I will defer somewhat in my discussion of freedom to that which I have just previously mentioned regarding the Fall. Namely, that true freedom is not, as we most often and readily believe, the freedom of contrary choice, but rather the freedom to be and do all that God has created his people to be and do. This is the freedom of God himself, in whose image we have been crafted; not the freedom of capriciousness or mere lack of restraint, but the freedom of God to be fully and completely God; as he is, according to His own divine nature. In the Garden, we were created in the image of Christ himself with the freedom to be fully, completely and profoundly human. Created in the image of, and for relationship with, God, with all the infinite potential of creation and the depths of our own essence laid out before us, ‘God created… and it was good.’ As such, we understand that evil was, and is, in no way necessary. Evil is essentially a void, an absence, an emptiness, and nothing that God created good required the ‘existence’ of evil in order to be, genuinely, good. It is through this lens that we much approach the reality of evil and suffering.
First, we must come to understand that evil, most plainly, is simply that which ought not be. God created all that ‘ought’ to be in accordance with his divine love and purposes. Evil is not a created reality within God’s good intention, but the twisting and degradation of that good. As such, evil has no justification. It has no good end. God cries out along with those who suffer under evil that things simply ought not to be this way. In fact, that is evil’s very definition.
Along with this, we may further come to understand that evil cannot be explained; it essentially makes no sense. To attempt to provide an explanation for evil is to lend it a rationality which it does not possess. To explain evil is to rationalize it, and to rationalize it is to justify it. And evil, as we have just discussed, is essentially and necessarily without justification. It simply shouldn’t be.
Thirdly, in the sovereignty and power of God, when we hand to him ‘that which ought not be’, he is yet able to overcome that evil and put things to rights. God does not justify or ‘turn evil into’ good. God’s response to evil is not justification or explanation, but ACTION; to UNDO that evil. This is, essentially, why evil has no future, because God, in overcoming evil, is able to make it do ‘forced labor’; to undo itself. Sin and evil are essentially that which ought not be and, in the end, they WILL NOT be.
Concurrently, we come to understand that evil is in no way necessary. In rejection of a dualistic paradigm, Christian teaching affirms that evil has no necessary place, even for the operation of free will. As expounded upon in depth earlier, the essence of genuine freedom is not contrary choice, but rather the freedom to be fully and truly that which we have been created to be. Embracing a wrong perception of freedom leads us, in fact to bondage and death.
Fifthly, Evil is essentially parasitic. God alone is the source of existence, and God wills that evil not exist. Therefore, evil has no power to exist but to leach off of, and twist the good. The enemy has been deemed the ‘Father of lies’ for good reason. For a lie has no power; no substance, no reality apart from its impersonation of truth. A lie, perceived as a lie, has no power whatsoever. Once it is revealed for what it is, all of its influence is lost. If a lie cannot be treated with the reality of a truth, it has no power, no effect, and no future. As such, the choice between good and evil is not the choice between two realities, but the choice between a reality and a non-reality. As we choose to participate in evil, we lend it a reality and an existence that it otherwise does not have. In our lives, we make the lie ‘real’ by living as if it were true; as if it WERE, when it is essentially NOT. In contrast, true freedom always leads to freedom. The choice of evil is not freedom, but the choice to throw away our freedom. This is the genuinely heartbreaking tragedy of the Garden; we have sold our eternal inheritance and all the richness of God for NOTHINGNESS.
Lastly, God has not promised that we will not suffer, but that he will make all of our sufferings to be like that of Christ; namely, overcome unto redemption. Scripture tells us that, in the end, every tear will be wiped away. Until then, in the face of evil and suffering we are enabled unto Godly grief and engagement over those things in our world which simply ‘ought not be’, in the fullness of Hope that God, in Christ and in his redemption and sanctification of his people, is actively bringing about the day when these things WILL NOT be; all of creation restored into the fullness of God’s glorious intent. Until that day, those people redeemed and brought into transforming relationship with God through Christ embody this victory by living lives of hope, healing and genuine freedom in the midst of suffering and bondage as a witness to the greater reality over God’s victory over evil in and through Christ, praying as Jesus taught us, ‘Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Come, Lord Jesus.
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