The Cross, Tornadoes, and Other Evils

Last night my home state of Alabama was deeply affected by a record outbreak of tornadoes across the northern part of the state. Countless people were impacted by the loss of loved ones and material things. Of course, this testimony is echoed across numerous states, including the Commonwealth of Kentucky. I grieve for the victims. Things are not the way they are supposed to be. How do we make sense of this from a Christian worldview?

In his helpful study of this issue, Evil and the Cross, Henri Blocher asserts that there are 3 fundamental affirmations that we must hold together in wrestling with the problem of evil (whether moral evil or in this case natural evil):
1st, the utter "evilness" of evil (Isa 5:20).
2nd, the utter "goodness" of God (Hab 1;13; Deut 32:4).
3rd, the utter "sovereignty" of God (Amos 3:6; Is 45:7; Lam 3:31-39).

As we struggle with the problem of evil (and all of us do), we are tempted to compromise on one or another of these 3 absolute biblical convictions. We could, for example, minimize the severity of the Bible's diagnosis of evil (e.g. "it's not really as bad as it seems"). Or we may compromise God's goodness by making God complicit in some way with evil. But God is “not a God who takes pleasure in evil” (Ps 5:4) & whose “eyes are too pure to look on evil” (Hab 1:13). Or we may try to get God off the hook limiting his sovereignty (e.g. "there are some things that even God can't control").

Against these 3 tendencies, Scripture affirms: that evil is evil, that the Lord is sovereign, and that the Lord is good. These 3 truths must stand (as I write this I just received word that a football teammate of mine from the Alabama days lost his young daughter in a tornado).

In my estimation, the key issue in this discussion is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. In light of this most evil of evils (the crucifixion of the blameless Son of God), it is reasonable to believe that God has good purposes in all evils even though humans may be blind to these reasons.

That is, God decreed the cross, the most heinous evil in the history of the world. Yet, God redeemed this evil to procure the greatest good in the history of the world. The state of pardon and renewal procured by Christ’s cross is one of greater worth or blessedness than the faultless original position that God deemed “good.”

Thus, as God has redeemed the worst evil, He is capable of redeeming the lesser evils that presently occur.

So, if the worst moral evil is warranted, then even more so lesser evils.

Furthermore, if one can fail to identify the highest goods achieved through the most heinous evil (the divine reasons for the cross were not clear to anyone until God revealed them), then even more so one may fail to recognize lesser goods attained through lesser evils.

Thus, in my view, God's glorious purposes achieved through the evil communicated to His Son are the key to dealing with God's sovereignty and the presence of evil.

John Frame offers some helpful reminders in this regard (The Doctrine of God, 171-72.).

1st, it is important to define “greater good” theistically; that is, this idea should not be seen, necessarily, as greater pleasure or comfort for humankind, but as greater glory for God in Christ, which by extension, benefits the people of God (Rom 8:28-39).

2nd, unless God’s standards govern the concept of goodness, there can be no viable discussion of good or evil.

3rd, to evaluate God’s actions appropriately, one must evaluate them over the full extent of human history.

4th, God’s ways of bringing good out of evil often surprises (c.f. Gen 36-50). In this regard, O felix culpa (happy fall).

Of course, the ultimate good God achieves out of the cross of Christ concerns the magnification of God's glory in a renewed cosmos, which includes God's triumph over evil. When God comes to establish the kingdom of Christ and has made all things new (Rev 21:5), evil in all its forms will have been completely eradicated. Consider:

There will be no more sea (Rev 21:1), which represents chaotic, restless evil in Old Testament symbolism.

There will be no more death, mourning, crying, or pain (Rev 21:4).

There will be no more sin, for there will be no more sinners (Rev 21:7-8).

There will be no more darkness and night (Rev 21:25; 22:5).

There will be more more international strife (Rev 22:2), for the nations will find healing through the tree of life and the river of life.

There will be no more curse (Rev 22:3).

Think about this. Yes, we grieve over the presence of evil and suffering. Jesus was deeply troubled and wept over these very issues (John 11). However, we do not grieve without hope (1 Thess 4:13). Our great hope and joyful expectation is that all these aforementioned evils in Revelation 21 will not be there in the new heaven and new earth because of the victory of the cross of Christ through which they have been destroyed.

Until then, thank you Lord for the cross! "Deliver us from evil" (Matt 6:13). "Our Lord, come!" (Maranatha). Amen.