The mystery of evil

Saturday 6 May 2023

"Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death death spread to all men, because all sinned [...] where the sin abounded, grace abounded all the more, that as sin reigned in death, so grace might reign in righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5. 12, 20, 21

The mystery of evil

This is a question that comes up often: how can you believe that God exists when there is so much evil and disorder in the world ? But if we speak of evil, it is because we admit the presence of good and we accept the existence of a moral law which establishes the difference between good and evil. But where does this moral law come from ? From a superior authority who instituted it, that is to say God himself, the absolute authority and judge of all. Without moral law how to distinguish between good and evil ? Without God there is no moral law. It is certain that the presence of evil has always tormented men. All philosophies try to discover the reason for its existence. They do not relate evil to sin, rebellion against the divine will. These philosophies would like to find something natural and normal in evil. But they do not respect Scripture which, throughout its pages, denounces the gravity of the evil whose cause is disobedience towards God, while emphasizing the perfect goodness of the latter.

Evil continues to be a painful mystery. We are not called to explain its origin, but to admire God's definitive solution: the triumph of Jesus Christ when he "stripped dominions and authorities... triumphing over them by the cross" ( Colossians 2. 15). His triumph over the powers of evil results in our deliverance from all that could hold us in chains.

"We do not yet see that all things are subject to him" (Hebrews 2:8), but we are called to contemplate the victory of the cross and to stand on the side of the winner, the Lord Jesus.

Adapted from The Good Seed in Spanish

Source (Pleasing the Lord)