create the universe out of nothing is powerful enough to reach in and stop evil. The Bible says: You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you! Jeremiah 32:17.
(The link to the Talk from this past Sunday is: God is Great (Video of Sunday's Talk)
Premise 3- (But Evil is not destroyed) The fact that evil still exists does not provide proof that there is no God. It does however, provide proof that evil has not yet accomplished and fulfilled its purpose, and therefore it still remains. That’s right you heard me say it, evil has not accomplished its purpose and it still remains. This does not mean that God lacks power to defeat it, nor does it mean that God desires it to last for eternity. It simply means that evil serves a purpose right here and right now.
(Sneak peak into the future, evil is defeated and God's purpose does prevail.)
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28
The evil that occurs in your life is not good in and of itself. But God uses those things to work out a good result. We may have doubt as to why God is allowing certain things to occur in our lives and we may have some real questions for God as it pertains to those events. Let me challenge you to change the question from “Why God?” to “What God?” “ What do you want me to learn from this? What do you want me to change as a result of this? What do you want me to do with this?” When we change the form of the question we transition our heart from doubt to faith.
So then let me close with a counter to the argument that was given above:
1.God is good and desires to defeat evil.
2.God is all powerful and is able to defeat evil.
3.Evil is not yet defeated.
4.Therefore, it will one day be defeated.
This Sunday we will talk about why an all good God permits evil to continue in the world. I look forward to seeing and talking with you Sunday morning at 10:30AM.
Blessings,
Pastor Donald
Crossroads Baptist Church
4540 Technology Dr.
Wilmington, NC 28405
www.crossroadsofwilmington.com
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