An Honest Debate.com

 In three previous posts I have argued that God has done something about the pain and suffering of this world, that He is doing something about at the present hour, and that He will do even more in the future.  This post is devoted to a discussion of what God will do to address the root problem – evil — at some point in the future.  

By way of review, let me restate a few of the points I’ve already made.  First, this world is indeed broken, but God didn’t break it, we did.  Second, the most troubling evils of this broken world are the evils we inflict on one another.  War is the most obvious example, but given recent events we can also point to such things as the massacre at Virginia Tech and the recent spate of deadly bombings in
Iraq.  Third, this broken world grieves the God of the Universe more than it grieves any one of us. Finally God’s grief over this fallen planet has moved Him to decisive action in the past, including, most notably, the sending of His Son into this world.  Once here, the Son of God Himself was crushed by this world’s brokenness so that fallen man could enjoy the forgiveness of sin and eternal life through faith in Him.

But the cross was not the only time God has done something about the evil of this world.  The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is one example of God doing something about it.  The flood is another.   

We read about the flood in the book of Genesis.  There we are told that “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”  The text goes on to say, “The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.”   A few verses later we are told, “The earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and earth was filled with violence.”

There are several things that I think we should notice about these verses.  First, God sees and knows all about the evil things that are happening on the earth.  Second, it grieves Him.  In fact, in Noah’s time it grieved him to the point that He was sorry He had created us.  Third, God will not put up with this situation indefinitely.  We know this because after much divine forbearance the flood came. 

It would seem that there comes a point when God has endured all He is going to endure; when that point arrives irreversible judgment begins.  Peter tells us that in the years leading up to the flood, “The longsuffering of God waited.”  During this time the longsuffering God gave the human race one final offer of salvation through Noah, whom Peter refers to as “a preacher of righteousness.” 

But you know what happened.  The world ignored the warnings and rejected God’s offer of salvation.  Jesus says, “They ate, they drank, they married, they were given in marriage, until the day that the flood came and destroyed them all.”  I think you will have to admit that on that day God did something very decisive about the problem of evil in the antediluvian world.

In light of this, it might be wise for those who are constantly demanding that God do something about the evil of this world be careful what they ask for, because they just might get it… and they might not like it.  Have you heard of Armageddon?