One of the most haunting questions we face concerns the problem of evil. Why is there evil in the world if there is a God? Why isn’t He doing something about it? Many assume that the existence of evil disproves the existence of God. Actually, The Bible has the only answer to the question of evil. No other supposed religion can sufficiently answer this question.
WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED?
Our view of sin important because most evil is associated with the sin of some person. We must never blame God for any sin that any person commits:
James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man: 14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). The masterpiece of His creation was man, which in Hebrew is the word “Adam”. God made Adam to be very much like God:
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
What does it mean to be created in God’s image? It means that man is a moral agent. Man can genuinely choose between right and wrong. No other organism has this power. All other organisms are ruled by instinct, like robots. Man, on the other hand, is self-determined. He can therefore be given moral commands and moral responsibility. God designed man with relationship in mind. He wanted to create a class of beings who would have the genuine ability to love Him and rule creation with Him:
Gen 1:26 Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Psa 8:5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. (NASB)
Psa 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s: but the earth has he given to the children of men.
In order to test Adam’s faithfulness to His responsibility, God also created Satan, the enemy of God and man. He then placed Adam under probation with the following command:
Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it: for in the day that you eat thereof you shall surely die.
As expected, Satan tricked Adam and Eve into eating the forbidden fruit:
Gen 2:4 And the serpent said to the woman, You shall not surely die: 5 For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat.
What does this mean? Well, let’s consider the legalities of rulership. If a ruler of a nation willingly surrenders to another ruler, they transfer their authority to that other entity. That’s exactly what happened! Adam surrendered to his enemy, Satan, by obeying him. He became Satan’s servant.
Romans 6:16 Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants you are to whom you obey; whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness?
Satan alludes to this transfer of authority thousands of years later, while tempting Jesus:
Luk 4:5 And he [the devil] led Him [Jesus] up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. 7 "Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours."
So we see that God does not directly rule creation. Of course it still belongs to God (Psalm 24:1), and all natural and spiritual laws are sustained by Him (Hebrews 1:3). Yet, He permitted Adam to transfer man’s delegated authority to Satan. God is still sovereign over Satan. In fact, Satan often needs express permission from God before afflicting humanity (Job 1:12).
The satanic rule of Satan has reaked havoc in creation. As the “prince of the power of the air”, Satan actively deceives people into doing evil acts:
Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience
As the “god of this world”, Satan blinds the minds of people to prevent them from accepting Jesus Christ as Savior:
2 Cor 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
Satan is also titled, “the Prince of this world”:
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
John 14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world comes, and has nothing in me.
John 16:11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
The effects on creation
When Satan became ruler, he took the whole world as his subjects:
1John 5:19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness.
Just as God promised, Adam was given over to physical and spiritual death. This death spread to every human, because every human has sinned just like Adam:
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned (NASB)
This rule of Satan has had a negative impact on all of creation:
Rom 8:22 The whole creation has been groaning in travail together until now.
This includes all physical sickness and disease, which are either directly or indirectly the direct result of Satan’s rule in the earth:
Acts 10:38 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.
That’s right! The above passage tells us that every single sick person Jesus healed (which were multitudes) was oppressed by the devil, not of God. Wow! Even most churches blame it on God! That’s false teaching. If we understand the source of evil in this world, we’ll resist it rather than submit to it.
Of course, one could ask the question, “Why did God create Satan in the first place?” or “Why did God put such a probation on man?” The truth is, God is partially responsible because He is the creator. Nevertheless, God incorporated all of this into His plan to ultimately restore everything.
Rom 8:20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him[God] who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
GOD’S SOLUTION – THE “ALREADY”
God would be unjust to leave man without any hope. Therefore, God devised a plan from “before the foundation of the world” (1 Peter 1:20). The plan goes as follows. God Himself became a man. That’s right. Jesus Christ came 2,000 years ago. He was born of a virgin, which symbolizes that He was not associated with the sinfulness of the man, Adam. Christ entered creation and experienced the very sufferings we experience. He faced the same temptations as Adam, and yet overcome them. He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Where Adam failed, Jesus overcome. He then paid the ultimate penalty for Adam’s disobedience. He took upon Himself all of the sin of the world when He died on a Roman cross:
2 Cor 5:21 For he [God] has made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
What a glorious substitution. Jesus became our sin, so that we could became His righteousness:
1 Pet 3:18 Christ also once for all died for sins, the innocent One for the guilty many, in order to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,
The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has legally reclaimed the authority back from Satan. Just before dying on the cross Jesus told His disciples:
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
The New Testament verifies that Satan’s authority was indeed relinquished by Christ:
Col 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Heb 2:14 For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power [literally ‘authority’] of death, that is, the devil;
1 Jn 3:8 He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Once Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared before His disciples as the possessor of “all authority”:
Mt 28:18 Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power [literally ‘authority’] is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Does this mean that Satan is gone from the scene? Of course not! There is still much evil in the world. Even though Jesus has legally reclaimed Satan’s authority, He has granted Satan permission to remain here until the end of time, when he will be destroyed in the lake of fire (Rev 20:10). So, for the time being, Satan does prowl around seeking to still destroy:
1 Pet 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Yet he only holds power over those who allow him to exercise it. We don’t HAVE TO be under that power any more.
The key to being set free from Satan’s authority is to be transferred out of his kingdom into Christ’s kingdom:
Col 1:13 [God] has delivered us from the power [literally ‘authority’] of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.
How does this transfer occur? It occurs by changing our allegiance. We need to forsake sin, as well as Satan (the Lord of sin), by putting our full trust in the Lord Jesus Christ:
Rom 10:9 If you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved.
When we sincerely confess Jesus Christ as our new Lord, we are transferring our allegiance from Satan to Jesus Christ. We become “born again” (Jn 3:3). We are given a new nature; a new disposition; a new set of desires. We begin to hate sin and evil. Our life begins to transform.
You might claim, “I’m already a good person”. My friend, if you are not in Christ you are deceived. The Bible tells us, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (Jas 2:10). Without Christ, you are guilty. Just think of the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. Have you ever lied (i.e. false witness)? Have you ever been jealous? The Bible says that is the same as worshipping an idol (Col 3:5)? Have you ever looked at another person with lust? Jesus said that is equivalent to adultery (Mt 5:28). Have you ever hated anyone or even spoken of someone in a derogatory manner? Jesus equated this with murder (Mt 5:21-22, 1 Jn 3:15). God looks at the heart. Nothing is hidden from Him. Trust me, you need Jesus!
GOD’S SOLUTION – THE “NOT YET”
God’s ultimate plan is to eradicate all evil, pain, and suffering from the world. In the end times, which we believe are imminent, God will raise up a remnant of true believers who will free the rest of creation. These are the sons of God. With Christ’s manifest presence in the earth, the sons of God will minister life to the world. All nations will then flee from their evil ways and trust in God:
Rom 8:19 For all creation, gazing eagerly as if with outstretched neck, is waiting and longing to see the manifestation of the sons of God. … 21 there was always the hope that at last the Creation itself would also be set free from the thraldom of decay so as to enjoy the liberty that will attend the glory of the children of God. (Weymouth translation)
Isa 2: 2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it.
Evil will be gone because everyone will trust God and be entirely transformed into the image of Jesus Christ. Just as Adam was originally intended to, the sons of God will reign with Christ on the Earth during the millenium:
Rev 5:10 And have made us to our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.
The new earth will be filled with righteousness:
2 Pet 3:13 But in accordance with His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness will dwell. (Weymouth translation)
There will be no more suffering either:
Rev 22:3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him.
IN THE MEANTIME
As Christians, we must view evil as a tool that God permits to “train up” the manifested sons of God. True faith cannot be exercised without exposure to contrary circumstances. True faith is able to claim healing while symptoms of sickness are present in the body. True faith is able to claim God’s promises of provision while the checking account is nearly empty. True faith is able to withstand the temptations of lust when that nasty pop-up appears on the PC monitor. True faith is able to trust God even when everything else fails. Without such temptations and trials, faith is only a myth. You can’t have a victory without a battle. You can’t learn good without experiencing bad. So we must trust that everything ultimately works for our good if we love God:
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Our perseverance in the midst of evil will prove that we are genuine Christians. Nothing will move us. Everything will perfect us:
James 1:2 My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; 3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
There is no trial or temptation that has to overcome us by necessity:
1 Cor 10:13 No temptation has you in its power but such as is common to human nature; and God is faithful and will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength. But, when the temptation comes, He will also provide the way of escape; so that you may be able to bear it. (Weymouth translation)
The Christian has within his nature the ability to resist the devil. The devil can still try to attack in various ways. Yet we are commanded, “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). We are also told to not leave him any “open doors” through sin and carelessness. “Neither give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). Resist the devil. Resist sickness. Resist sin. They will still try to attack you even when you are a Christian. But now you have authority over them.
Lk 10:19 Behold, I give to you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. (serpents and scorpions are symbolic of demonic powers)
Christians can be healed from sicknesses by faith:
James 5:14 Is any one ill? Let him send for the Elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will restore the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up to health; (Weymouth translation)
Of course, as we’re learning to walk in this new authority, we won’t be perfected immediately. We may still get sick, fall into temptation, or some other tragedy. But guess what? Even in the midst of such suffering, we have a future glory that brings everything into perspective:
Rom 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.