If God is All Powerful, Why Does Evil Exist Bob Pellien: In today’s world, we have all seen evil all around us. No one is immune from witnessing tragedy anymore. But do you, dear friends, find yourselves wondering, “If God is all powerful, why does evil even exist?”  [Show open]  The Bible. The basis of our faith in the Church Of Christ which answers questions about proper worship, the right relationship with God, and most importantly, salvation - That’s in the Bible! Bob Pellien: I’m Bob Pellien, and welcome to the program, That’s in the Bible. We received an email question from Tom in Garden Grove, California. Tom asked:  Why is there evil if all of us were created good in the beginning? Bob Pellien: First of all, thank you Tom for your question. And to help us fully answer Tom’s question, let’s frame our topic of discussion around three sub-questions.  1: What does it mean that people were created good?  2: Why then is evil widespread?  3: Why doesn’t God stop evil from occurring in the first place?  Tom, you’re correct in believing that we were created good. What does it mean, though, that people were created good? Let's begin discussing and reading responses from the scriptures on this topic and we go first to Ecclesiastes 7:29, where the following is recorded in the Holy Bible:  Here is what I have figured out: God made humanity for good, but we humans go out and scheme our way into trouble.  [Ecclesiastes 7:29 The Voice]    Bob Pellien: Here, dear friends, the Bible clarifies that “God made humanity for good.” Now does this mean that everyone today is good? Well, just look around and what do we see? That’s not true. Some might phrase it even “in a perfect world,” that would be the case, right? But what’s the biblical explanation as to why, in fact, that’s not the case? Well, the Bible said, “we humans go out and scheme our way into trouble.”     Bob Pellien: So, because God made us all for good, what exactly is that good that we were made for? Well, we can read, once again, in the Holy Scriptures. This time, we turn to the New Testament writings of Apostle Paul in Romans 7:12.   So then, the Law itself is holy, and the commandment is holy, right, and good.  [Romans 7:12 Good New Translation] Bob Pellien: Dear friends, although many people nowadays think that good is merely a relative feeling, that we could be comparatively good next to other people, or that, maybe, we’re nice, we’re kind, we’re generous, or all the other “good” attributes that society has defined today. But the biblical truth is that good that we were made for is God’s laws, His commandments. You might ask then, “well, how would God’s commands be for our good?” Again we get the answer from what is written here in the Holy Scriptures, and we turn this time to the writings of one of the ancient prophets of Israel, Jeremiah 7:23, wherein he wrote: This is what I told them: 'Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Only do as I say, and all will be well!'  [Jeremiah 7:23 New Living Translation] Bob Pellien: So, dear friends, now what we’re learning here is that it is only when we obey God’s commandments or do precisely as He says, that His laws and commands– it will do us good and all will be well in our lives. Therefore to answer the question, “Why does evil exist?”: It exists because there are people in this world who have decided not to obey God. Dear friends, it has to be understood well–should be understood well– that well, although God created us for good, He does not force us to be good.