The Worst Evil is Meant for Good - 1

As Easter is approaching, I started thinking about the crucifixion and Jesus' suffering. It makes sense, but then it doesn't. God could have worked out our salvation in numerous other ways, but he chose the Cross. John Piper wrote a book back in 2004 entitled The Passion of Jesus Christ. In it, he enumerates 50 reasons why Christ suffered and died, including the following: to absorb the wrath of God; to show his own love for us; to make us holy, blameless, and perfect; to reconcile us to God. As I leafed through it again, it was the last chapter that gave me pause: Christ suffered and died to show that the worst evil is meant by God for good.

The problem of evil is a knotty one. Just as God could have chosen a different method of salvation, he also could have created a different paradigm of good and evil. But he didn't and it remains a mystery to me. But Piper offers a thoughtful explanation in the context of the Cross. I thought I would share it with you over the next few posts. To start, Piper opens the chapter with this passage:

"In this city were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus...both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever you hand and your plan had predestined to take place." - Acts 4:27-28

And he introduces the narrative with this statement:

The most profound thing we can say about suffering and evil is that, in Jesus Christ, God entered into it and turned it for good. The origin of evil is shrouded in mystery. The Bible does not take us as far as we might like to go. Rather it says, "The secret things belong to...God" (Deuteronomy 29:29)