Why doesn't God end all evil immediately? <A HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/memberofheart/allforyou/agreatday.html">~ HAVE A GREAT DAY ~</a> Why doesn't God end all evil immediately? To end evil God would have to destroy the cause of evil people. In His good plan for people (see below), it is therefore not good to end all evil immediately. Why doesn't God make people unable to cause suffering? To do that, God would have to take away our ability to choose. But choice free will is a good thing. In order to love, you must be able to choose to love. Forced love is not love. So to have a universe that included love, God had to make us with choice, which includes the choice not to love and that makes sin, evil, pain and suffering possible. Why does God allow natural disaster and disease? It is a part of a sinful world. God lowered the perfection of creation (from the perfect garden of Eden) to match the spiritual state of those who live here (Romans 8:20-22). God graciously has sustained people on this earth (allowing them to reproduce, to develop governments and systems to deal with the effects of sin). He has graciously sustained the fallen creation (providing sun and rain for food to sustain life But the natural effect of a fallen creation is that even good things can have evil byproducts (water can drown someone; gravity can kill someone; lightening can burn and kill). Why doesn't God stop evil acts that cause innocent people to suffer? Why doesn't God miraculously intervene to stop evil acts if He is all-loving and all-powerful? Why doesn't He catch the drunk driver's car that is going to crash into a bus? Why doesn't He deflect the murderer's bullets? The person asking doesn't actually want God to stop all their evil acts. They don't want to be invisibly gagged every time they're about to say something hurtful; they don't want to stub their toe when they try to kick the dog. They just think it would be good if God stopped certain evil acts or just the evil acts of others. But that would make life impossible. There would be no freedoms, no regularity and no personal responsibility. Why doesn't God let us choose to get out of this suffering? The answer is that He does. That is the gracious, loving response of God to the evil condition of this sinful world. A. God has provided for personal salvation =96 the promise of eternal life in heaven where there is no suffering (Revelation 21:4). One must simply put his trust in the payment for sin God provided through Christ's death on the cross (John 3:16-18; Acts 10:38-43: etc.). B. God has provided for the earth's redemption (Romans 8:18-23; 2 Peter 3:10,13; Revelation 21:1) Your Friend In Christ... <A HREF="http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/memberofheart/index.html">Main Index</a> "http://www.angelfire.com/mb2/memberofheart/allforyoumylord/index.html"

On Fri, 25 Jul 2003 09:43:27 -0400 (EDT), you wrote: >Why doesn't God end all evil immediately? How did this rubbish get on this list? John.