We can be new people by believing in Christ. “If anyone is in Christ, he’s a new creation. The old has gone and the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5, 17 NIV).

God can bring great blessings to anyone who lives for Him. If God could remove all evil from the world, but leave a human being on it, that would mean that “humanness” would be lost. Man would be a robot.

Let me clarify what I mean. Man would lose his distinctive mark, the ability to choose.  Suppose God eliminated evil by setting man up to do good works only, mankind would be no longer a moral agent free to choose. He would be reduced in status to a robot. Let’s go one step further.

Robots can’t and do not love. God gave man the ability to love. The freedom to love is the basis of love. We can’t force anyone to love us. You can’t force others to love you. True love depends on the freedom to choose how to respond.

Although man could be programmed into doing good, the essence of love would disappear. If man was forced to do good, then suffering and love would cease. Imagine living in a world where there is no love.

This shows that God’s power to remove evil wouldn’t be a positive solution for the problem of suffering. These actions would lead to even more problems. Either man would be reduced to a robot in a loveless world or he’d be exterminated.

If given the option, I would rather be responsible for my actions than a robot who isn’t accountable!