Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20040912.htm

ANSWERING OTHERS WITH REASONS FOR OUR FAITH
Part II: Handling Questions Most Often Asked By Christianity's Critics
A. Answering How Moral Evil Can Exist In The Biblical God's Universe
(Genesis 1:1-3:21; Revelation 22:1-5)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

The last message in this new series on Christian Apologetics briefly touched on the question critics of the Bible and the Bible's God make regarding the subject of evil in the world. We continue discussing that subject in this message in greater depth as follows:

(1) Our world contains a lot of moral evil, and some of it is great. For example, in the last thirty days, rebels against the Russian government stormed a school containing hundreds of Russian children and held them and their overseers captive. The rebels demanded Russia's forces withdraw from their land before they released them.

At first, the Russian government claimed it would not try to resolve this crisis with force. However, in a few days, they did just that, and hundreds of Russian children were violently slain as a result.

A television news report showed a Russian soldier involved in the incident breaking down and weeping at the carnage he had seen!

(2) Some critics of the Christian faith would ask us a variety of questions relative to this very event as follows:

(a) They would ask: "If there IS a Good and All Powerful God as the Bible presents Him, why would He allow this tragic loss of hundreds of Russian school children?"

(b) They might follow that question with these words: "Am I then to assume the Bible's God is either not that Good or not that All Powerful to be able to stop such a tragedy? Well, if He is not all that Good or Powerful, how can you expect me to trust in Him?"

(c) If we answer this criticism, stating God knew ahead of time that good would come out of this tragedy, so He allowed it to occur, the critic might again respond, saying: "But why would a Good and All Powerful God like the Bible present allow those Russian children to be taken hostage only to be slain in the first place: doesn't His foreknowledge that this tragedy would occur lest He intervene, and then His letting it occur unchecked make God Himself at least partly guilty of the evil slaughter of these children?"



Well, HOW can we answer such criticism of our Christian faith in light of such a tragedy?



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "How may I answer one who asks how the good and all powerful God of the BIBLE can coexist where moral EVIL exists?!"
  1. As we taught in our first message, we defend God's character, using Scripture in alignment with a noted apologist's argument:
    1. Point One - Dr. Geisler suggests the Bible's God must be perfect, meaning He do His best, and that means creating a world where man is free to do good or evil; this proposal matches Scripture's revelation:
      1. Dr. Geisler suggests the Bible's (theistic) God must be "perfect," and that demands that He do His best, Phil. of Rel., p. 377. The Bible similarly teaches in Psalm 145:3 that God is perfect, and in Deuteronomy 32:4 that His works are (thus) also perfect.
      2. Dr. Geisler claims God's best demands He make a world of "free beings" even if it risks their choosing evil, for "it is better to allow failure, with the opportunity for a greater good, than not to give the opportunity at all," Ibid., p. 375. The Bible similarly shows God aimed to do the highest good even if it came at a horrible cost: in Hebrews 12:2, we learn Jesus faced the cross to gain a joyful end.
      3. Dr. Geisler poses that for God to do His best demands He create a world that lets its free beings heed Him freely, for forcing others to a specific choice yields an "unworthy" choice short of the best, Ibid., p. 376. Well, Genesis 1:31 and 2:16-17 shows God made a world where man had free will, and that He felt it was very good!
    2. Point Two - The current state of a universe where some evil and a holy God temporarily coexist is the only possible, fitting RESULT:
      1. Dr. Geisler asserts God must provide for "an optimally perfect moral world" with (a) a "process" leading to men being free but not doing evil, (b) where moral freedom is allowed and "uncoerced", (c) where enough evil exists for its beings to attain "higher moral values" and (d) "learn for themselves why evil is wrong," Ibid.
      2. This world's current state is exactly such a world (as follows):
        1. Dr. Geisler writes: "a world where sin never occurred certainly could not fulfill the requirements for an optimally perfect moral world . . . it is difficult to conceive of a world that would better suit these conditions than the world we now live in." (Ibid.)
        2. The Bible presents such a world: (a) God made man with the full liberty to choose between good and evil, Gen. 2:7-9, 16-17. (b) Man sinned, and at first experienced its tragic results, Gen. 3:1-6, 8-19 with most of the Bible! (c) Yet, God gave a means for victory over sin shown in His guarding the Tree of Life for man's later use if he triumphed over sin by Christ, Gen. 3:22-25; John 3:16; Rev. 22:1-5. (d) Some conquer sin in Christ and gain the optimum moral victory, Gen. 4:1-Rev. 22:21!
  2. Having defended God's character, we expose the charge that God is not good or all powerful to be itself a great evil rising from Satan:
    1. Scripture shows God is so powerful and so upright in contrast to evil that heaven's angels always cry out about the TENSION of that contrast: in this context, Isa. 6:1-5 and Rev. 4:8 show they always cry out, and we paraphrase, "Separate, separate, separate is the Lord . . ."
    2. Thus, the charge God is not good or powerful enough to inhibit evil is itself an tremendous evil, and Scripture reveals it arises from Satan :
      1. Satan originates the idea that the Bible's God is not Good:
        1. In Gen. 3:1, Satan as a serpent (Rev. 12:9) tempted Eve to doubt God's goodness for His forbidding her to eat of a certain tree.
        2. In reality, God was Good, for had Eve first eaten of the Tree of Life (Gen. 2:9), He would have kept her from the other tree lest she be locked in judgment; we know this by how God kept man from the Tree of Life after he ate of the wrong tree, Gen. 3:22f!
        3. Also, God provides man access to the Tree of Life once he conquers sin by faith in Christ, cf. Gen. 3:24 with Rev. 22:2!
        4. As John 8:44-45 reveals the unsaved do Satan's will, the charge from them that God is not good is false and rises from Satan!
      2. Satan originates the idea that the Bible's God is not Powerful:
        1. Satan implied God's motive in telling man not to eat of the wrong tree was He jealously wanted to monopolize His insight on good and evil, Gen. 3:4-5; Bible Know. Com., O.T., p. 32.
        2. Well, such jealousy rises from inferiority, or personal weakness.
        3. As a weak and thus jealous God would not make a tree to equip man to ignite His jealousy, and as the lost do Satan's will (Jn. 8:44-45), their claim that God is weak errs and is from Satan!
Application: (1) May we believe in the goodness and power of the God of the Bible, and believe in His Son to be saved from sin, John 3:16; (2) May we then heed 1 Peter 3:15 and EXPLAIN His goodness and power in terms of logic and Scripture to those who question it in light of the moral evil the see in the world!

Lesson: (1) All things logically considered, a perfectly good, all powerful theistic God MUST allow for the world that now exists, even with its evil! (2) That being so, the Bible's God is truly both good and all powerful!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 (1) An envelope came in the mail this past week from a company that had what at first appeared to be a bill in it.

The outside of the envelope has a red bar running along its top with the scary words, "Final Notice" in it. When you open the envelope you find what appears to be a bill with a stark yellow box in the middle of the page containing a blackened section in it that reads: "Total Amount" with the figure of $139.00 listed beside those words.

The paper had a detachable form at the bottom with the words: "Make check payable to . . ." and then it listed the company's name.

This isn't the first time that such a bill has come in the mail. In fact, several times over the years when the Church Treasurer has intercepted the mail before I had a chance to scan it, she thought it was a telephone bill and sent the suggested check out to the company.

Yet, it is not a bill! If you look at the far top right hand corner of the enclosed form, you find these undecorated, printed words: "Business To Business Directory Solicitation: THIS IS NOT A BILL". Unless you look for them, you can miss these words due to the way the page is laid out!

That is an evil -- I believe a law ought to exist that orders all companies to present the layout of their advertisements so that they do not come close to looking like a bill! Such practices I believe are criminal because of the way they elicit money from uwary customers.

(2) However, because of this evil that we have faced, I am concerned enough to share it with you from this pulpit and later by way of our web site to warn many people. In so doing, I might impress many to look carefully at everything that comes in their mail! In fact, sharing this illustration may help many begin properly to budget their money, and in the end do a great good for God as they begin to be better stewards of God's resources so they can better support God's discipling works worldwide! Perhaps many more will then hear the Gospel and be saved, affecting their eternal welfare!



May we see the theistic God of the Bible is a Good and All Powerful God, and that charges to the CONTRARY because of the existece of evil in the world find their origin in the influence of SATAN. May we thus trust in Christ and live for Him, explaining this fact to all who question us about it!