We should not be surprised at all the atrocities and
evil in the world. We should be surprised that most of us escape such curses
that we deserve since the Fall. It is only by God’s grace that we are not all
destroyed since Adam fell. “For I am the LORD, I do not change;
Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob” (Mal 3:6). “Nothing can happen
to you unless I let it happen,” saith the Lord. “And if I do, it is for your
good, even unto death.” The “you” here are those who love God and are the
called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
Someone might object that it is not fair for
God to spare some and let the rest be destroyed. Remember the parable where the
owner paid the same wage to those who worked one hour as he paid to those who
had worked all day? Those who worked all day said, “It’s not fair!” What was
the owner’s answer? “Is it not
lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” (Mt 20:15).
Why do most people object that it is not fair
for bad things to happen to some people? Is it not because they assume
(presuppose) that nothing bad should happen to anyone, or at least not to
innocent people? Is it a valid assumption? Not according to Scripture. No one
is innocent. All are stained by Adam’s Fall and death came upon all.
It is an insult to God’s holiness to insist
that He has an obligation to save everyone. For man to insist that is to make
himself God’s judge. Such arrogance deserves the wages of sin (death). On
judgment day every mouth will be stopped and all the world will be declared,
“Guilty.” The gift of God is
eternal life to those whose names are found written in the Book Of Life.
