It is a matter of the Right Question

I cannot tell you how many people have told me that they cannot believe in a God who would allow this and that to happen. Or, I cannot believe in a God that would allow some people into heaven and condemn others to hell. Or, how can there be a God when there is so much evil in the world? Or, how can I believe in a God that would allow little babies to go to hell? My answer is always that you are asking the WRONG question.

It is a matter of perspective and worldview, NOT a matter of God’s goodness or existence. Let me lead you through an exercise.

A guy falls in love with a girl but the girl’s parents won’t let him date her. Are the parents being unfair? Should the guy date her anyway? What if I told you that the guy was 50 and the girl was 13? Are the parents being unfair? Should the guy date her anyway? What if they met online and the 13 year old girl was actually a 45 year old cop pretending to be 13 in order to catch a deviant 50 year old? Should they arrange a meeting to arrest the guy?

How can you really answer the questions or even ASK the right questions when you don’t know the facts behind it. All you have is one perspective, only one view. That is the way it is with the matter of God and his goodness. You ask how can a good God allow anyone to go to hell, how can there be bad in the world if God is good? Let me give you different perspective.

God created good and part of that good creation is a creature with the freedom to choose to do good and love God OR chose to do bad and hate God. Unfortunately, to the pain of the creator, the creature chose BAD and to not love God at all. The good creation grew into a dark and dim place with the creatures constantly fighting and hurting each other until EVERY action and EVERY thought was evil all the time and darkness enveloped the good like death. Into this land of the living darkness steps goodness and light in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus grabs the hand of many of the living dead and pulls them into the light, sometimes kicking and screaming, but irresistibly, inevitably some come into the light.

You ask: How can a good God allow bad? But the real question should be: How can a good God stand to save even one of us when we are all dead, ugly, nasty and spitting in his face?

You ask: How can there be evil in the world if there is a good God? But the real question should be: How can there be ANY GOODNESS in this world that is so corrupted by these creatures?

You ask: How could a good God allow this to happen to me? But the real question should be: Why should I even think that anything will turn out good when I do such bad things?

You ask: How could a good God allow anyone to go to hell? But the real question should be: Why would God choose to pull any of us out of the hell we created for ourselves?
As we celebrate Easter wrap your mind around the fact that Jesus stepped into hell itself to grab his chosen people from the self-imposed darkness and death, he bore the pain, insults, abuse and even death so that many will be able to walk in the light of life again. THAT is not just a good God, that is a GREAT GOD!