Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - John MacArthur - The Problem of Evil

Episode Date: April 14, 2023

Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis: Big Questions, Biblical Answers, is a series that seeks to provide biblical answers to some of the most prominent and fundamental questions regarding God, the Gospel, and the Bible.In this episode Pastor John MacArthur from Grace Community Church will discuss the problem of evil.Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Okay, so one of the biggest objections to the Christian faith, Pastor John, is that if God is good, He's powerful, He's sovereign, why does so much evil and suffering and pain exist in the world? Yeah, when I used to do a lot of stuff with Larry King, that's where he would always go that was his agnostic rabbit hole he would go down that rabbit hole and stay there until the conversation was over that's where he hid because he said if God is good then why is there so much bad in the world and if God is all-powerful he would fix it so either he's not good or he's not powerful but the Bible says he's both good and

powerful and so the answer to evil is simply the fact that it's designed by God to be allowed so that he can manifest his glory. Everything is for his glory. If you go, starting in the book of Genesis, you'll find a phrase, for the sake of the name, for the sake of the name, for the sake of the name. Just take a concordance sometime and look up that phrase, for the sake of the name, for the sake of the name. Just take a concordance sometime and look up that phrase, for the sake of the name. It's all over the Old Testament and it's all over the New Testament. Everything is for the sake of the name. So why did God allow evil? In order that he might put his glory on display. If there's no evil, there's no sin, then there's no forgiveness, there's no grace, there's no mercy, there's no compassion, there's no kindness, and God doesn't display that part of his glory. So ultimately, it's all for his glory.

God allows evil. God does not cause evil. He is absolutely holy. He cannot cause evil, but he allows it for the sake of his own glory. And then, of course, in the light of evil, he redeems those who put their trust in him, and that shows the ultimate glory. That's the glory of his grace, as Paul calls it in Ephesians 1, which is the greatest expression of his glory as far as we're concerned

because that's what redeems us. So you would say that God allows suffering and pain to display his glory and that God's glory is most evidently portrayed by redeeming people. And that's why when we look at the world, we see that it's frustrated and futile and broken to create opportunity for God to be able to display his glory and redemption. Right. Look, God's glory is the ultimate end of God. And we think that might be weird because we're sinful and we don't want to be raising our own profile and elevating ourselves. We see that as sinful as believers. But God is all glorious. His glory is on display in creation, right? His glory is on display in history,

providence as he runs history and accomplishes his will. But nowhere is his glory as great as it is in his grace, because that's where it captures us and takes us to glory. So he displays that. And when we get to heaven, what are we going to be doing there? We're going to be praising him. What are we going to be saying? Blessed is the lamb that was slain. Yeah. And without that suffering and without that pain, we would not be able to understand the grace of God, which is really the fuel behind His glory. Right, and forever in heaven, we will praise Him, not only for His creative power and His majesty, but for His grace in particular.

That's so good and so clear. Thank you, Pastor John. Pleasure.