Where is God when …. Why does evil exist? If God is all-powerful, why not abolish evil? If God is all-loving, surely He wants to stop bad things?

Why do Bad Things Happen?

Where is God when …

Why do Bad Things Happen?

If God is good, then why is there so much sin and poverty in the world?

1) Sin ~ but consider Lk 13:4-5

2) Free Will (tricky!)3) Consider the

implications …

Can God be All-powerful and All-loving?

Why does evil exist? If God is all-powerful,

why not abolish evil? If God is all-loving,

surely He wants to stop bad things? • Either He wants to but can’t, (so He isn’t all-powerful) or

• He can but doesn’t want to … (in which case He isn’t very loving!)

Why do people sin?

If God made us perfect, but different in our own ways, then why are there things like racism, abuse and sins going on in the world?

1) Sinners will sin ... 2) If you were God ...

In the Beginning … Rom 5:12 Sin entered world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned …II Peter 3:3-6 First of all, must understand that in last days scoffers will come saying, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. (NIV. © 1973, 1978, 1984, by International Bible Society)

How can a loving God?

How can a loving God (to paraphrase David Attenborough) create a parasite that invades the eyes of an African child, rendering the child blind, when that particular parasite has no other function other than to render children blind?

True & False History of World

7 E’s of ‘history’ EVOLUTION is how life began

EVIL i.e. death & disease have always

existed

EARTH shaped by billions of years of

processes

EVERYONE evolved from ape-like

ancestor

ETHICS made by Man – just

“evolved”

ESCAPE death ends man’s existence

END sun will run out, life cease,

universe may ‘die.’

7 C’s of history• CREATION• CORRUPTION• CATASTROPHE• CONFUSION• CHRIST• CROSS• CONSUMMATION

So what’s the alternative?

Let’s imagine what God could have done …

… instead of creating Man and the earth the way things are.

Cosmic History N° 1: • God created nothing. He just enjoyed

Himself forever.

Are you sure about this?

Cosmic History N° 2

God created a beautiful universe

He made it work by harmonious laws …

… but He didn’t create life - or at the most only plant and lower forms of animal life.

• He appreciated it as a master artist forever• There were no people to show it to or share

it with.

Cosmic History N° 3

God created all this plus self-conscious, free-willed beings like Himself: people

With freedom of choice, the people declared their independence from God

• They broke His harmonious laws • Situation became very unpleasant• God exterminated them. The end. • An experiment that failed

Cosmic History N° 4 God created self conscious

beings, people like Himself But He programmed them They could only do His will They couldn’t mess up His

universe

• God and His people lived happily ever after.• Force, not love. No choice. Robots.• So far, these cosmic histories are clearly

false. That’s not what happened.

Cosmic History N° 5 God created people and

they broke His perfect laws

Things got very unpleasant

God left the whole mess & went off to other dimensions

• Let people create their own hell until they destroy selves & the messed-up universe

• Many feel this is what happened – God just wound up the universe and let it go.

Cosmic History N° 6 God created people with

freedom of choice. Everything was just as

we see it except … … when people started

breaking His laws, God just forgave them.

• God bent His own laws of justice to accommodate all the hate and violence

• He overlooked their little problems with racism & injustice & hate & sin & …

Cosmic History N° 6 cont’d God still provided

rain, sun & everything necessary to sustain the greed & wars & suffering that resulted. • Some people think this is the gospel.

• We just do our best and God just forgives.• But what about the injustice etc?• This is still not the best alternative• It doesn’t show any forethought or care.

Cosmic History N° 7 Finally – something that

looks like the Bible’s good news.

All the bad news described above, except, when people broke His laws, God had plan.

• He didn’t exterminate His people;• He didn’t just overlook their crimes; • He didn’t run out on them;• He didn’t force them to fit into the

harmony of His universe. What did He do? …

Cosmic History N° 7 cont’dHe looked at these people who were responsible for all the harm their law-breaking had causedHe pronounced a death sentence on them. • That’s the bad news. • But He also granted a full pardon to all

who would take it. • That’s the gospel (= good news)

In Summary Why does evil exist? Because it is the only way

for God to allow Man to be free

The alternatives do not make sense• God didn’t create evil

• Even an all-powerful God could not have created a world in which people had genuine freedom and yet there was no potentiality for sin, because our freedom includes the possibility of sin within its own meaning.

Loadsa Questions

Does God always heal? What about Paul’s thorn in the flesh? What about Epaphroditus? Cf. special miracles ~ Acts 19:11-12 Didn’t Jesus promise “greater

things”? Whose faith – the sick or pray-er?

Nevertheless … In this fallen world sin, sickness &

death will be “normal” until Jesus comes again

Message of Job: “Let God be God” See Isa 45:6–7, 9–10; Jer 18; Rom

9:19-21 (potter & clay) Secular-humanism has no answer for

the problems of suffering and death But Jesus has – Acts 10:38

Where is God in the bad things?

(Isa 43:2) When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; nor shall the flame kindle on you.