Good v. Evil – and Good Wins!

I have nothing to offer in the chatter about the terrible incident that took place in Connecticut.  I, for one, am not one asking “Why?”  There is no answer to the question.  Had the killer not cowardly executed himself, and instead choose to explain his evil work, what words could he have uttered that would bring any amount of sensibility to this tragedy?  None.  Nothing could be said.  This was pure evil. 

 

To those that shake their fist at God and demand answers, I say cool it.  God did not perpetrate this act.  A murderous thug did.  Yes, God permitted it, and we won’t know why this side of Glory.  But know this, God’s mercy and love is shown brightest in times of suffering and tragedy.  And what happened in Connecticut happens throughout our sinful and broken world every single day.  Yes, more civil societies are shocked when children are slaughtered for no reason, but thousands, perhaps even several thousands of children across the globe suffer terrible horrors similar to the one in Newtown, CT on a daily basis. 

 

During the 1990s, famine in North Korea was estimated to kill 2 to 3.5 MILLION people, many of whom were children.  Today, South Korean officials estimate the forced-labor camp population inside the hermit kingdom at 250,000.  And a full third are children.  That’s over 80,000 children enslaved to do the evil bidding of the murderous Kim family.  Conditions inside these death camps would horrify the average world denizen.   Starvation, torture, severe cold, and unimaginable working and living conditions are everyday life for all who reside there.  Why?

Also during the 1990s, ethnic cleansing lead to the murder of nearly 1 million people in Rwanda.  Families were systematically executed – shot in the head, for no other reason than being of a certain ethnic background.  Children, thousands of them, were slaughtered like cattle.  Women were raped, tortured, and them murdered.  Why?

Consider the forced abortions in China, or children sold as sex slaves in Cambodia and Laos.  The list of evils committed around the globe is long and horrifying.  And there is no “why” to be had, except that this world we live in is broken and corrupted by sin.

Mankind’s evil reign on earth isn’t to be forever.  God has promised to restore his creation to its original glory (see Isaiah 51:11; 65:17; 66:22, Romans 8:21, 2 Peter 3:10-13), and evil’s grip will be taken away, once and forever.  Christians everywhere celebrate this hope with the birth of Jesus Christ.  Christmas is reason to hope – to know with certainty that in the end, good will overcome evil.  Just as Christ triumphed over death and sin on the Cross, one day he will make all things new.  This is our hope and our promise.

Merry Christmas!