Why This World and not Some Other?
Many of us at one time or another have asked the question, "Why did God create the world the way He did?” In other words, people really want to know why evil, war, murder, genocide, etc., exist in the first place. This is a very good question and has to be taken seriously if we are to have a reasonable explanation for existence as we know it. We have to have an understanding of what could have been as well as what actually is. I believe that there are essentially four different scenarios for what kind of world we could live in, however, only one of them can be actually true. Apologist Ravi Zacharias provides these same explanations in one of his own lectures on creation and the existence of evil. I will provide them here.
The first of the four possibilities is that God could have created nothing at all. In that case God could have eternally existed as infinite God without having created anything as we know it in the physical world.
Secondly, God could have created a world absent of both good and evil, an ammoral world as he calls it. Although this is an intellectual possibility, this world without morality in my opinion is not functionally possible because I do not think it would have been possible for God to create anything inconsistant with or disconnected from His own moral person or character. If God is perfect, and we of course believe He is, He could not do anything which comes short of perfection or fails to reflect God's own inherent moral standard. However for the sake of argument, this kind of ammoral world is mentioned to fill out the practical not necessarily the actual possiblities.
Thirdly, God could have created a world in which only moral good exists, not evil. In this world, created beings of angels and mankind would have been created as good beings with no possibility of doing anything otherwise. They would have been essentially automatons or functional robots. We might want to think of it as the "Truman Show" in absolute form. If you haven't seen this movie, let me just say that this sort of creation would by nature be absent of the possibility of human choice.
Finally, God could have created a world where man was given volition or will and the ability to choose between good and evil. This is the only world in which love is actually possible and love is upheld as the supreme ethic of the universe This is exactly the world that God created. In this world man is free to choose between obedience to God or to act in rebellion to God's laws which are for our blessing and our own good. In this world, created by God as good, and for our good, also includes the possiblity of evil. Evil is not a created entity in itself, but rather a corruption of some other created entity which is good in itself.
As a parent, I am able to perfectly understand this scenario because I want my own children to love me, not out of blind obedience or force, but because they can choose to love me, honor me, and fellowship with me. Anything less than volitional freedom to do so is not true love. Yes, my children could choose to disobey but would have to choose not to if they wanted to love me. The most amazing truth about this capacity to love is that God was not only the one who created us with this capacity, but also was the first to initiate His love to us in our sin and separation from Him! The apostle John told us,
And this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins. (I Jn 4:10)
The most important verse in John's gospel, and the one which has been quoted more than any other, is John 3:16. Here John sets forth the entire issue of man's sin, God's love, and man's choice to love God for what He has done for us in the clearest language possible:
For God so loved the world that He gave his One and Only Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Why did God create the world in which we live? Because in this world, in spite of the ugly presence of sin, God's supreme law of love can be both experienced and expressed by the Creator and the creation freely.
The first of the four possibilities is that God could have created nothing at all. In that case God could have eternally existed as infinite God without having created anything as we know it in the physical world.
Secondly, God could have created a world absent of both good and evil, an ammoral world as he calls it. Although this is an intellectual possibility, this world without morality in my opinion is not functionally possible because I do not think it would have been possible for God to create anything inconsistant with or disconnected from His own moral person or character. If God is perfect, and we of course believe He is, He could not do anything which comes short of perfection or fails to reflect God's own inherent moral standard. However for the sake of argument, this kind of ammoral world is mentioned to fill out the practical not necessarily the actual possiblities.
Thirdly, God could have created a world in which only moral good exists, not evil. In this world, created beings of angels and mankind would have been created as good beings with no possibility of doing anything otherwise. They would have been essentially automatons or functional robots. We might want to think of it as the "Truman Show" in absolute form. If you haven't seen this movie, let me just say that this sort of creation would by nature be absent of the possibility of human choice.
Finally, God could have created a world where man was given volition or will and the ability to choose between good and evil. This is the only world in which love is actually possible and love is upheld as the supreme ethic of the universe This is exactly the world that God created. In this world man is free to choose between obedience to God or to act in rebellion to God's laws which are for our blessing and our own good. In this world, created by God as good, and for our good, also includes the possiblity of evil. Evil is not a created entity in itself, but rather a corruption of some other created entity which is good in itself.
As a parent, I am able to perfectly understand this scenario because I want my own children to love me, not out of blind obedience or force, but because they can choose to love me, honor me, and fellowship with me. Anything less than volitional freedom to do so is not true love. Yes, my children could choose to disobey but would have to choose not to if they wanted to love me. The most amazing truth about this capacity to love is that God was not only the one who created us with this capacity, but also was the first to initiate His love to us in our sin and separation from Him! The apostle John told us,
And this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins. (I Jn 4:10)
The most important verse in John's gospel, and the one which has been quoted more than any other, is John 3:16. Here John sets forth the entire issue of man's sin, God's love, and man's choice to love God for what He has done for us in the clearest language possible:
For God so loved the world that He gave his One and Only Son that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
Why did God create the world in which we live? Because in this world, in spite of the ugly presence of sin, God's supreme law of love can be both experienced and expressed by the Creator and the creation freely.
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