One of the many questions most people wrestle with as they try to make sense of the world, we live in is; If God exist, why does evil and bad things happen?
What’s interesting though is that, many people prefer to ask this question of God’s existence mainly in reference to the existence of evil and not so much in reference to the existence of good even though the good is what we yearn for.
I think within the process of our inquiry, the follow up questions should be asked; When you think about God this way, what accompanying feelings do you have towards him if he indeed did exist and was the one allowing for evil to thrive?
What would it mean for you or what would your position be if this question was turned around to ask?
If God exist, why does he allow good and beautiful things to happen? When you think about God this way, what accompanying feelings do you have towards him if he indeed did exist and was the one allowing for the good to thrive?
The position many of us take on this issue seem to suggest that we have a problem with evil and a God who allows it. We all desire to live in a world were good triumphs over evil or a world where evil did not exist at all.
The truth about our human nature is, we often gravitate towards that which is good. That’s why for instance, when we wake up in the morning we usually say to the other, “Good morning,” even when we don’t know how their night was. We often speak goodness into our morning, afternoon and evening even when we have no clue how the day will turn out. We speak what we desire for things to be. That is, to be good.
What I am going to try to do is make an attempt to respond to this question, “if God exists, why all the evil?”
I begin by asserting my personal conviction that is, I do believe God does exist and that he is not the one causing evil in the world. To set the record straight; It is imperative that we look at the biblical account in Genesis where we get to know a little bit about the God of the Bible, especially that which encapsulates his being, nature and character.
The Genesis account states that it is God that created the heavens and the Earth and everything in it. Also, worth to note, is the phrase that continually accompanies his creative action at the end of each verse in Genesis chapter 1 “And he saw that it was good.” Over and over again our attention is constantly drawn to this phrase. It’s the echo after every creative action beginning from verse 2 of genesis 1 to verse 25. In verse 31 the writer makes sure we know God’s ultimate feeling about his creation. “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.”
From this observation, we can see that, goodness and not evil is characteristic of God’s nature and character and this is what he desired and still desire to be the emblem of his creative work and the continual expansion of it through humans.
In chapter 2 of Genesis. We read, God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the garden he had made for them in Eden. By the way Eden means, “a delightful and pleasurable place.” So, the garden was made in a delightful place. This again should tell us something about this God.
God made all kind of fruit trees to grow, which were good for food and beautiful to look at. In that same garden we learn of two trees whose names we know of. The tree of life and the tree of knowing good and evil whose fruit Adam and Eve were not supposed to eat, for it would activate death. Not much is said about the tree of life, but we know Adam and Eve had no restrictions to eating its fruit. They were only prohibited to eat from it after they had eaten from the tree of knowing good and evil, for eating from it would seal their fate.
In the same chapter we’re introduced to the possibility of something bad happening if Adam and Eve disobeyed the instructions of God and ate from the forbidden tree. God make clear to them that they would surely die. What’s good to know is, death was already present but inactive. It was in Adam and Eve’s power to keep death inactive and therefore continue to enjoy the beauty and goodness of the garden and sweet fellowship with their creator.
Based on God’s instructions, death would only become active when they ate. So, in other words, Adam and Eve had the power to keep death powerless by obeying and not violating the word of God. This set the ground rules for how they were supposed to live if they were to enjoy all that God had for them.
In chapter three of Genesis, the devil appears to Adam and Eve in the form of a serpent and questions the integrity of God and his instructions regarding the tree of knowing good and evil and the consequences of it. It convinces them that God was lying to them because he did not want them to be like him knowing good and evil. This is the very idea that Lucifer (now disguised as the serpent) had before he was cast down from the presence of God. That is, he wanted to be God.
Isaiah 14:12-15
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God. I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most-High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit.
Lucifer wanted Adam and Eve to experience the very thing that had happened to him. I think had he known about the tree of life he would have made them eat from it thereby sealing their fate forever like his. If one wants to know the source of evil…Lucifer is the embodiment of anything that can be classified as evil.
As the conversation progressed, Eve’s eyes became mesmerized by the tree more than ever before. I would say the same for Adam because he was there too and listening. In the end they made a choice to listen to the serpent and reached out for a knowledge that was beyond their limits. In that very moment their eyes were opened to new knowledge, they became self-conscious and aware of a totally new inner world than they had known before and everything turned upside down.
Genesis 3:6-7 says – as the serpent spoke to them, the woman was convinced. She saw that the tree was beautiful (lust of the eyes) and its fruit looked delicious (lust o the flesh), and she wanted the wisdom it would give her (pride of life). So, she took some of the fruit and ate. Then she gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate too. At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So, they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.
Let me ask this question. If you do something that will harm or cause you pain after you’ve been warned not to, who would you blame for the consequence of your actions if things backfired? How would you describe and name your actions? Remember, every choice or decision we make in life has implications, either for the good or for the bad. This reveals that they are principles and laws in life which when observed will cause one’s life to thrive but when violated will cause life to be unbearable.
What then is a fair human response to the Adam and Eve situation? One way to look at it is… maybe if God had not put this tree of knowing good and evil, what happened to them could have been averted. Or, God never told them about any presence of contradicting influence in the garden, at least he should have warned them that there was a devil in the garden and they needed to be careful. So, God is to blame for putting them in this awkward position. Or we might say, well, the tree was put there so they could exercise their free will, but even if that’s the case, God set them up because if he’s good why put something that could bring about or attract bad judgement.
o Would things have been different if this tree was not put there in the first place?
o Is the issue at hand really about a tree, or there is something much bigger at play here?
o Lets say there was no tree and the serpent still came. Would the serpent still have tried to influence them to go against God in one way or the other?
o If free will is the ability to choose, is it only about choosing right from wrong or it’s just the human ability to make choices.
o You can still make choices from one good thing to the other or from one bad thing to the other.
o In the end, choices are choices irrespective of how you make them.
o In the garden, there were many fruit trees. If Adam and Eve chose to eat from one tree and not from the other, wouldn’t we call that exercising their free will on what they want to eat?
o Therefore, what would constitute a choice or decision to be classified as bad or an act of evil? Where does personal responsibility lie when someone does what is wrong or what is right and who should be blamed when something bad happens or commended when something good happens?
Remember the serpent was a disguise of Lucifer who was an archangel adorned with extraordinary beauty and many out of this world capabilities. With all that, he still was not satisfied and, in his heart, conspired to take God’s place. That rebellious mindset got him in trouble and was cast down from heaven with a bunch of other angels who bought into his idea.
Let’s read more about this lucifer guy
Ezekiel 28:13-15
“You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. You were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless (good) in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness (evil) was found in you.
Some questions to think about:
o When one maliciously connives to do something bad or break the law, what would we call that? An act of good or an act of evil? Whom would we blame for that?
o If a teenage girl exposes herself to bad company and got pregnant after having been warned not to do such things or the consequences that would befall her and she still went ahead to do it anyway. Would we say it is the parent who allowed for her to get pregnant? Or would we blame them because they are the one who brought her into the world?
Remember in chapter 2, Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed and marked by pure innocence and undefiled communion with God and with each other and in harmony with the rest of creation. Now that they had this knowledge of good and evil, a number of things happened that brought about a new awareness or consciousness:
o Their eyes were opened.
o They became aware of their nakedness and sewed fig leaves to cover themselves. Which is false cover
o They were no longer comfortable in Eden, a place of delightful presence, therefore, they hid themselves
o They accused and blamed each other even to the point of blaming God.
How then should we respond to all that’s happening in this story and who is to blame for the bad things that are happening?
o God?
o Adam and Eve?
o The serpent (devil)?
As I close, let’s look at the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4: 1-7
Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten a man with the help of God.” And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. In the course of time Cain brought to God an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And God had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So, Cain was very angry, and his face fell.
Then God said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do what is good, will you not be accepted? And if you do what is not acceptable, evil is sneaking at the door. Its desire is against the good you want to be or to do; therefore, you must overcome it.”
In life, evil is always lurking at our doors seeking opportunity at every cost to make us trip. It’s you and I who need to stand against it by doing what is good. We have no one to blame if we choose to give in to evil. It is possible to master and overcome it with good.
According to the Bible. Evil is rebellion and the violation and failure to live in accordance to God’s laws and his original intent (purpose).
God is faithful and cannot violet what he has instituted. Whenever he speaks, his word becomes binding even unto himself. So, when mankind chooses to live life apart from God, God is bound to respect that even if he feels otherwise.
Our greatest problem is, without God, we can never live up to the intent to which we were created apart from him. Living apart from God only opens the door to all kind of vices, for when God is not obeyed, evil is inevitable.
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