Is There Evil? If Charles Darwin’s theory is correct, and if man really did descend from apes, and if his notion of survival of the fittest is indeed the real nature of things, we must rethink our belief that there is a creator God. We also must rethink our belief in the Bible. In Darwin’s world, there is no good and evil. The story of the Bible is all about the struggle between good and evil.
Absent God, then it is simply survival of the fittest
In the animal kingdom, survival of the fittest is the reality of everyday life. The lion has his pride of lionesses and will defend his turf, shedding all challengers. Natural selection is about weeding out the weak in favor of the strong.
There is no right and wrong in the animal kingdom, just survival. Some animals will hunt and kill out of sport, but it is not evil that drives their behavior. My cat killed a chipmunk, not out of evil intent, but from playing with it.
Where with a loving God is there evil
So, where did it come from? Let’s deal with the moral issue. If God is a God of love and mercy, why does He permit evil to exist? Even believers struggle with this question. When a person dies it is often asked by family and friends, “Why did God allow this?” This is called a theodicy,” which is an attempt to solve the problem of evil.
When people commit evil is is a moral issue. Moral deceit is intentional. It is premeditated. Evil exists solely as a rational, intentional and defiant action against God. Evil is a void, the absence of God.
Natural disasters are often characterized as “acts of God.” Tornadoes, hurricanes, wild fires, etc. are all examples of evil things that exist on the natural world. They do not exist as an action to harm, or an act of revenge for bad deeds. We had an ice age, a natural occurrence. The great flood, on the other hand, was a corrective measure by God to wipe out evil. God and evil can be a difficult problem to get your hands around.
Evil exists in support of free will
For many, the easiest way to understand moral evil is to examine free will. God created us with free will, to make our choices. He gave us the ability to reason and His word invites is to examine and reason.
We are free to accept Him or reject Him. If it were otherwise, we would be robots, or at the very least slaves of ignorance. But He reveals Himself, His nature and character. We have the choice to go into the void, apart from God, or walk on the path He gave us, under His guidance.
Knowing that He grants us free will, and knowing that our natural sin nature would be a major factor in our decisions, He gave us His only son, to fulfill the righteous requirements of His law and overcome moral injustice.
All of creation is groaning from our sin
As for natural evil, why is this not eradicated? Every day we see extreme weather. Heat, drought, crop failures. It never ends. The Apostle Paul explained is this way, referring to our fallen world:
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:22).
God will overcome evil
Man’s decisions to disobey God, to turn away, has severed the close, loving bond that God intended for us. Relax, there is hope. God has promised that He will overcome evil. The beginning of that eternal paradise, the perfect world, is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. His death and resurrection sealed the promise, only good, no more death, no more sickness, no more pain.
God understands our pain. Christ came, in human form, to live a human life, enduring all that is the human condition. He had the same physical limitations, the same emotional makeup and endured the same temptations.
There is only good in eternity with God
But Christ never swayed from His Father’s will. What we could not do, because of our own pride and selfishness, Jesus did for us. Jesus is the opposite of evil, far more powerful, completely moral, loving and good. He is God with us, our Messiah and high priest. There is no evil in eternity, just a close relationship with God.