It is often asked that, ‘if God is real, why does evil and suffering exist?‘ In other words, why would a good and loving God permit the cruelties and sufferings we witness on a daily basis? That those who reject and mock the very notion of God would think that this same God should and would create a world to their liking, and let them live lives with not even a passing thought towards their Creator, belies the nonsensical nature of the question they ask.

It is true that the world is full of evil, and sorrow, and suffering, and tragedy, and all of it resulted from man’s rejection of God. Man wanted to live as his own god with no duty to the One who created him. We, like sheep, have gone astray, and our hearts are only interested in living for ourselves.

Man was done with God, but thankfully, God was not done with us.

On this day we celebrate God sending his Son into the world to save those who rejected Him. He took on the form of man. He came humbly, born amongst animals in a stable. He lived a perfect life so that we may too shall live. Jesus came to reconcile man with God.

The original question is asked poorly. That evil even exists necessitates a need for this Saviour. The question should not be ‘why would a loving God allow evil?‘ but rather, ‘why would God save those who rejected Him at all?‘ Christianity is the only answer for the existence of evil; it is the only way to make sense of evil in the world. No other worldview can account for, and deal with, all the wickedness. Only Jesus can.

We celebrate Christmas to commemorate God coming into the world to defeat sin and evil once and for all. If this is not at the heart of your celebrations today, then you are not celebrating Christmas; you are not celebrating God’s goodness to those who rejected Him and embraced evil. We celebrate that which is good, and beautiful, and true, this day, for we know that evil has been conquered, and we look forward to the day when it is no more.