Q. Is God really good? If so, why do bad things happen?
A. When God made the world, He made it perfect. He controlled everything until He made man. He made man a free moral agency and thereby gave Adam and Eve the power of choice. They chose to sin against God rather than to obey Him, and so, the door was opened for every bad thing that has happened since. The Scripture says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Rom. 5:12). Bad things happen because sin has corrupted the world.

Q. Yes, but couldn’t God have prevented Adam from sinning and thereby saved the world a lot of trouble?
A. He certainly could have, but by so doing He would destroy His purpose in creation. That purpose was to “bring many sons into glory.” These strong sons, the heirs to the universe,will have been made strong by living in a world of sin, temptation and and bad things. Without this, man would be a will-less automaton and that would be the worst thing of all.

Q. Jesus knows what we need before we do. Why then shall we pray?
A. We should pray because we are told to. The point is that the things that happen in the world are a combination of the working of the will of God and the will of man. The will of the righteous man is expressed to God in prayer and, therefore, the praying person has been given “the dignity of causality” in bringing things to pass.

Q. In the midst of this disappointing and dangerous world, how do we really know that God loves us?
A. In answer to this, many have pointed to the warm sunshine, the beauty of nature, the happy fellowship with friends, and things like this. All of these may, however, fail. The final, ultimate evidence of the love of God is the fact that He gave His Son to die for our sins on the cross. “But God commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). Additionally, the Scripture says, “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). The statement that God loves us is proved forever by the finished work of Christ on Calvary’s cross. The love of God is, therefore, never to be doubted.