Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.
James 1:13
Here is a question that was recently asked me, “If God is good, why does he allow people to become addicted?” Is God to be held responsible for the world that is currently in chaos? Should Jesus Christ be blamed, because he is currently sitting on his Father’s throne? This is a tough, tough question; and it is a question that has been asked by every generation, in every time, and I believe in every human heart that has ever lived. Theologians call this the question of “Theodicy”:
* If God is good, why did he create Satan?
* If God is good, why do innocent people suffer?
* If God is good, why do babies die?
* If God is good, why do the scriptures threaten an eternity in hell?
* If God is good, why do I hurt so much?
Evil and a good all-powerful God seem mutually exclusive? I recently read an interesting twist on this question,
“It appears to be part of human nature to cry out, ‘Why has this happened to me?’ when tragedy or suffering hits life, but hardly ever to ask, ‘What have we done to deserve this?’ when life is blessed with health or prosperity. Some suggest that the problem of evil can be addressed only when we ask the problem of good.”
This question of evil will never go away. It will always be a part of the human experience, it is what beckons us to reach out to God in faith.
But have you ever looked at evil from God’s point of view? He is more perplexed and frustrated about it than you are. Let me help you see the world from his perspective.
THE BEST POSSIBLE CHOICE
God could have created the world any way he wanted, but being perfect he must choose the best possible world for all and that world includes “choice.” Love cannot be compelled, and good infers bad. As Augustine said, “Evil exists only in good; our Universe enjoys light and shade, and life and death…What is more beautiful than a fire? What is more useful than heat and comfort?… Yet nothing can cause more distress than the burns inflicted by fire.”
Love is hot, and God wants us to love him, it is the basis of worship – but that must mean rejection is a possibility. If you don’t believe me, try this out sometime; Tell your wife you love her because you have no other choice…
“Honey, why did you buy me flowers?”
Because I am supposed to.
“Did you want to?”
It doesn’t matter – I had to.
Yuck! That is not love, it is a horror movie; “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” So in order for love to be love, it must include choice.
REJECTING THE BEST
Now when it comes to loving God, there is a lot at stake. If I reject loving the girl across the room, it doesn’t necessarily cost me much because she is a finite human being. But God is infinite in love, goodness, and righteousness in himself. He is the source of all life, and when I reject him I am rejecting what is best for me.
When I reject the source of all that is good, what is left? Evil. When I reject light, what is left? Darkness. When I reject love, “God is love”, what is left? Indifference, malice, hatred, envy, jealousy, rage.
A PEAK INTO THE HEART OF GOD
Jeremiah 2 is one of the saddest and most tragic windows into the heart of God. In verses 2-3 God pictures Israel, his people, as a beautiful bride that he was madly in love with. Like a pair of honeymooners, God was intoxicated with the beauty of his young bride. And if anybody tried to take his beloved away, “they incurred guilt; disaster came upon them.” In other words, don’t mess with God’s woman!
But in verse 5, something worse than his bride being taken away happened. The bride herself didn’t want to be married anymore. God asked the question to Israel, “What wrong did your fathers find in me that they went far from me?”
God is asking his people, “What is wrong with me that you want to leave me?” Do you hear his pain? Do you feel the brokenness of his heart? God, the “perfection of beauty” (Psalm 50:2), was rejected for another lover. Romans 1:21-22 says, “Although they knew God…they exchanged his glory (heavy beauty) for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
They traded God for garbage. We trade God for garbage.
I can remember after dating my wife for a while I met a few of her past boyfriends. Compared to me, they were schmucks and I told her so. Hey, I am not being harsh, I was in love with her – – I still am, and I still feel the same way. Compared to me they are schmucks. I know what is best for her, so even the suggestion of her going back to those silly boys makes me crazy. This is what God is saying in Jeremiah 2. Listen to verse 12,
“Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate…for my people have committed two evils (the true theodicy): they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
In other words, they already had the best, “living waters”, and traded it for stagnant old rainwater that leaked out of the cistern. Stupid, stupid, sad, so sad.
WHAT AN APPLE IS ASKING
God wants to be loved, that’s all. And that is what worship means, “Is he worth it?” This is why he placed a tree called “the knowledge of good and evil” in the middle of the Garden of Eden. It was the way Adam showed his choice. Is God better than a fruit that looks pleasing? Is he “worth” the sacrifice? If so, say no.
* Is God worth being sexually pure for?
* Is God worth being sober for?
* Is God worth being kind to others for?
If so, say no to your fleshly desires. Don’t let them win. Love God by not turning to other lovers. Why? What happens if I do turn to other lovers?
Listen to Jeremiah 2:5b, “they went after worthlessness, and became worthless.” As one writer has famously said, “What you worship you become like.” Listen to Romans 1:26 on this matter, “Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie…God gave them up (or over) to dishonorable passions.” People become addicted to what they crave.
GOD IS A CHASTE LOVER
Every noble dad wants their daughter to be chaste. This means virtuous and willing to wait until the right man comes. This is one of the greatest tragedies from the sexual revolution; women now think it is cool and freeing to “put-out” like juvenile debased men do because they want to be equal. Tragically when a woman “puts-out” they are playing into the hands of the evil heart of men’s lust.
Sex isn’t meant to be a game, it is a sacred gift reserved for the one who protects it.
When your daughter is chaste, she ultimately finds the man who really means it when he says, “I love you.” You see, those words are meant to mean something – – I want what is best for you, and it isn’t simply getting your body for a one night stand.
God also is waiting, hiding, longing for people to love him truly. He is far too valuable to give of himself to people who are merely paying him lip service Sunday morning. He wants people who really want him. So to find those who want to worship, he places before them a tree.
“If you love me, say ‘no’ to the idol.”
Have you ever noticed, those who are addicted to things like sex, drugs, and perverted lifestyle choices seem to get mad at God? They are quick to blame him for their behavior. They see theodicy as his problem and not theirs. The truth is they don’t like him being so specific. They want him to be tolerant, unchaste, a whore. But he is holy. And it is his holiness that makes him wholly beautiful. As Job says in 31:23,
“For fear of his splendor, I could not do such things.”
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CROSS
God still loves you even in your rebellion. So to rescue you while you are addicted to evil, he sends his Son to become evil. “Cursed is everyone who hangs upon the tree.”
Where is God in your suffering? “He is hanging on the tree!”
This is his plan to rescue you. He has allowed himself to be punished for your unfaithfulness, so you can become faithful. Look at him. Is he to be blamed for evil when he willingly allowed it to kill him? He has done this for you? God has done it for you because he wants you back.
Listen to him in Jeremiah 31:33:
“This is the covenant I will make with Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Why is there evil, why are people addicted, why is there suffering? Because you chose garbage over God. Don’t blame Jesus, but rather, believe in him. Run to him. It is the only way to escape from yourself.
