How can God exist, with all this evil in the world?

Maybe he just doesn’t care! Maybe he’s just an egotistical mass murderer that wants us all to bow down at his feet and worship him! Maybe he is evil himself and we are just pawns in some sadistic game!

Yeah! Yeah, that’s it!

But wait there is more; maybe he loves us so much that although we are all evil, he still sent his only begotten son, a spotless lamb to die for us!  But wait a second, that doesn’t sound like the God I described above. But… how can he be both? Or is it….. Is it maybe he can’t be both?

Does the picture of a man nailed to a cross bleeding profusely and unrecognizable from the beating and lashing he just took sound like an all powerful egotistical God? Does the picture of an all powerful creator, perfect and holy, washing the feet of peasants and wearing a crown of thorns sound like an evil mastermind to you?

Uh, not me.

Sorry! I tend to get a little offended and hurt when someone mocks my heavenly Father. But that is a good question to ask (How could God exist, with all this evil in the world?), if you do not understand at least. Let me share with you my understanding, which may not be the best explanation ever given, but it makes total sense to me.

You see, I have found that people who ask this question do not know a lot about the bible and the one true God. They get mixed up with all the other world religions and secular views. And on top of that they have this sense of pride that doesn’t allow them to recognize their own self compared to a Mighty, holy God. They feel like Man has created all things and man has determined Good and evil, and man this and that… etc. You have to first understand the answer to the question we have to first understand who God is. We have to set aside all we think we know and learn a new concept, that MAN is not all powerful and the Alpha and Omega. Rather, we are minuscule and tiny in the order of things. One way to understand this is to really put ourselves into our own place. We are but a breath in the scope of time and place. Although our lives are long and meaningful to us, over time and the size of the universe we are hardly a period at the end of a sentence. Or like in the words of Kansas “Dust in the Wind.”

Now I don’t mean this is a bad way, but it’s just how it is. In all actuality, I mean to inspire you to understand how little you are but yet God, the all powerful creator who spoke the world into existence and created the heavens and the earth, Amen. He still longs to have a personal relationship with you, to walk with you. In fact, he cares so much that he chose to DIE for you, even though we didn’t deserve it. HE CHOSE TO PAY YOUR DEBT. YOUR SIN, NOT BECAUSE YOU EARNED IT, BUT BECAUSE HE LOVES US.

WOW!!! That just happened. Ok, so back to what I was saying.

A good way to relate this message (in an odd way) is like this. Say you had a professor or a teacher and they presented a project to you. The only way to pass the class is to ace this test. So the professor says you have to draw a perfect circle, freehand. Now we all know this is an impossible task, hence the key word “perfect.” So the professor gives you an example and the circle is a perfect circle all the way down to the smallest detail. Now, as a class everyone would try and try and try to keep drawing the perfect circle and some would come close. Some would even come so close they would they think they aced the test, but when put it under a microscope you would be able to see the small imperfections. So then the professor, knowing the class could never get it right, offers them a gift. The teacher is willing to offer their perfect circle to anyone in the class who is willing to accept it. All they have to do is admit they cannot draw a perfect circle and they need the teacher to provide the circle for them so they can ace the class. The problem is some of the class will easily admit they could never draw a perfect circle and desperately need what the professor has to offer. Some will still keep trying to draw the circle and claim they can do it just fine on their own. And some will just say that they don’t care to ace the class and a degree isn’t even important, etc.

Now this may not be the absolute best way to describe God in a nutshell, but I think it makes a pretty clear statement. Now this question definitely does not explain why there is so much evil in this world, but I wanted to first explain to you the concept.

Now, let’s assume you’re a parent, and as a parent you have ten children. Out of these ten children in whom you have provided a home, food, nurturing, and love you have also provided a set of rules. Now let’s suppose 9 of these children, whom are all adopted, break your rules in various ways and times. They are completely ungrateful and treat you as though you don’t even exist. One won’t clean her room, the other won’t brush his teeth, and a couple of them are always fighting with each other, and so on. Now, as a parent, you would want to discipline your children for breaking your rules correct? But which one deserves the harshest punishment? Which one deserves the least? Well, let’s just suppose they all at some point deserve A punishment so you mutually punish all of them the same to get your point across. It really doesn’t matter how, cause they are all breaking the rules right? Now would you destroy any of the bad kids? No! Because if you destroy one, you would have to destroy all of them; On the contrary, you would want all your children to just behave and follow the rules, so you’re patient and loving with them, hoping one day they will all just be good little children. Because you love them so deeply and they are all your children, you want what is best for ALL of them, even if they won’t all be good.

This is similar to God, because we are all God’s children. He created all of us out of love and so we could enjoy a good life. We on the other hand choose to disobey and do our own thing. I mean parents ask all the time “why can’t my kid just do what I tell them?” But when looking at them we don’t see our own faults and how selfish we all can actually be. We may think we are good, but we are not. Not compared to the “perfect circle.” But since God loves all of us he wants all of us to be good. Not just America, not just Christians. All people, because at what point do you determine what is evil? Like I was saying before, at what point does the teacher determine whose circle is wrong? Because compared to a perfect circle, the whole class would fail. When compared to a perfect God, we all are evil. It’s not MY standard, not YOUR standard and not anyone else’s standard, because we could all have a different standard. We all draw different circles. Evil is not because of God. If you took everything out of the bible that Jesus (God) taught and just applied those principles to your own life, and everyone else in the entire world did the same. We would all be living in a perfect world with no evil. So why blame God? We have had the instruction manual for over two thousand years. Yet man’s greed and pride get in the way. We also fail to recognize that, God did Judge the world at one time and that was the great flood. I don’t think we want that again. We just want “that evil over there” destroyed, because we don’t like that evil.

Now let’s take this a step further. Your children are grown, and you have a great inheritance for all your children. Riches beyond belief and you, being a loving, devoted father, want all your children to inherit their share. But, there is a problem. Your children have gotten deeper into debt and have broken many laws and now they are facing a harsh sentence because of it. You could never possibly give them your inheritance because they are in deep and facing a life and death completely separated from you and what you have to offer them. So still being the loving, devoted parent, you are, you refuse to give up on them. Your first Son, whose is a perfect obedient son is sent to talk to the other children. He pleads with them and tells them of the coming doom, they are in for. And he offers himself up to take all their debt and their disobedience and offers to cover for their evil deeds so they can still receive their inheritance. And even though he has never done anything wrong, he still pays the cost for them. But he tells them before he does that he is doing this for them and all they have to do is recognize their wrong doing, come back to you and ask for forgiveness. But they deny knowing him, and don’t want anything to do with him. Now some of your children will decide to do this, but some won’t. But the offer is still there for all of them to accept it.

Now this is not the exact and 100% accurate telling of the story, but I wanted you to see it from a worldly perspective.

We are all evil, and at some point in time in our life have drawn imperfect circles. We all sin, it doesn’t matter how hard you try to live a perfect life, and you won’t.  We have to accept that about ourselves and accept that God is a loving, devoted Father, ad, although he is all powerful and perfect he still wants us to receive our inheritance. He sees us as imperfect, but loves us anyway. But through Jesus is the only way to do that, Jesus is the perfect circle and God’s offering to his children as his FREE gift. A gift to ace the class, He offered up his only begotten son, his perfect circle, although we have and will never do anything to earn it, so his “adopted children” (see Romans 8, Ephesians 7) can receive this inheritance. We just have to accept it.  But some of us will never do it for one reason or another we make excuses and man-made attempts to be perfect. And if you keep trying to do it on your own you’re going to fail and the price you pay is much worse than an F. 

(For those of you who have read this far) God never promised a perfect life here on earth for us, Christian or not. We will all face trials and sorrows. I just go through life knowing that one day the evil in this world will meet my Loving and Holy Father, and without Jesus Christ they will be punished. 

"So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it." Isaiah 55:11