When we think about God and whether He exists, one of the biggest problems that we face is this: “if a perfectly benevolent God exists, why does He allow so much evil in this world?” This question lies at the very heart of historical inquiry. Historians look across the vast expanse of human existence and see so much evil perpetrated in every period of time across every continent. Indeed, much of the study of history nowadays is devoted to recovering the narratives of marginalised peoples, or to search for the meaning of justice through analysis of past events. These efforts may be noble, but they ultimately miss the point. The Bible makes it painfully clear that the problem is human beings themselves. We are inherently evil creatures, through and through. As Jeremiah the prophet put it, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17.9).
Human beings have a heart problem. As long as our hearts remain evil, no amount of behaviour modification or structural change is going to have a long-term effect. We may be able to block one avenue through which human evil is expressed, but we will always find ten other ways to perpetrate evil in even worse ways. Deep down, we all know this. If we are being honest with ourselves, we’re often more scared of being caught than doing wrong. We always invent strange and creative new ways to secretly do evil so that no one will find out. Take this personal tendency and multiply it by all the human beings that have lived, currently live, and will live, and we can begin to understand why this world is so desperately broken.
Fixing the heart. This is why God sent Jesus Christ, His only Son, into this world to die for our sins on the cross. The perfectly just and holy God demands a penalty be paid for our evil; we are so unclean, so stained, that we deserve to be thrown into eternal hell to be judged for our sins. But Jesus Christ, being both man and God, took on that punishment for us. As a man, He lived a perfect life and had no evil of His own to pay for: thus He could die for another man. As God, He had infinite worth, and so He could die for all people. He died on a cross, taking the punishment we deserve, carrying the whole world’s sins upon His shoulders. On the third day He rose again; God had accepted His sacrifice.
This is the core of the Christian message: all who recognise their own sin, believe upon Jesus as their saviour, and ask God for forgiveness through Jesus, will be saved. If we trust in Jesus, not only are our sins forgiven, but God also gives us new hearts, hearts that can do good and are not doomed to evil. This is the true solution for the existence of evil. God promises that, one day, He will gather all who believe in Him and live with them in a perfect new world, where evil hearts will no longer exist. No longer will greed, pride, and lust spoil everything. No more cycles of war and despair. In this new creation, there will be world peace and harmony—forever.
But one question remains: where is God now? If He is so just and holy, if He hates evil, why is He allowing evil to continue, seemingly unabated, day after day? The Bible actually gives a clear answer for this: God is patient. Here’s what the Apostle Peter wrote: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise [that is, His promise to return and make all things right] as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3.9).
God is allowing the evil He hates so much to continue, because He wants to give us time to repent! He wants to give us a chance to turn to Him, to believe in Jesus Christ, before it is too late! And one day, it certainly will be too late. God isn’t going to wait forever. Peter writes: “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Peter 3.10).
When God comes back, every single evil deed that was ever perpetrated on this Earth will be exposed, and God will justly demand punishment for every one of them. When this time comes, only one question will matter: was Jesus punished for your evil, or will you be punished for your evil? If you repented and believed in Jesus, then Jesus was punished for your evil, your sins are forgiven, you will be pardoned, and you will enter eternal life with a new heart, to spend eternity with God. But if you did not repent and believe in Jesus, you will be punished for your evil, and you will enter eternal punishment in hell. This is not an easy thing to accept, but it is the reality that the Bible teaches.
Don’t test God’s patience. He is currently withholding His righteous anger and fury, allowing the evil He detests to continue day by day, because He is patient with us, giving us a chance to turn from our sins and ask for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. But one day that patience will end, and God will come back to this world as judge. It will be too late. Repent and turn to Christ today! There is no time like right now, no day like today.
As Christians (myself included), we also sometimes test God’s patience. Even though we have been saved, we still indulge in evil, we still participate in the deeds which contribute to a broken world. Let us beg God for strength to refrain from sin, and let us live lives that are worthy of God’s calling. Let us be alert, lest on that last day we be found to be those who never truly repented, were never truly saved, and are destined for hellfire. Let us fix our eyes on that eternal hope of an eternity with God, where we will praise Him and plumb the depths of His love forever and ever, in a place where there will be no more sadness, no more tears.