Post Author: Bill Pratt 

Although God is not the author of evil, he certainly allows it. Humans routinely commit evil acts against each other. We have been sinning against God and our fellow men ever since Cain killed Abel. Given all this evil, what does God do about it?

Because of His omniscience (all-knowingness) and omnipotence (all-powerfulness), God can take the evil deeds of human beings and produce a greater good. That is exactly what he did with Joseph in the Book of Genesis. Even though Joseph’s brothers committed the evil act of selling him into slavery, God used their evil to ultimately save their family from starvation and thus preserve the promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The ultimate example of God taking evil and producing good is the death and resurrection of Jesus. No greater evil has ever been perpetrated than the murder of God’s innocent Son on the cross. Yet, no greater good has ever been produced than Jesus’s atoning sacrifice for the sins of mankind.

Can God use evil? Yes, he can and he does. In both the story of Joseph and the death and resurrection of Jesus, we see God bringing a greater good out of the evil deeds of human beings.