Knowing that Evil Exists
Understanding These Times are Not Merely Political, but Theological (Pt. 2)
Few questions are as pressing and as difficult as the problem of evil. If God is all-powerful and all-good, why is there so much suffering in the world? When we think about a national-shaking event like the assassination of Charlie Kirk, for many evil challenges the very foundations of our faith. Maybe you have wrestled with this question, and you are not alone. Many people have wrestled with this question for centuries. Yet, the Christian faith offers a response that strengthens faith amid these confusing times.
Have you thought something like this? Heard a friend or family member ask a question along these terms?
If God is good and sovereign, He would have stopped Charlie Kirk from being murdered.
The foundation of faith, wondering why God did not stop it from happening, is shaken, and many will end up saying, “Well, God must not be sovereign or good.”
This reasoning is compelling at first glance, but that conclusion overlooks the deeper purposes of God revealed in Scripture.
Evil and the Sovereignty of God
The Bible does not shy away from the reality of evil. From the fall of Adam and Eve, all throughout our Bibles, evil is portrayed as both real and destructive. Yet, at the same time, Scripture affirms that God is sovereign over all things, including evil, without ever being its author (James 1:13).
Joseph’s words to his brothers capture this tension: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good”(Gen. 50:20). Human intentions were wicked, but God’s providence overruled them for good. Similarly, Peter declares that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God,” even though lawless men were responsible for crucifying Him (Acts 2:23). Evil is never outside of God’s control, yet He remains perfectly holy.
Why Does God Permit Evil?
Christians have offered several lines of response. Some point to the necessity of free will. Others emphasize that trials and suffering mature our character in ways comfort never could (Rom. 5:3–5). Others stress that God’s thoughts are higher than ours (Isa. 55:8–9).
Each of these has biblical warrant, but the deepest answer lies in the redemptive story of Scripture. God permits evil not because He is powerless or indifferent but because He is weaving it into something greater than we far can imagine. The cross itself is the supreme example: the worst act of evil in history, the murder of the Son of God, became the very means of the world’s redemption.
The Christian Hope
The Christian response to evil, then, is:
First, we believe that suffering is real and grievous. Christianity never minimizes pain or dismisses sorrow.
Second, we cling to God’s promise that He is with us in our suffering. Psalm 23 reminds us that even in the valley of the shadow of death, God’s presence comforts His people.
Third, we hold fast to the hope of ultimate restoration. Evil and suffering do not have the final word. Revelation 21 promises a day when God will wipe away every tear, when death shall be no more, and when all things will be made new.
Living in Light of the Problem
For believers, the problem of evil is solved by faith in the crucified and risen Christ. This does not mean we stop asking hard questions, but it does mean we ask them from within the framework of God’s Word. We trust that the same God who brought salvation by the cross of Christ is also at work in our present darkness.
This perspective shapes how we respond to evil in our world. We are called to resist evil, boldly proclaim the truth, relieve suffering, comfort the brokenhearted, and bear witness to the hope of Christ. The church is to be a community where the effects of the fall are pushed back through the proclamation of the Word by power of the Spirit and where a foretaste of the coming kingdom is displayed.
The problem of evil will never be fully solved this side of eternity. Yet the Christian faith offers a response that neither denies the horror of suffering nor surrenders to despair. It proclaims a God who is sovereign over evil, present in suffering, and victorious through Christ. The cross stands as the ultimate answer: here is where evil was at its worst, and here is where God’s goodness was most clearly revealed.
One day, the mystery will be resolved when Christ returns and makes all things new. Until then, we live by faith, confident that nothing, not even evil itself, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 8:38–39).