I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist Part #3: How Could a Good God Exist Since There is Evil in the World?

This is one of the most haunting questions we face. Why is there evil in the world if God exists? Why isn't He doing something about it? Some explain it like this, “If God is willing to prevent evil and injustice in the world, but is unable; then He must not be powerful enough to deal with it. If He is powerful enough to stop it, then He Himself must be not be willing. Since He is neither unable nor willing to do anything about it; then why call Him God?”  It is because of this reason that some question God’s existence.

When answering this dilemma it must be noted that the Bible does affirm the existence of evil (Psa. 40:12; Jer. 15:18). In fact even God’s own Son, Jesus was known as “a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isa. 53:3).

Believe it or not, the existence of evil actually proves that God exists. It doesn't matter where you go in this world, unless someone is insane, they will all agree that child molestation is wrong, even if they have done it. All will agree that murder is wrong, even if they have done it. And all agree that rape is wrong, even if they have done it. This inward acknowledgement of evil would not be present if mankind was just the byproduct of evolution through natural selection and survival of the fittest. If that was the case then Hitler was justified in what he did. However, anyone who is sane will recognize that that is just not the case. This recognition of evil is known as the Moral Argument and is proof of God’s existence in every culture.

So why does God allow evil to exist? It is because of mankind’s own freewill choice. God created the universe to be very good (Gen. 1:31). And God warned Adam and Eve what would happen if they chose to sin, yet they did it anyways (Gen. 2:17). When they sinned, corruption, disease, evil of all kinds and death came into the world. Therefore, we all suffer because of someone else’s choice. And this same principle can be seen today when a person decides to drink and drive and they take innocent lives. Furthermore, there are numerous other ways which our world suffers as a result of someone’s freewill choice.

Thankfully though, our good God has done something about the evil which is experienced in this world. He sent His Son to die for us that whoever receives Him, as Scripture teaches, will have eternal life. And Jesus promises that when He returns all the things which caused us grief in this life will be no more. God will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away (Rev. 21:1-7). It is my prayer that all of us look at the evil which exists in our world today and look forward to that day when all things will be made new (Rev. 21:5).

In His service,

            Matt