Jason Berggren The Existence Of Evil Is Actually Evidence Of God’s True Goodness

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What if I told you the existence of evil is actually evidence of God’s true goodness. Sound outrageous? It is, but it’s true. Imagine if we could keep that mind when bad stuff happens. But let me explain first. Be warned, this is gonna sound a bit ‘churchy.’ There’s just no way around it.

>The ability to sin is an echo of God’s goodness—it shows how good God really is. Actually, it screams of how great he is.

Yes, you read that correctly.

God created us to be loved and to love. For love to be pure and real, it must be built on choice. There’s no mystery or romance in a love that’s mechanical. There’s no sincerity in a choice that’s forced. That’s not love. The teddy bear that says, “I love you!” when squeezed does not actually love anyone.

God didn’t make robots.

>Because God is perfect, because he’s unselfish, because God is good to his core, because he’s great in all his ways, he gave us the ability to choose.

Only then can there be true and complete love. It was dangerous for God to do this, as we now know. But it was the only way for it to be real love.

Then and now, we can choose to love and trust God, his ways, and his goodness—or not. When we don’t, whether or not we realize it, it’s because we have an issue with God’s sovereignty.

>Questioning the goodness of God comes down to a sovereignty issue.

That is, will we respect him, his nature, and that things are the way they are for whatever reason He has decided?

If you’ve ever read the stor of Adam and Eve in Genesis, you know they didn’t. And ‘forbidden fruit’ has become a metaphor for so many difficult choices in life.

Remember, if our Enemy can trick us into thinking God doesn’t know what’s best, or that God’s not really in control at all (or not doing a good job), or that he isn’t good, then it won’t be long before we stop believing God is real.

>The world is the way it is and things are the way they are because that’s the way God sees fit to let it be for now.

There may be a plan or reason, or, even worse, there may not be.

So, can we (you) accept that God is good and that the world is fundamentally in a broken state?
Can you accept that these may not be mutually exclusive—that both can exist, and often do, at the same time?

That means sometimes things are ordered and sometimes things just happen and are random. If we can do that, then there can even be purpose to our existence and value in each experience, whatever that may be—then we’ll mature and gain wisdom.

Why is it like this? I don’t know. This is why striving to be content is so important. It’s the precursor to wisdom and maturity—perhaps something Adam and Eve didn’t have the experience of life to glean from.

>But if I can let God be sovereign and not try to put myself in his place by deciding how things should be in the thick of my own emotions, I’m on the path to healing, rebuilding, comfort, and peace.

The idea that God is good is at the very core of creation. God started with “Let there be light.” And when he was all finished, he looked at everything, took stock of it, and declared it good. Creation—existence itself—is good by just being.

The very fact that there is life, the creative force set in motion by God, is daily evidence of his goodness.

>The bottom-line: Our understanding of the goodness of God will determine our journey.

If we don’t accept that God is good, our faith won’t survive the trials of life. It’s as unwavering as day and night are fastened in their places. Sometimes that’s not enough for us, but it’s always true.

Yes, sometimes you’ll wonder, but always come back to it:

God is good.

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Read all these related posts in order here:

God Isn’t Good.

God Still Isn’t Good.

If God Is Good, Then He Will…

Let’s Make A Deal, God.