Q: Did God Create Evil?
Q: Dr. Mike, I’ve heard two schools of thought on the question, “Did God Create Evil?” I’ve heard you say, when the question was asked you in a number of your seminars, that everything God created was ‘good” and as a result of disobedience, to the commands of God, “evil” became present as a correction to anyone who would transgress His Laws.
Many people will look at the example of Job, Chapters 1 & 2 where Satan’s heart’s desire was to destroy Job. In these two chapters, we see where God allows Satan to attack Job in every area of his life, but yet not allow him to be killed. Basically, all Biblical scholars agreed that God allowed this to happen to prove to Satan that Job was righteous because of his love for Jehovah God. His riches didn’t make him righteous; his relationship with God did. We have to remember that God is sovereign and in complete control of everything that goes on in the earth.
Satan can only do as much as God allows him to do (and the authority you give him in your life as a born again believer). God did not create evil but, in His sovereign will, He does sometimes allow it for a number of reasons, such as, to show you what you truly love; to force you to realize this world is cursed and you’re to always depend on Him; etc. We must remember this one nugget of Biblical truth – if God had not allowed for the possibility of evil, both mankind and angels would be serving God out of obligation, not choice.
The Word of God states that no man is wise enough to counsel God, because His ways are past finding out. His ways and thoughts are higher than those of mankind. We, as limited human beings, can never truly understand an infinite God as expressed in Romans 11:33-34. At times, we think we have God figured out and behold, “I do a new thing!” This always rocks our theology of God.