Confronting the Problem of Evil

The Psalmist confronts the problem of evil: As for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked (Psalm 73:2-3). Scripture is full of psalms and laments calling out to God: Why? How long?
God is the first cause of everything that there is. Yet God Himself is not the cause of evil. The cause of evil is the choice of His creatures. As for God, This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). That matches what the Psalmist says: The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works (Psalm 145:17).
Because of His righteousness and kindness, there’s no such thing as a world without consequences. The consequences of sin are death and judgment. The consequences of righteousness are life and peace.
Because of sin, “the ground is cursed” (Genesis 3:17), and “creation waits with eager longing” (Romans 8:19). That eager longing touches us when we consider the problem of evil. It’s not that there is no God. It’s not that He doesn’t care, or that He doesn’t have the power to set things right. He is patient, not wanting anyone to perish but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
His ways are better than ours, “higher than the heavens above the earth” (Isaiah 55:8-9). We want a world with consequences when consequences look good. We want a world without consequences when the consequences look bad. We love it when bad consequences come to someone else and they seem to deserve it. We hate it when it comes to us.
In the Person of His Son, God Himself came to partake of flesh and blood. His steps hallow the ground that He cursed, and He pours out His bloody sweat and tears upon it. He pours out His lifeblood on it. He suffered the greatest injustice of all, yet it was all according to God’s purpose. God’s justice was satisfied by it because He was bearing our sin. Finally, He rested in the ground to give us the consequences of His righteousness. He delivers us from evil.
The consequence of His righteousness is that we are all redeemed. The consequence of His righteousness is that even when we suffer because of someone else’s evil actions, God employs that evil, using it for good for us and for all who believe (Romans 8:28). He does so even if we don’t yet clearly see how. The consequence of His righteousness is life with Him and His peace in a world without end, where sin and its consequences can’t follow.
Reverend Aaron Hamilton
Contributing Writer
Concordia Lutheran Church
Eau Claire, WI