The question “Why?” is often asked in times of crisis or tragedies when doubts and confusion hide the face of God, and our faith becomes shaken. Vainly, we try to find answers for the existence of evil that is inherent in death and destruction, the cause for so much suffering and sorrow. The reason for evil can seem like an enigma that is wrapped up in a puzzle and shrouded in a mystery. Indeed, in times of crisis or tragedies, when nothing seems to make sense, we come to the rude awakening that the faith walk is no cake walk; in such times we have more questions than answers. Why…Why…Why? How often we have heard these questions, saturated with tears of agony, and framed with doubts and confusion:... Why did God allow the terrible evil acts of terrorism on 9/11, causing the death of 3000 people?... Why did God allow such an evil phenomenon, like the earthquake which killed over 200,000 Haitians?... Why did God allow the horrific evil of the holocaust that took the lives of over 6000,000 Jews? If God is good and all powerful, why does evil exist? Why…Why…Why?
I believe that the extraordinary action of a group of Christian believers in Haiti in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake speaks volumes about the reason for evil in our world. Understanding the spiritual ramification of their action can unveil the mystery of evil, explain this puzzling phenomenon, and provide the answer to the enigma of evil. What was their extraordinary action? These devout Christians praised God in the midst of death and destruction. They offered up praise songs and prayers of thanksgiving for His mercy and grace. Standing in the midst of the chaotic rubble of shattered lives, with the unbearable stench of 200,000 decaying bodies, they praised God for His mercy and grace. In that dead sea of humanity, they affirmed that God is good all the time. Implicit in their affirmation of the goodness, mercy and grace of God is the notion that the blame for the death and destruction in Haiti does not lie with God, but the blame lies with our fallen world. God's mercy and grace is the edge of protection, preventing the total destruction of humanity. The enigma of the omnipotent and holy God co-existing with evil can only be understood through the revelation of God's goodness. God allows evil to bring forth good, even as He allowed His Son to die to bring forth life. Indeed, the belief in an all powerful God, who is always good, necessitates looking elsewhere for the cause of evil. Looking elsewhere for the cause of evil, by following the trail of God's mercy and grace, leads us inexorably to ourselves. God is good all the time, but we are not. If we are not good all the time, then evil dwells within us. Therefore, we are evil. Why does evil exist in our world? I believe that this is the answer to the enigma of the existence of evil in our world: evil exists because we exist. God allows us to exist with our evil to bring forth good through His mercy and grace.
The Bible declares that the unregenerate, or unrepentant sinners, have the devil as their father, who is the father of all liars (John 8:44). Perhaps you will find this assertion shocking. However, you must admit that no one is sinless. No doubt during your life time, like everyone else, you have been guilty of the sin of commission. For example, you have committed bad things like telling a lie, and getting angry. Also, you have been guilty of the sin of omission, omitting to do good things, like neglecting to help someone. These faults, although minor, are not just anomalies to your goodness, but they are merely the tip of the iceberg of evil that lies buried in your heart. What exposes the evil that lies buried within you? Temptation is the answer. The Bible says that sin is caused by yielding to temptation. It must be noted that different individuals have different yielding points to temptation, like different liquids have different boiling points. However, the same evil exists in every heart. When the temptation is sufficiently “hot” to cause the heart to reach its yielding point, then the heart will erupt like a volcano, spewing out evil in one form or another. The eruption of evil from the heart is called sin. Sin is caused when an evil heart yields to temptation. In Jeremiah 17:9, the Bible declares, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" No matter how virtuous you think you are, the fact still remains that you are capable of the most diabolical evil, if the temptation is sufficiently "hot" to cause you to reach your yielding point. However, before you start feeling too conspicuously evil, let me assure you that you are no more evil than the billions of other souls in our world. Without the restraining hand of God's grace, this world would be a living hell. Therefore, our Lord has taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil."
In Luke 13: 1-5, when Jesus was asked by the perplexed disciples about the reason for the inherent evil in the death and destruction, caused by the fall of the tower of Siloam, as well as the terrorism of the Roman soldiers in the slaughter of the Galileans, Jesus identifies the evil in the human heart as the reason. Jesus says, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”In the midst of death and destruction, in the depths of our suffering and sorrow, God in His mercy and grace is calling us to repentance. God could purge the earth of evil by destroying every living soul from the face of the earth. But for the grace of God there go I…and you…and every living soul…to death and destruction. Instead, through our repentance, God has graciously chosen to purge our sins with the blood of Christ Jesus, who is God in the flesh, the embodiment of grace, mercy and truth. Only faith in Jesus as our Savior from sin can transform our evil hearts, when the cleansing blood of Jesus is applied to our hearts to make us righteous, pure and holy.
Why does evil exist? I believe the answer should now be quite clear. Evil exists in our world due to our evil hearts. The condition of the world is only a reflection of our evil hearts, which Satan, the prince of this fallen world controls through his power of temptation. However, goodness also exists in our world due to the goodness of God. Even as we saw the inherent evil of a fallen world in the death and destruction of Haiti, we also saw goodness inherent in the preservation of life and the restoration of the country. It was God who touched the hearts of so many to give so sacrificially. The Bible teaches that where sin abounded in our fallen world, grace did much more abound." (Romans 5:20) Because of God's amazing grace those Christians in Haiti were led to praise Him. Our God of grace and mercy prevented the total destruction of the country, and He is even now preserving our world so that more souls can be saved through the gospel of Christ. Indeed, this is the wonder of wonders: through His marvellous grace and mercy, God is in the process of eradicating all evil from the earth, by changing the evil hearts of mankind through a spiritual phenomenon called rebirth or regeneration, which begins with repentance. Therefore, whenever we become cognizant of evil in any form in us or in others, we should always remember the words of Christ, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Our only hope for the ulltimate eradication of evil, which exists in our hearts, is turning to God in repentance, to receive His grace and mercy through faith in Christ Jesus, as Savior and Lord.
Dear friend, join me now in this prayer: heavenly Father, we confess that you alone are good, so we ask you now to forgive our sins. We now have a hungar and thirst for the righteousness, which is found only in Christ Jesus. Have mercy on us dear Lord. We receive Jesus as our Savior from sin. Amen.
I want you to pause for a moment and imagine this picture of innocense and its violation by the evil of a seared conscience. Imagine now a precious little infant cradled in the life sustaining whomb of his mother. You can see the development of his hands and feet, fingers and toes, ears, nose, and mouth. You can also see the flickering smile on his face as he sleeps peacefully, in blissful innocense. Suddenly, he wriths in pain; his abortion, his termination, his murder is taking place. What is the cause of such evil? A Seared conscience. Let us now consider how the conscience of the world has become seared with evil in our following topic, "Seared conscience."
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