October
2007
What is God’s Purpose In Allowing Evil to Exist?
(READ Job chapter 1)
SO… where did SATAN come from? Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14. They both point out his beginning design and then his chosen path. He, Satan, (originally called Lucifer) was created perfect (Ez: 28:12-13). He was among all the other angels in heaven (Jude 1:6). His primary role was to the guardian of God’s glory (Ez. 28:14).
Here is a summary of my study through God’s word of what evil is:
Evil is the displacement or the corruption of the best God has intended for us and His world.
Key words:
Displacement = the substitution of one thing for another
Corruption = exploitation of power for personal gain
In Answers to Tough Questions Skeptics Ask about the Christian Faith by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart point out that,
“Sometimes the problem of evil is put to the Christian in the form of a complex question, “If God is good, then He must not be powerful enough to deal with all the evil and injustice in the world since it is still going on. If He is powerful enough to stop wrongdoing, then He Himself must be an evil God since He’s not doing anything about it even though He has the capability. So which is it” Is He a bad God or a God that’s not all powerful?”
The pattern I see in Scripture for God’s purpose in allowing evil is simply this… to show us that without Him, we are nothing but a failure.
Romans 3:23, Isa 64:6, John 3:20
In The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis wrote: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
God allows evil to show you how what it is like without him… and what it will be like to be without him FOREVER!
But the inverse is also true… in allowing evil to exist, it shows us God’s power to transform our lives for His glory!
How can we then respond to the evil around us?
(Read: Job chapter 2)
Conclusion: 2 Peter 3:1-14
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