What is God Doing about Evil?
What is God doing about Evil?
Isn’t that the question everyone asks? How should we answer?
There are a number of ways to answer this question. My reply to the question of evil is simple, “read the Bible.” Perhaps the subtitle on the cover of every Bible should be, Jesus Christ Overcomes Evil. The entire Bible addresses the question of evil. God does not like evil, He hates evil, and He has a vested interest in doing something about evil. In fact, God radically address evil. This is what the Bible is all about; God addressing the problem of evil.
Think about this, evil results in death. Every evil action, even a seemingly mundane evil act like gossiping, has the ultimate outcome of death. This is why we all hate evil. Humans want to live forever, but we can’t because of evil. War is evil, it kills people. Violence is evil, it kills people. Stealing is evil; it results ultimately in hunger which kills people. Easier to argue is the antithesis; evil acts never result in giving life. Evil never helps us live longer. Goodness brings life, evil brings death.
How does God address evil? Jesus stared evil in the face. He literally took evil upon Himself; He absorbed it and let evil take His life. Jesus fully bore the death evil brings so we would not have to bear the outcome of our own evil. The Bible says Jesus became sin for us so we could be made right. We need to put our faith in Jesus, who He is and what He did. This is the Gospel. God gave His only begotten Son so whosoever would believe in Him would have everlasting life. Those that believe in Christ have the evil in their life eradicated.
After taking evil upon Himself, Jesus destroyed it completely. The evidence of this is Jesus rose from the dead. Christ continues to live with the power of indestructible life. Evil has no hold upon Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ is the “Firstfruit” of those who die; which means He is the first to rise in an immortal, indestructible body, and as such He heads a whole new order as its Sovereign. Jesus Christ brought everlasting life to a dying Creation infected by evil. The Apostle Paul proclaims Jesus Christ as firstborn from the dead. This means Jesus has all the rights and privileges of all that exists in eternal Creation.
The resurrection proves Christ’s victory over sin, evil, and death. The resurrection of Christ is why we have hope. The resurrection is the reason why evil does not shake our faith. We know evil has an end.
Without the resurrection, our view and thoughts regarding the events that take place around the world, the horror, the evil, we can easily be filled with despair. No words may sufficiently describe how evil impacts our lives. Human justice is unable to hand down adequate sentences for the evil we see committed. Besides; no human judge can restore life after evil steals it away. Without the resurrection, we are most miserable.
God has seen our need for a Savior from evil. We look at the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The power over sin and the hope of resurrection over death is the only adequate answer to provide peace of mind when it comes to the question of evil. Christ the Judge of the living and the dead and Christ is the giver of eternal life. He is our hope, our light in darkness. He has already judged evil.
People are looking for answers. The answer they need to hear, “evil, sin, destruction, and death do not have the last word.” Jesus is not finished speaking and Jesus has the last word. Evil and death are defeated by Jesus Christ. The grave is not the victor; death has lost its sting.
There is no place of darkness where the Prince of Glory may not shine His light. There is no door he cannot open. He has the keys to every kingdom and every domain. Every knee bows and every tongue confesses to Christ. He is supreme over all. Our Savior has first place over sickness and death. He has first place in everything.
Rejoice O, Christian Rejoice. Rejoice in the supremacy of Jesus over evil and death.
