Recently I heard the accusation, “If there is a God then why didn’t he stop this virus?” If one assumes that God is good, people are good, and a good God exists to make good people healthy and happy, then it is a valid question. There are, of course, some problems with those assumptions. They neglect to take into consideration that God is holy. They assume that people are basically good, which is debatable. For perspective let me reflect on three biblical mandates that I believe give order, purpose, and direction to our lives, and context to the question. The very first command or mandate given to people in the Bible is found in Genesis 1:28,
[28] And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of
the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that
moves on the earth.”
We can debate whether the first part of the command regarding being fruitful and filling the earth has been fulfilled, but the second part of the command certainly stands, “have dominion.” We were created to oversee and care for God’s creation. That command is repeated or implied throughout scripture. In Genesis 2:15 God put man in the Garden “to work it and keep it.” After the Fall in Genesis 3 the command became more difficult to keep as Genesis 3:17b-19 indicate.
cursed
is the ground because of you;
in
pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
[18]
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and
you shall eat the plants of the field.
[19]
By the sweat of your face
you
shall eat bread,
till
you return to the ground,
for
out of it you were taken;
for
you are dust,
and
to dust you shall return.”
After the Flood the command became even more difficult according to Genesis
9:1-3
[1] And God blessed Noah and
his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. [2]
The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and
upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and
all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. [3] Every moving thing
that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give
you everything.
The command to oversee creation was never lifted, but it became increasingly
difficult because of mankind’s sin, rebellion, and violence. Every disease and
every natural disaster can be traced back to mankind’s sin. I would be hesitant
to say that the Corona Virus Covid-19 is a direct judgment against a nation or
the world for a particular sin. I would not hesitate to say that the virus
exists because we live in a broken world resulting from the fact that we are a rebellious
and sinful people. The assumption that people are basically good makes us feel better about ourselves, but a quick review of history tells a different story. “If there is a God then why didn’t he stop this virus?” Because we invited the virus into our world through our own brokenness. A good and holy God would never let a rebellious people get away with destroying his creation while at the same time protecting them from the consequences of their actions. We made our bed. Now we lie in it. The virus exists not because there is no God, but because we, a rebellious and sinful people, live in a world we broke.
Still, God is good. That leads us to the second and third biblical mandates. I will reflect on them in coming blogs, but they involve loving others and bringing Good News to a broken world. The God of creation is a God of grace and mercy. He may allow us to live with the direct and indirect consequences of our sin for a time, but through his Son he has offered an eternal solution. That being said, perhaps we should carefully consider Isaiah 55:6-7
[6] “Seek the
LORD while he may be found;
call upon him
while he is near;
[7] let the
wicked forsake his way,
and the
unrighteous man his thoughts;
let him return to
the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
and to our God,
for he will abundantly pardon.
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