Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Psalm 100:5

“For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”
If God is good then why do bad things happen? According to Genesis 1:31, God declared that all of His creation was “very good.” He had not flawed, and He had not created evil. However, in Genesis 3 Adam and Eve believed the deceptive lies of Satan and disobeyed God, introducing sin and ultimately death to all mankind. Sin was the corruption of God’s perfect, holy design. It was a lack of holiness, a lack of faith, a lack of obedience that had led to the corruption of what God had created.
But does that mean that it was without His control? No, certainly not. He could have stopped it at any point, but He did not. Was He surprised by the sin? Also, no. Nothing takes Him by surprise. As a matter of fact, Revelation 13:8 points to the fact that God in His prescience (foreknowledge) had already planned for the fall, and that He desired to extend redemption to the descendants of Adam before He even created Adam.
God is not the author of sin, but He is sovereign over it. In Isaiah 45:7 God says “I form the light, and create the darkness: I make peace, and create evil. I the LORD do all these things.” Some might point to this verse and say that God does that which is evil. The only problem is that the Hebrew word translated “evil” here is not the word that is used for sin or lack of holiness, rather it is the word that deals with calamity and tragedy. He certainly does not create disobedience to His holy character, but He does create the calamity and affliction that accompany the disobedience of His holy nature.
He is only good. In Isaiah 46:10, He says, “I will do all my pleasure” (I will do whatever pleases me). Romans 8:28 goes further to explain that He will “work all things together for good to them that love God and are called according to his purpose.” It pleases God to do good to us. So God allows “bad” things to happen, so that He may redeem them to His holy purposes for His glory. For the LORD is good, and His mercy is everlasting.

Food For Thought: If God is good, then why do bad things happen?

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