Post by Daniel on Feb 17, 2018 9:47:10 GMT -5
A Good God in an Evil World
By Norman L. Geisler • January 26, 2018
Recent tragedies such as the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting or the Las Vegas massacre refocus the issue of evil in a vivid way. If there is a loving God, then why does He permit heinous crimes like this? Why doesn’t He intervene? The Christian cannot accept the claims of some that God “is not perfect and there are some things God does not control.”
My wife, Barb, and I suffered the tragic loss of our daughter Rhoda a few years ago. We know that such pain never really goes away. Yet, one thing is certain: The existence of evil does not eliminate God. Rather, it cries out for Him. In his book Mere Christianity, former atheist C.S. Lewis noted, “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.”
This is where the argument of evil as evidence against God’s existence boomerangs into an argument for His existence. If there is an ultimate moral standard or law of justice, then there must be an ultimate moral Law Giver. Without His moral law we would not even know what evil really is. And without His spiritual comfort we would not be able to endure evil—at least not with any realistic hope and comfort.
As the Apostle Paul said, we sorrow but not as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). And without His great power and love we would have no hope of ever getting a better world. Only a God who can bring good out of evil can solve this world’s problems.
Amid the world’s evils, we can cry out to God for comfort. Had it not been for all the Scripture I had committed to memory, such as Psalm 23; Isaiah 26:3, 40:31; John 14:1-6; Philippians 4:4-6; 2 Corinthians 4:17 and others, I don’t know what I would have done when our daughter died. I’ll never forget the trip from Asheville, N.C., to Charlotte after hearing of her untimely death. It was the longest two-hour trip I have ever taken. It felt like I was in a submarine, peering out through an ocean of tears. Nonetheless, I was able to cry out to God like Job: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21, KJV).
Heaven Will Not Be Like This
We can be sure that the world to come is not going to be like this one. This one is full of disaster, destruction and death. The next one will have none of these. John said it best: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. … And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:1, 4, KJV).
continued..
billygraham.org/decision-magazine/january-2018/a-good-god-in-an-evil-world/
By Norman L. Geisler • January 26, 2018
Recent tragedies such as the Sutherland Springs, Texas, church shooting or the Las Vegas massacre refocus the issue of evil in a vivid way. If there is a loving God, then why does He permit heinous crimes like this? Why doesn’t He intervene? The Christian cannot accept the claims of some that God “is not perfect and there are some things God does not control.”
My wife, Barb, and I suffered the tragic loss of our daughter Rhoda a few years ago. We know that such pain never really goes away. Yet, one thing is certain: The existence of evil does not eliminate God. Rather, it cries out for Him. In his book Mere Christianity, former atheist C.S. Lewis noted, “My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.”
This is where the argument of evil as evidence against God’s existence boomerangs into an argument for His existence. If there is an ultimate moral standard or law of justice, then there must be an ultimate moral Law Giver. Without His moral law we would not even know what evil really is. And without His spiritual comfort we would not be able to endure evil—at least not with any realistic hope and comfort.
As the Apostle Paul said, we sorrow but not as those who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). And without His great power and love we would have no hope of ever getting a better world. Only a God who can bring good out of evil can solve this world’s problems.
Amid the world’s evils, we can cry out to God for comfort. Had it not been for all the Scripture I had committed to memory, such as Psalm 23; Isaiah 26:3, 40:31; John 14:1-6; Philippians 4:4-6; 2 Corinthians 4:17 and others, I don’t know what I would have done when our daughter died. I’ll never forget the trip from Asheville, N.C., to Charlotte after hearing of her untimely death. It was the longest two-hour trip I have ever taken. It felt like I was in a submarine, peering out through an ocean of tears. Nonetheless, I was able to cry out to God like Job: “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21, KJV).
Heaven Will Not Be Like This
We can be sure that the world to come is not going to be like this one. This one is full of disaster, destruction and death. The next one will have none of these. John said it best: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. … And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away” (Revelation 21:1, 4, KJV).
continued..
billygraham.org/decision-magazine/january-2018/a-good-god-in-an-evil-world/
!!
