Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ Jesus,
I know you’ve had the question, you may have the question, and/or you may have been asked the question, “Why does God allow evil to exist in this world?” This is a legitimate question that deserves an answer. And God has answered it, thoroughly, in His Word. To understand why a living omnipotent God allows evil to exist in this world, we must take into consideration God’s character and attributes. In this and subsequent messages on this topic, we are going to examine one of the most important attributes of God: justice.
Deuteronomy 32:4
He is The Rock, His work is perfect: for all His ways are judgment: a God of Truth and without iniquity, just and right is He.
Deuteronomy 32:4 declares that everything God does is just because God is JUST. Just is Who God is, what God is, and what He does. God can never be unjust.
Isaiah 33:22
For The LORD is our judge, The LORD is our lawgiver, The LORD is our king; He will save us.
Isaiah 33:22 declares the threefold office of God—Judge, Lawgiver, and King—all of which are rooted in His sovereign role as Creator. His authority to judge flows from His authorship of both creation and moral law.
Titus 1:2
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Lastly, God cannot lie. To lie would be to oppose His Word. To lie would cause all of creation, held together by The Word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), to implode and disintegrate into death and decay.
We must understand what it means for God to be “just.” In Genesis 32:4, The Scripture “just and right is He” means the following:
“Just” is the Hebrew word “saddiq,” which means “righteous, just, lawful.” Saddîq emphasizes legal and moral justice—God always acts in accordance with divine law. God is the standard of justice; His covenant actions are legally and ethically sound.
“Right” is the Hebrew word “yashar,” which means “straight, upright, honest.” Yashar emphasizes ethical and relational uprightness—God is straight in His dealings, never crooked or deceptive. God deals with His people in a way that is transparent, fair, and trustworthy.
We know God is bound by His Word, and He will not break His covenant, nor will He alter anything that has come out of His mouth. We see this in Psalm 138:2 and Psalm 89:34.
Psalm 138:2
I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise Thy Name for Thy lovingkindness and for Thy Truth: for Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name.
Psalm 89:34
My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of My lips.
Because God is just, He must do two things:
1.) He must punish sin.
2.) He must reward righteousness.
The punishment for sin is death. God makes this clear in Genesis 2:17 and Romans 6:23.
Genesis 2:17
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The reward for righteousness is life. Again, God makes this clear in Leviticus 18:5 and Romans 10:4-5.
Leviticus 18:5
Ye shall therefore keep My statutes, and My judgments: which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am The LORD.
Romans 10:4-5
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
When Adam and Eve sinned, God had two choices:
1.) He could step in and immediately bring judgment upon Adam and Eve.
2.) He could postpone judgment.
Had God chosen the first option, Adam and Eve would be damned forever with no means to obtain salvation. God in His compassion chose to postpone judgment upon Adam and Eve.
Psalms 145:8
The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
In His decision to have compassion, God allowed sin to continue and the consequences of sin to corrupt the world. Had God judged Adam and Eve, they would have physically died that day, and they were already Spiritually dead. Adam and Eve would have been damned forever with no hope of redemption.
As long as sin is allowed to continue, pain, suffering, and evil will exist. The fall of Adam and Eve ushered the curse into the world through sin and death. Genesis 3:14-19 is known as “the curse.” Deuteronomy 28:15-68 list all of the curses.
Genesis 3:14-19
14 And The LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; Tt shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.
16 Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.
17 And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
There are several curses listed in this passage of Scripture:
1.) curse on the animal kingdom.
2.) curse on the serpent.
3.) curse on the woman.
4.) curse on Adam and his descendants.
5.) curse on the earth.
God pronounced each curse based on the chronological order in which each act of sin was committed:
First on the serpent.
Then on Eve.
And last on Adam.
Genesis 3:14 tells us the serpent was cursed above all the other animals.
Genesis 3:14
And The LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
“Above” is Hebrew word “min” which means “more than.” This tells us ALL the animal kingdom was cursed because of Adam and Eve’s sin, but the serpent was cursed more.
Genesis 3:15 is a prophecy of the coming Messiah. This is the first mention of The Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Genesis 3:15
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her Seed; Tt shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.
Notice the Scripture stating, “and her Seed.” A woman doesn’t have seed – only the man. Seed in this verse means “semen.” Because a woman doesn’t have seed, this shows the event will be supernatural.
The serpent will try to destroy the supernatural Seed first, but he will only succeed in bruising His heel. The Messiah will crush the serpent’s head and all the powers he has. As we know in The Scriptures, death is the last thing to be destroyed at The Great White Throne Judgment. When this happens, satan will utterly be destroyed.
The curse that fell on Adam fell on him and his responsibility as a man. We see this in Genesis 3:17.
Genesis 3:17
And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
“Ground” = Hebrew word “adawmaw” which means “earth.” This tells us the WHOLE earth was cursed and not just the ground.
Adam wasn’t cursed because of the earth. The earth was cursed because of Adam. “Cursed is the ground for thy sake.” In other words, “cursed is the earth because of you.”
The specifics of the curse – an explanation of what the curse is – is found in Genesis 3:18. This is why we experience pain and suffering.
Genesis 3:18
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
“Thistles” = Hebrew word “dardar.” The root of this word means “to release or to set free.” It implies that the earth and everything in the earth is now “free” to change over time from the complex structure that they were originally created with by God. In other words, plants, animals, and all forms of life will mutate. Not to create new species, but within its species.
It’s very important to note that God DID NOT create the thorns or thistles or cause the plants and animals to mutate. This happened naturally as a result of Adam and Eve’s sin. In fact, Genesis 3:18 makes this perfectly clear when it says, “Thorns also and thistles shall IT bring forth to thee.” “It” refers to the earth.
Now, a good question to ask is “why does the introduction of sin allow mutations to occur on this earth?” As we’ll always learn, the answer to every question is found in God’s Word. Let’s look at Hebrews 1:3.
Hebrews 1:3
Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by The Word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of The Majesty on high;
According to Hebrews 1:3, all things are held together by the power of His Word. So long as God walked on earth and fellowshipped with man, the earth maintained a steady state of life and order. But when Adam sinned, fellowship was broken with God, and God no longer walked on this earth. The power of God that maintained the steady state and order of the earth was withdrawn allowing all things to gradually disintegrate toward death and disorder. This has been proven in nature by the Second Law of Thermodynamics which states that all things left to themselves go from order to disorder. In other words, over time all things begin to fall apart. It is referred to as entropy.
Romans 8:20-21 tells us all of God’s creation was subjected to the curse against its will. Creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in the glorious freedom from death and decay.
Romans 8:20-21
20 For the creature [creation] was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature [creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Hebrews 1:10-12 plainly tells us God created the earth and the heavens around the earth. But they will perish, and God will remain. The Scriptures further tell us that God will remain the same, but He will change the earth and the heavens one day. We know this will be after the Millennial Reign and Great White Throne Judgment when God creates a new earth and a new heaven (earth’s atmosphere).
Hebrews 1:10-12
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands:
11 They shall perish; but Thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
12 And as a vesture shalt Thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but Thou art the same, and Thy years shall not fail.
In closing this message, The Scriptures clearly tell us God is just, that He cannot lie, and He can do no wrong. It also tells us in Hebrews 13:8 and Malachi 3:6 that God cannot and does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This is why we can place our faith in Him because our Father isn’t finicky, isn’t wishy-washy, and doesn’t change because He answers to His Word (Psalm 138:2). Next week we’ll continue to examine and complete the answer to the question of “why a loving God allows evil to exist in this world?”
Blessings in Christ Jesus,
Larry