The atheist says that if God is all-powerful and all-good He would not allow evil to exist. However, evil does exist, therefore, there can be no God. Others say that they believe in God but won't serve Him because He allows evil and suffering to occur.
When God created the earth, He saw that it was good, "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day." (Genesis 1:31). The earth was a paradise when God made it. There was no death or suffering and all of man's needs were met.
We see that evil came into the world when Adam and Eve gave into the temptation of the devil and sinned. It was not God's fault that they sinned, and it is not His fault when men sin today. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:13-15).
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James 1:17). If we all obeyed God, what a world it would be. He desires the best for us and has done all He can to help us be our best.
Can you imagine what the world would be like if every time something bad was about to happen, God intervened miraculously. We would live in a very chaotic world indeed. God despises chaos and so do we. Were he to intervene, people would complain about that as well.
What it should do is convince us to serve Him. For it is only through obedience to His will that we can truly make this world a better place for all.
-- Ralph Price - July, 2000 --
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