Look around you, watch a minute of the news, and you will see suffering. It is an unavoidable part of life. But where did evil come from?

As we ask this question and look for answers, we’ll find that the biblical Christian worldview gives us a robust answer to the problem of evil. It not only explains the cause of evil, but it also teaches that the all-powerful, all-good, all-loving God will conquer evil in the end, and that it will be to His glory.

The Cause of Evil

Part of the cause for evil comes from the fact that God created humanity with choice. When He put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He enabled them to choose Him or not to choose Him. Unfortunately, we know the story—they chose to ignore God’s commands and not trust that His plans were best for them. Instead of saying, “Thy will be done,” to God, they said, “My will be done”—this was the cause of evil. As a result of their rejection of God, they fell, and sin entered the world. We now live in a fallen world full of moral and natural evil and suffering.

Even now, we have a choice of accepting or rejecting God. This is because, in His mercy, He gives us another chance. He calls us to Himself in Christ, making a way of salvation. He wants our good, and He pursues our love. That is why evil does not have the last word, although while it is here it is a means that drives us to Him.

New Creation in Christ

The good news of Jesus Christ is that death and suffering do not have the final say. We are restored in Christ. The cause of evil was the Fall and our rejection of God; our release from evil comes in Christ. As the perfect God-man, He kept the law perfectly and gave us His righteousness. He underwrote the cause of sin and death for our sake. The One who transcends our minds and imaginations took on flesh and came to save us so that we might be a new creation in Him. Even though we still wrestle with sin in this world, we can walk by the Spirit and become more conformed to the image of Christ (Galatians 5:16).

When Christ comes again, He will restore everything. But it won’t simply be a return to the Garden of Eden. It will be far better. Unfortunately, we often have no appetite for heaven. Indeed, our ideas of heaven are sometimes more suited for hell! But when God renews creation, it will be far better than we can imagine. We will be with Him for all eternity, forever in perfection but growing in our knowledge and love of God.

Questions about heaven? Read Ken Boa’s Sense and Nonsense About Heaven and Hell.

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Want to learn more about the Christian faith and how to defend it? Check out Ken Boa’s apologetics archives.