In light of the recent tragedy in Connecticut many people are asking the question,"Where was God?" I know many of you, my readers, live in other countries and haven't heard of this shocking massacre. This past Friday a 20 year-old man broke into an elementary school and killed 26 people with a high powered rifle. The majority of those murdered was most of a kindergarten class of children 6 years of age or younger. The other 6 casualties were teachers. The gunman killed himself when confronted by the police.
How could God let this happen?
I don't have any specific answers for this question, but I do have a perspective different from most. The gunman was evil, plain and simple. He was depraved, dead in his sins. Most likely his conscience was seared to anything sinful. The origin of this sin is found in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve sinned against God. From that point on any descendants from them would be dead in their sins, completely depraved with nothing but a conscience by the grace of God to keep them in check. This gunman was sick with sin. His murders were a proof of his depravity. I do not know the exact reason why God didn't stop this from happening, and I wish I could.
Why didn't God stop evil in the world?
God allows evil to persist for a time because He is patient with mankind to respond to His love. You might be thinking, "Are you kidding me? God's "patience" allows innocent people to be assaulted and murdered? Your God is sick, man!" I completely understand why you would think this, but let me show you a new perspective. If God was to rid the world of evil, He would have to have a standard to go by to compare would-be evil actions to, and He has: the Ten Commandments. Let's look at the last 6..
#5. Honor your father and mother.
#6. Do not murder
#7. Do not commit adultery.
#8. Do not steal.
#9. Do not lie.
#10. Do not covet what isn't yours.
There it is. Anything that breaks these laws is considered evil by God. So if God were to get rid of all evil, He would have to get rid of anyone who has ever disrespected their parents, murdered another person, has had sex outside of marriage, stolen, lied, or desired something that belongs to someone else. Have you done any of these things? If so, how many times?
Many people don't know this, but Jesus elaborates on some of these laws. He says that you don't have to physically be sexual with someone to commit adultery. In fact, He says that all you have to do is look at someone with sexual lust and you've already committed adultery/fornication in your heart. Jesus also says that you don't have to physically kill someone to be guilty of murder in God's eyes. All you have to do is say a hateful word to them and you're guilty. In fact, the Bible says later that hating someone is murder in your heart. How many times have we done this?
Getting rid of evil..
If God were to get rid of all evil in the world, if He were to get rid of all suffering and wrongdoing, if He were to purge the world of every evil person, He would have to not only get rid of people who murder innocent children but also thieves, haters, and liars. Why? Because every act in opposition to God's laws are infinitely evil in His eyes. If you stepped on a bug, it wouldn't mean much. You wouldn't go to jail. If you killed an animal, you would probably go to jail, but it still wouldn't mean that much. If you killed another human being, that's a big deal and you would go to jail (possibly get the death penalty). If you killed a police officer, that's a big deal and you're in big trouble. If you killed the president of a country, you are in probably the most trouble anyone could ever be in under the law, and you'd most likely be put to death. Now these are just small comparisons to put into perspective this question. If you break the infinite holy law of an infinite holy God, don't you think that there will be an infinite consequences? Follow logic on that one..
Why is God being patient?
God cursed the earth and all of mankind because of Adam and Eve's sinning. Those were the conditions God gave to Adam when He created him. If Adam sinned, he would be cut off from fellowship with God and left spiritually dead in sin. Intense, no? God didn't just curse the earth and man and just leave it at that. He made a promise. He promised to send someone to redeem mankind from this curse so they could be restored to the intended relationship God wants with His creation. Jesus was prophesied 4,000 years before His birth.
When Jesus was born, He was born perfect. I don't mean with 10 fingers, 10 toes, and a cute, chubby little body. I mean He was not born under the curse of sin like everybody else who has ever been born. He wasn't like you and me. He lived a perfect life. He was tempted by every sin we have been tempted by, yet He didn't sin. He preached righteousness and peace. He cared for the outcasts and healed the sick, yet He was delivered to the religious and state authorities on false charges under unlawful conditions, and this is where God's promise to Adam and Eve began.
He was blindfolded and beaten. He had His flesh ripped open by toothed whips. He had to carry His own instrument of execution, a cross, to the outskirts of the city. He was spat on, mocked, and ridiculed. He was laid naked on the cross, having nails driven into His hands and feet pinning Him to it as they lifted Him up in a vertical position. There He was left to suffocate. Every breath He tried to breath was agony because His open back scraped along the splintered wood of the cross as He lifted Himself up.
God the Father turned His back on Jesus in that hour. Jesus wasn't just in physical agony that day. He was also in spiritually agony. Since before the creation of time Jesus was in perfect fellowship with the Father and Holy Spirit (being that God is a Triune God: three Persons, one Deity). When the Father turned His back on Jesus, that was first time in eternal history that the unity of God was broken. Jesus took on sin in our place. The very evil that God hates was placed on Jesus that day in our place. The very essence of sin was placed on the shoulders of Jesus in our place so that we could have a way back to a right, perfect relationship with God. In His last breath Jesus joyfully and victoriously cried out "It is finished!" They payment for sin had been made.
This shows two things.. First, the magnitude of our evil is so great that it cost God His very life to pay for it. In those three hours Jesus was on the cross He suffered more than any other person ever would in hell. Second, God's love goes to such lengths to save lost humanity.
Jesus didn't stay dead in His grave though. Three days later He rose by His own power and walked out of His tomb. He proved that the payment He made for sin was sufficient. He proved He has power to redeem mankind through the Gospel. This was the receipt of His transaction with the Father. Now anyone who would cry out to God for mercy, who would turn to God and place their trust in the payment of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, who would believe He is no longer in the tomb but risen, they will receive pardon from God for their sins, have their heart changed, and be restored into a right relationship with God.
Now how does this come into play with God's patience? God's love for mankind is so great that He gives everyone a chance to their dying breath to turn to Him. This last week hundreds of thousands of people died around the world, and God's patience was with every single one of them. Justice was met for every single one of them. Many murderers, rapists, child molesters, adulterers, thieves, liars, and idolaters found their justice in eternal punishment paying for their sins in hell. But there were also many murderers, rapists, child molesters, adulterers, thieves, liars, and idolaters who are in heaven with God because they took the offer of Jesus payment for their sins. I will be bold enough to say that Jesus' sacrifice is great enough to cover the sins of the worst person on earth, and in all reality, we are no different that that worst person because we have all broken God's laws many, many times. We are all guilty and deserve punishment for our sins just as much as we think that gunman in Connecticut deserves to be punished for his atrocious crimes against the people of Newtown.
God's Justice
I do not know why God allowed this massacre, but I do know this. Eternal justice is being served right now as we speak. And the lives of those who survived the shooting and the lives of those impacted by the loss of loved ones can be mended by the love of God. For many this tragedy may result in a wake-up call to their own imminent appointment with death because we all face our own appointment with death that can come at any time by any means.
So what's it gonna be? Are you going to stand there and shake your fist at God for this great self-perceived injustice He has allowed? Or are you going to fall to your knees in repentance knowing your death date is unknown? There are many tragedies in the world every day, but there is no greater tragedy than a person having to spend eternity in hell to pay for their sins while God offers forgiveness and salvation to them. God is being patient with you right now. He is calling you to repentance through this very blog! God has not wiped out evil in this world yet because He is offering to you salvation from your own evilness, but one day He will. So He is offering to you His own payment for your sins! Turn to Him today! Trust in Jesus' offer for payment for your sins today!
If you have already trust Jesus, worship Him today with thanksgiving. Mourn with those who mourn. Weep with those who weep. Be a light to this broken world by the Gospel of our great God. Be patient as God is patient. Be gracious as God is gracious.
Blessings,
Nick
2 Peter 3:8-13
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
