Why do good things happen to bad people, and bad things happen to good people? To be clear, we do see bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people. However, we often single out specific cases to justify our refusal of God.
The question strikes at the origin of evil. Why does evil exist in the world? Some have attempted to explain evil as existing in matter while the spirit world is righteousness and pure. This leads to the false notion that matter and anything physical (including the body) are evil. However, such arguments are fatal in logic, theology, and philosophy. In Genesis 1 and 2, God created and called His creation good. Declaring that matter is inherently evil is contrary to God Himself, for then God is at the same time both the origin of evil and the origin of moral law. Such ideas are self-defeating.
Others claim that God is the cause of all things and that God predestined evil to occur (meaning He is the sole volitional force behind evil) or God somehow needed the evil to occur to fulfill His plans (meaning He is the ultimate cause of evil, for evil had no choice but to occur). In this belief system, it is extremely difficult to avoid the result that God is the source of evil and the only volitional force or ultimate cause behind evil. How can God be both evil and good at the same time?
Both explanations serve only to reduce God, limit God’s authority, and eliminate the need for Christ, thereby denying the glory, honor, and obedience due to Christ.
Both explanations also serve to evade personal responsibility and embrace self-righteousness, which is the underlying design behind both belief systems. There is no other purpose for such teachings than to avoid accountability for personal decisions and justify self. Ultimately, such ideas represent the justification which we perceive as necessary, however, it is only a justification of self apart from anything outside of ourselves. This leads to the worship of self.
Beyond the scope of this post is the concept that nothing exists outside of God. Thus, evil does exist within the framework that God created, though it is not caused by Him. God’s nature is pure, which includes love, and love requires the ability of the creature to refuse God. Evil is the result of the creature refusing God, and that result is permitted by God’s love to exist.
In the sins of Lucifer, Adam, Eve, and Cain, we see freedom of the will. The love of God demands a response, and love requires that the response be voluntary. A voluntary response is only possible with the freedom to choose. If we have no choice in the matter, then God’s love is a myth, again, denying the very essence of God.
In our culture today, many want love to be one-way, that being from God to us without any response on our part; or, we desire to obtain God’s favor and the bounty of His love but on the terms we dictate (works-based salvation). However, this is not love at all. For love to be love, it must be voluntarily given and, in response, voluntarily accepted. God’s love demands action and a response from us.
Within the framework of moral law, it is through the freedom of choice that we understand sin and the consequences of sin. In Deuteronomy 11:26-28, we read, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside from the way which I am commanding you today, by following other gods which you have not known.”
Obedience of God brings about a certain blessing, and a refusal of the morality God expects leads to a curse. While I do not embrace modern teaching on predestination, I can accept that certain causes-and-effects are predestined or laws of the universe, if you will. One such cause-and-effect is the result of obedience or disobedience of God as summarized in Deuteronomy 11.
On this point, we are not at liberty to chart our own course to enter heaven or avoid hell. We are not granted the ability to design our own systems to receive the blessings which God promises or define terms apart from God. Such blessings only come through the obedience which God prescribes. Morality, knowledge, and goodness all originate from God, and any definitions apart from God represent perversion. We read from 1 Samuel 15 how Saul’s attempts to excuse his behavior, blame others, and assert his obedience were insufficient to avoid the curse. In other words, narcissism, self-righteousness, and justification of self are no match for the consequences of breaking God’s law.
Here, some will say, “Yes, but God is love! How can a loving God curse someone?”
Of all Christ’s teachings in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible, perhaps it is His teaching on judgment and hell which are the most overlooked, and this teaching is extensive.
Sin causes a breach and separates us from God. Sin is willful disobedience. Therefore, sin is a willful separation from God. Understanding that there is a certain freedom on our part to choose, any consequences we receive for the willful choice to be separated from God are the direct result of our sin. That there is a consequence for sin was explained in the beginning, in Genesis chapters 2 and 3 while Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden.
Matthew chapter 25 contains some of the most succinct teachings of Christ on the coming judgment, punishment for sin, and hell. In verse 12, Christ says to those who were foolish, “I do not know you.” In verses 29 and 30, we read, “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. Throw out that worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
In verses 41 and 46, Christ references eternal fire and eternal punishment for sin and evil, the place prepared for the devil and his angels. At the root of Christ’s teaching on judgment and hell is personal responsibility and reward/consequence for decisions freely made.
Christ’s teachings on hell and judgment help to make better sense of John the Baptist’s preaching, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” (Matthew 3:2) and “flee the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:7).
The origin of evil lies in freedom of the will coupled with intentional decisions to rebel against God’s law. Freedom of the will proves God’s love for us, in that He grants us the opportunity to respond and the possibility to refuse Him.
Of all the heretical teachings around Christianity, perhaps Gnosticism gives the greatest and clearest proofs that Christianity is one of the most important features in human history. Few people deny that Jesus existed. The difficulty in accepting Jesus Christ ties back to the self-will and a refusal of God’s moral law, which are the underpinnings of Gnosticism. The primary teaching of Gnosticism is that we are not responsible for the sin we commit. As old as Gnosticism may be, it remains alive and well today.
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