If there is a God…
If somebody asks me, “How can a good God, allow evil?” or “If there is a god, how can he allow bad things happen to good people?” In the aftermath of Ondoy and the series of earthquakes in the Pacific region where a lot of people (good and bad) have lost their lives ad properties, I can imagine skeptics coming up with these age-old questions.
I guess I would have no reasonable statement to convince any skeptic. But I can point out an example where evil, as we may consider it, was employed by God to carry out His divine plan. And it can be found in the main tenet of Christianity – the Gospel.
Jesus Christ lived a just and holy life, he lived among sinners but he didn’t live like them. By all standards, whether Gods’ or mans’ he is considered ‘good’. But towards the end of His life he suffered a horrific punishment in the hands of evil men. In the time of His prosecution, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor asked the people which man would they have him released : Jesus (the good man) or Barabas (a notorious criminal)? On a smaller picture Jesus suffered in in the place of a wicked man, as Peter said:
“For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; 1 Peter 3:18”
Some would call it ‘preposterous’, I would agree since I cannot find a better word. But God use it to restore mankind to His original plan. And that is “to live in eternal fellowship with Him in perfect peace and joy”. He gave His son to die for all mankind so whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). As I said on a smaller picture earlier, Barabas symbolizes sinful mankind being set free from the punishment that he deserves through the death of Christ. In the present life he was spared from the punishment without realizing that God is painting a picture out of him being released. One of my favorite verses said Paul:
“He made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor 5:21”
If God resorted to this unimaginable act of sacrifice I can conclude He resorted to this because there’s no other way. If I am wrong about this I can also conclude, He did this to prove His love for us. It makes me ask Him every now and then “Why do you love me?”
For the followers of Jesus Christ, they were shocked when they saw Him dying in a very shameful way. They cannot make any sense out of it. They were probably asking “How can it be?”, “He is suppose to be our King”, “He is suppose to establish the Kingdom of Israel as in the glory days of King David”. “How can God allow this tragic thing to happen?” They understood everything after HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD. We never had that dilemma since we grew up knowing this and it did not happen before our eyes. Although I knew that since childhood I never understood, or rather I would say I never believed it, because if I had believed it I wouldn’t have lived for myself for 27 years. I would have lived for Jesus Christ right from the start. And I guess that’s another example for the problem of evil. I was evil, I was living in darkness and Jesus, who calls Himself ‘the light of the world’, (John 8:12) came to me. I would say God allowed me to live in darkness so I can see the light and turn from darkness to light. I would have written more but I guess that’s enough for now.
If somebody asks me “if there is a God how can he allow bad things to good people?” I would say “I don’t know, but can I tell you about Jesus Christ?”