Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People

There is so much that is assumed when it comes to deep questions dealing with God's love vs. His moral purity. We often hear, "If God is a loving God, then why is there evil in the world"? The presupposition that is the foundation of such a question is that only some men are evil. Rarely does the one asking this question consider himself or herself as part of the evil in the world. The problem with such a question is that it assumes man deserves the goodness of God. Thus, this is the wrong question to ask. The question should be, "If all men are born sinners, why does God give evil, life?" Instead of man thinking that he deserves life, based on Romans 3, he literally deserves nothing from God, so everything he receives in His life is literally a gift from God.

This is indeed a difficult subject, and the answer man adopts will depend upon his view of God, the Scriptures, and man. God is exhaustive in each of His attributes. He is a loving God, but He is also a just God. He is a holy God, which means that He is morally pure beyond any of His creation. Though He is 100% omnipresent, omniscient, sovereign, and omnipotent, He has neither been touched by the sin of His creation, nor has He Himself tempted anyone (James 1:13). It is blasphemous to associate God with evil, but we also must be careful to separate Him so far from evil, that He then is not a sovereign God. This is equally dangerous, for we end up with a God that is obsessed with us, who worships us, instead of a God who worships the greatest One, Himself.

We come to the question as to where the first inkling of sin came from. Lucifer was created perfect. Like the rest of creation. So, without temptation, and without the tempting of God, how does a perfect angel even get it in his head that he's going to rebel against God? God obviously did not tempt him (James 1:13), but who did? Also, why did God create a creature capable of evil? Furthermore, once Lucifer sinned, why didn't God judge him then, instead of allowing him to tempt man? These are difficult questions, for the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was crucified from the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:20, Hebrews 9:26). When the earth was founded though there were no fallen humans to redeem. So, God planned out our redemption before we even sinned against Him? This is staggering, for He created Lucifer, knowing what He would do; and though Lucifer made his own decisions, this did not escape the sovereignty of God.

This then leads us to the question as to whether God knows everything because He has already seen it, or that God knows everything because He foreordained it to be this way, and sees it as well. I believe God knows everything because He foreordained all things to be this way. This means that God determined everything before the foundation of the world; and that the greatest evils on earth somehow fit into the overarching plan of God. God is thus, directly in control of good and indirectly in control of evil, but ultimately in control of both. Man also has 100% responsibility and freedom to choose and make his own decisions. Somehow the will of man and the will of God run parallel to accomplish God's plan.

At the end of the day, the main question is whether we believe the Bible is God's Word or not. God's Word says that God tempts no one, but He is sovereign, and I believe this. The Scriptures teach that God is a holy God, untouched by sin, so I believe this. Can I explain these things? Absolutely not! But, at the end of the day, may God's Word be true, and every man a liar. Bad things happen to good people because there are no good people. Good things happen to bad people because of the sovereign grace of God. We deserve only His wrath, and He agrees, but decides to save His church through the blood of Christ, punishing Him for their sins, revealing His 100% wrath and 100% mercy in the cross. We have a choice to believe this, or to create a god of our own making.

It is sad indeed whenever man had rather have a god who is obsessed with him... "God wants everyone to be healthy, wealthy, etc." Instead of a God who is in need of nothing (Acts 17), who creates out of His own sovereign desire to create, who gives grace in the same manner, and who demands to be worshipped by His creation. This is God's world, and we're just living in it. Ah, but He is worthy of all praise, love, reverence, and fear. He is God and we're not. Praise Him that Christ has conquered the curse, by rising from the dead; praise Him that Christ is conquering the curse through redeeming His church, raising them from the dead spiritually; and praise Him for the fact that one day, He will raise the physical bodies of His church as well. Christ has conquered, is conquering, and will conquer the sin problem. God sent Him to do this; and He willingly came from eternity past.