How Do We Know God Is Real? Part 3
Part 3 – If God Is Good, Why Is There Evil?
One of the greatest arguments against the existence of God is this:
“If God is all-powerful and all-loving, why is there so much evil in the world?”
It’s an honest question.
Wars.
Cancer.
Abuse.
Murder.
Human trafficking.
Broken homes.
Addiction.
Betrayal.
Natural disasters.
If God exists, why doesn’t He stop it all?
The Bible doesn’t ignore this question.
It answers it.
The answer begins in the Garden of Eden.
God did not create robots.
He created human beings with free moral agency—the ability to make real moral choices.
Without freedom, there can be no genuine love.
Without the ability to choose “no,” saying “yes” has no meaning.
God Gave Humanity a Choice
Genesis 2:16–17 (NKJV)
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’”
Notice…
God warned Adam before Adam ever sinned.
Love warns.
Love doesn’t force.
God desired obedience that flowed from love not coercion.
Humanity Chose Rebellion
Romans 5:12 (NKJV)
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
Notice what Paul says.
God did not bring sin into the world.
Sin entered through one man.
The brokenness we experience today is the result of humanity’s rebellion against God’s design.
Story #1 — The Red Light
Imagine a city where every traffic light suddenly disappeared.
No stop signs.
No speed limits.
No laws.
For a few moments people might celebrate freedom.
Within hours…
Chaos.
Accidents.
Death.
Now imagine a driver ignores a red light and crashes into another family.
Who is responsible?
The engineer who designed the road?
Or the driver who ignored the warning?
God designed life.
Human beings make choices.
Choices have consequences.
We Often Blame God for Human Decisions
When someone lies…
God didn’t lie.
When someone steals…
God didn’t steal.
When someone commits murder…
God didn’t commit murder.
When someone abuses a child…
God didn’t commit the abuse.
Much of the suffering in our world is the result of people misusing the freedom God has given them.
God Is Not the Author of Evil
James 1:13 (NKJV)
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.”
God is perfectly holy.
He does not create evil.
He is never tempted by evil.
Neither does He tempt people to do evil.
But the Problem Goes Deeper
Many people believe our greatest problem is bad behavior.
The Bible says our greatest problem is much deeper.
There is a difference between sin and sins.
The Greek word hamartia is often used to describe sin as an inward condition or ruling power.
Sin (singular) is the inward nature that rebels against God.
Sins (plural) are the outward actions produced by that inward condition.
Lying.
Stealing.
Hatred.
Pride.
Greed.
Adultery.
These are sins.
They reveal a much deeper problem called sin.
The fruit reveals the root.
Humanity Has a Nature Beyond Human Repair
Romans 6:6 (NKJV)
“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
Notice…
Paul doesn’t first say the body of sins.
He says the body of sin.
Something within humanity is broken.
Ephesians 2:1–3 (NKJV)
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins… among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh… and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”
Notice those words.
“By nature.”
The Bible teaches that humanity’s greatest problem isn’t simply behavior.
It is nature.
That nature cannot heal itself.
Story #2 — The Rotten Tree
Imagine an apple tree producing rotten fruit.
Someone says,
“Let’s tape healthy apples onto the branches.”
For a little while…
It looks better.
But eventually…
The apples fall off.
Why?
Because the problem was never the fruit.
The problem was always the root.
Humanity spends billions trying to tape better fruit onto a corrupt root.
More education.
More technology.
More money.
Better politics.
While all of these things have value, none of them can remove the root of sin.
Only God can change the heart.
Evil Is More Than Physical
Before Adam and Eve sinned, the Bible describes rebellion in the spiritual realm.
Many Christians understand Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 as speaking directly to earthly kings while also reflecting the pride and fall associated with Satan.
Isaiah 14:12 (NKJV)
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!”
Ezekiel 28:15 (NKJV)
“You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.”
Notice something remarkable.
Iniquity was found in a created spiritual being.
Evil is not merely physical.
It is first an immaterial reality before it becomes a physical act.
Jesus taught the same principle when He said murder begins with hatred and adultery begins with lust in the heart.
The heart is the battlefield before the hands ever act.
This Is Why Jesus Came
God didn’t ignore humanity’s condition.
He entered our world.
John 3:16–18 (NKJV)
**“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”**
Jesus did not come merely to improve bad people.
He came to save people who could not save themselves.
The Holy Spirit Reveals the Real Problem
John 16:8–9 (NKJV)
“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me.”
Notice what Jesus says.
The deepest issue isn’t simply sinful actions.
The Holy Spirit points humanity to its greatest need—to believe in Christ.
Without Christ, the nature of sin remains.
With Christ, new life begins.
The Gospel Is God’s Answer
Many people ask,
“If God is good, why doesn’t He do something?”
He did.
He sent His Son.
Jesus didn’t come merely to forgive our sins.
He came to break the power of sin itself.
He came to give us a new heart, a new Spirit, and a new life.
Closing Thought
The greatest problem in the world isn’t a lack of education.
It isn’t politics.
It isn’t economics.
It isn’t technology.
Humanity’s greatest problem is an immaterial problem a fallen nature that no amount of human effort can repair.
That is why Christianity is not primarily about becoming a better person.
It is about becoming a new creation through Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
The answer to evil is not denying God.
The answer to evil is the God who entered our broken world through Jesus Christ, conquered sin and death, and offers every person a new beginning.