Why Does God Have to Do It This Way? (6)
As I conclude this article series, I will use an analogy to drive home the explanation of the problem of evil in the world that has been presented. If you haven’t, you may need to read my previous article to be fully on track here. Analogies are seldom perfect, but a good one can help us to appreciate an idea better.
Let’s assume that you are an extremely powerful nuclear device positioned on a continent and programmed to activate at a particular time. Your explosion could cause catastrophic destruction but there is also the possibility of part of the released energy being productively tapped. You are what you are and cannot do anything about it (cf. Exodus 3:14).
If you activate on the continent, the explosion will kill everyone and produce a permanently toxic wasteland. But if you roll into the ocean, the explosion will be controlled, only people in the coastal areas will be killed, and your toxicity will safely sink to the bottom of the ocean. The power of the controlled explosion could also be exploited to create an extraordinarily beautiful life on the continent for those who survive.
In these circumstances, what will you do?
This is a fair analogy of the potentially catastrophic beginning of the universe, and how the personal God intervened to save the day. The native substance of God did not create itself, and as was noted, it is impersonal. It is an unimaginably great energy source, from which everything in existence and everything possible in the universe originates. Being impersonal, it cannot be criticized for the “evil” aspects of its potential any more than the Sun, on which life on Earth depends, could be criticized for the “harmful” radiation it releases.
The story of redemption is one of how the personification of the native substance of God intervened to control its all-encompassing possibilities with the objective of using the “good” to exhaust the “evil” and establish eternal goodness. It is about containing the fallout of the explosive “Big Bang” event that initiated the universe and harnessing the inherent productive power to establish a glorious, eternal steady state.
As the reader might have detected, the above analogy also helps us to better understand the significance of “hell.” As Scripture reveals, hell was “prepared for the devil [the personification of the evil potential of the universe] and his angels,” and it will be the eternal destination of those who yield to the power of evil in defiance of God’s redeeming offer (Matthew 25:41). In the context of the nuclear device analogy, hell could be thought of as a kind of “nuclear dump,” a place for the safe containment of the “nuclear waste” of evil after its destructive power has been exhausted (see Revelation 22:15).
I realize that this analogy could be perceived as offensive. But we are attempting to coherently respond to the question of evil in the world. This is perhaps the biggest issue that unbelievers have used to challenge the existence of an all-powerful and loving personal God, which many believers also struggle with. As we have seen, rather than something to be criticized or vilified, the personal God was the only hope for saving the universe.
It must also be emphasized that God is all-powerful and not any-powerful. He does not just do anything, like “pulling a rabbit out of a hat” simply to impress us. His all-powerfulness is a superseding ability “by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:21). It is his irresistible power to accomplish all things according to his own plan and purpose, against any opposition, and in ways consistent with his eternal nature and reality.
All said, it should also be noted that we cannot “prove” God, though we can evidence him. Knowing God in the way that makes us part of those to be eternally saved is by revelatory faith and enabled by his grace (Ephesians 2:8–9). But Scripture teaches that we who believe should “always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15). We are urged to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3). To contend means to make a case for something against opposition, and we are told to do this for our faith with earnest, passionate investment in the cause.
An active life of faith in the testimony of Scripture is one of a fierce conflict with the power of evil in the world, and we should be wary lest we fall to the adversary (Ephesians 6:10–18). The conflict is part of the battle of the ages between good and evil for the soul of the universe. It is an existential spiritual warfare with so much at stake, and the participants cannot afford to be sloppy or sentimental (1 Peter 5:8). This is why the personal God, despite his inherent goodness, sometimes uses harsh language for evil and those under its influence.
Jesus Christ is the idea of the personal God for the separation of those who will be preserved for the glorious eternal steady state of the universe that God is working toward. To demonstrate that he was neither cruel nor narcissistic in giving up some in order to rescue the universe (Romans 9:16–24), the personal God revealed himself in human form, Jesus Christ, and partook in human suffering by subjecting himself to unthinkable agony. He then presented the appreciation of this personal initiative as a basis for selecting those who would be saved (Isaiah 53:1–6; John 3:16).
The person who rejects this personal offering of God or questions the basis of salvation demonstrates their unworthiness of salvation. Their conceited, willful, and insubordinate type are those who will always constitute a seed of rebellion, trouble, and discord in human society and must be taken out of circulation in order to establish a harmonious and peaceful eternal state in the world.
As previously discussed, the native substance of God is the source of all the energy in the universe, both spiritual and physical. The human spirit is a kind of energy, and the first law of thermodynamics states that energy cannot be created or destroyed but can only be transformed from one form to another. Every form of evil energy in the universe must be exhausted of its destructive potential and transformed into a form that can be contained in “hell” in order to establish eternal tranquility.
“And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away’. Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new’. And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful’” (Revelation 21:3–5).
God bless you.
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