(Galatians 2:2)
Explaining why people do bad things. Not a day goes by that I don't
receive several emails asking if God is SO good, SO powerful, then
why do
people do such evil things. Rather than going into a complicated theology
lesson, let me try to help you understand the evil men and women do this
way. For those who have been raised in Christian homes, made the decision to
come to know Christ at an early age, and have lived your life for Him from
early
on, God bless you. You have missed out on a lot of the pain and heartache
that sin and rebellion cause people. For those who came to Christ later in
life,
or perhaps lived in a rebellious state like the prodigal son, then you will
be
better able to understand what I am going to say today. The bottom line is
that when a person is without Christ, ANYTHING is possible.
I think back on rebellious periods of my life and am ashamed and saddened
by things I have done before. I can't even imagine that I was the one that
did them. Thus the scripture, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a
new
creature". You see, when a person accepts Christ into their life, they
actually become a new creation. The old is passed away and they become
new. Prior to that new birth experience, in the old state there are no
rules,
no laws other than those each man puts upon himself. There is no absolute
truth as we find in God's word, since the only truth is what each man
believes in his/her heart at the time. You can understand that under these
conditions, people are capable of anything, including the incredible evil
that we see each day in the world we live.
The answer to why God doesn't do something about it is also found in
scripture. We know that there is a coming day of judgment. There is a day
coming when everything we know will pass away. There will be a new heaven
and a new earth. Part of our problem is that we are so conscious of time, we
fail to comprehend that to God, a thousand years is as a day. We want
everything now. We want our food now, our mail now, our phone call now,
our money now. We are into instant answers and instant gratification. God is
not
bound by time and while we may think He isn't acting on the things we see
as wrong, He is, but it is happening in His time, not ours. The Bible is
clear to point out that everyone of us will one day stand before the
Judgment
seat of Christ and give an account for our life. That is not a fairy tale,
there are no special passes to miss this event...we will all stand before
that
seat of judgment one day. Evil will be judged, maybe not at the exact
moment we
would like to see, but the Bible is clear that there is a day of judgment
of each one of us.
I pray today that this has helped some of you better understand the
never-ending question, especially among nonbelievers, as to why God allows
evil to exist. Evil exists because the heart of a man or woman without
Christ is filled with sin and capable of anything you can imagine. Maybe
this will also better help you understand my passion, my drive, my desire
to not only help people in their time of need, but help those who are lost
find Christ. That is why I continually challenge you to stretch your faith,
challenge you to do more each day to serve God, because it is in our
service that lives are touched, hearts are changed. Evil exists because men
and
women without Christ have sin-filled hearts. I pray today that you will
make it a renewed priority in your life to step forward and let God use you
to
touch people. He uses us as His instruments in the lives of people to help
those who are lost find Jesus. That and that alone is the ultimate answer
to the problem of evil in this world, helping the lost find Christ and
become
new creatures.
