If a person believes in a higher being who created all this, they are forced to believe either that He is entirely good or entirely evil. There is no in-between.

If a higher being created us without purpose or plan for life after our time on earth as the Bible and Christianity teaches, then it is nothing more than a cruel joke. We live, we die, and there is no point to any of it. Why would a creator do that unless they were entirely evil? Could there possibly be any good in them? Could a creator who put us on this planet to deal with all the frustrations of life (disease, hatred, murder, orphans, drugs, rape, wars, etc…) and no plan to ever do anything about it, be anything but evil? He either has a plan to fix things and get us out of this mess, or He doesn’t. If He has a plan, He must at the very least be good. If He doesn’t have a plan, it certainly brings into question His character to say the least.

Is it possible that the creator of all things could be kind of good and kind of bad? Does He have good days and bad days? Does He love us some days but is grumpy and vengeful the next? Is the one who created and is in control of everything in fact unable to control Himself?

See, I think a lot of people that believe in a higher power aren’t really convinced that He’s all that good. Even those who know better and profess He’s good still don’t act like He’s good all the time. I think people think He’s moody. They’ve seen too much evil in this world to believe He could possibly be entirely good. But you can’t ride the fencepost on this one folks.

As bad as things seem here on planet earth, it’s far from lacking anything good in it, right? The creator gave us incredible qualities such as love, beauty and music. We may have different ideas of what they look like, but no one can deny that these qualities exist in each of us. And if you believe in a higher being, then you must believe that we only have these qualities because the creator put them in us. The only motive for doing this would be out of love for His creation (us). Why else would He give us such amazing gifts? Would a creator give us the majestic mountains and the ability to appreciate their breath-taking beauty…just to be mean? Really? Just so we could have some joy on this planet in the middle of His evil scheme? And what about music? Why toy with us? Oh, and He instilled in us a sense of right and wrong…why? Every culture around the world that has ever existed believes that cold-blooded murder is wrong. Why did He give us all a sense of morality if morality doesn’t matter?

You may ask, “Okay, if He’s good and does therefore have a plan to get us out of this mess, why would He have not simply made everything perfect and kept it that way?” Heaven, in other words. Why didn’t the creator just make “heaven” and not mess with “earth?” Why would God make us endure the hardships and unfairness of life if He is so good and loving? This is where most people fall and assume He must not be all that good after-all. They just don’t get it. It’s the most common argument against Him – “Why do bad things happen to good people if God is so good and loving?” It seems like such a logical question, right? But it assumes that if bad things happen to us that God allows, He cannot possibly be good. Really? I mean, if God doesn’t have a plan to fix things, then yeah, how could He be good? In fact, as I’ve already said, I think He’d be downright evil. It’s just mean. But if He DOES have a plan to fix things, then isn’t it just possible that we’re not seeing the big picture and that maybe, just maybe there’s a reason He’s allowing these things?

The fact that we don’t understand why has no bearing on this truth and does not mean that the creator is evil. If He created everything, then it stands to reason that He knows more than us and that we only feel it is “unfair” because we can’t see and know everything like He can.

I mean, really. Does it sound even semi-logical to think that this a God who’s messing with us in some sick, twisted game He’s playing…by Himself…for no apparent reason other than that He’s evil? Does that even remotely feel right?

And consider the fact that evil cannot exist without good. Evil is the absence of good. To say there is evil is to admit there is also good. A “good” God can allow evil to exist so long as He has a plan, and still be good. But an “evil” God would have no reason to allow good.

So how would a good creator who actually cares about us, go about fixing things? The story of the Bible is the only thing that makes sense (don’t check out just yet).

God created the world, including you and me, perfectly and out of love. He actually wanted us to genuinely love Him back, so He didn’t force Himself on us or make us believe in Him, but He gave us a choice (hence, the tree in the Garden of Eden). Believe and follow, or not. It’s our choice to make – God’s not going to make it for us. But God knew, of course, that most would not choose Him despite His deep desire that all would. That all of us would turn our backs on Him at some point. And there HAS to be some kind of penalty for that. It’s not the sort of thing you can just let go if you’re the creator of the universe, no matter how much it pains you to do it and no matter how much you love your creation.

And so, before He even created the world, He planned on coming down Himself, living a sinless life and allowing Himself to be killed by His own creation only to raise back to life therefore conquering death. In other words, He took death on for us. He took the consequences of our turning our backs on Him off our shoulders and put it on His own so that the penalty which must paid was still paid. And we get to get to take on the sinless life that Jesus lived. That’s right. His perfect life becomes ours...if we want it.

And of course there’s more! He didn’t just save us from our sins so that we could walk around knowing we’re saved from our sins. That’s great and all, but we’d still live and die with no real point. But He’s also promised a life beyond this one. A life that is truly perfect and will remain that way forever, because God will finally have His world full of people who genuinely love Him without being forced.

That’s why bad things happen to good people. They must. The story of the Bible and of Jesus is the only way any of this is possible, you see. There is no other way for us to love God perfectly. There is no way that is, in the long run, better for us. Can you think of another way God could accomplish this? Do you really think you have a better solution? Do you think He should not allow anything bad to happen to us? Are you mad at God? Do you think He’s not such a good God after all?

Maybe it’s just because you’re not seeing the big picture.

God has a plan. It works. It makes sense. And, believe it or not, it’s the best plan for you AND for Him even though it costs both you and Him a great deal of pain. So He’s not just a good God. He’s beyond words.

(BTW, if you’re reading this and thinking, “makes sense…what do I do about it?”, or if you just have questions or comments, I’d really love to hear from you).