Years ago, I lost my Phone (along with my precious Memory card and
2 SIMs). I was pickpocketed in the hustle and bustle of Delhi’s street. I remember
myself walking silently to the metro station in deep thinking, why such a
thing happened in the world. You know, there is nothing good to have lost
anything. There is no reason for losing anything.
No benefit
One thing that I could not come to term was the loss of my
documents in it. I knew the thief would not make use of them; rather they would
have been deleted mercilessly and quickly. I would rejoice exceedingly if
otherwise, but there is more hope for a beggar to be rich than for the thief to
make use of it.
No stopping
The other thing that kept me stuck was the frequency of such an incident.
I have learned the epistemology of lost, the first time I was robbed
of my phone. I was taking the same painful course again. I recalled how Jesus
wept over the death of Lazarus, though He knew He would raise him up;
so I thought it was okay to be disgruntled for some time. Indeed, only a fool
will rejoice over the death, suffering or loss of something. However, despite
badness, evil and fallenness of the world, I decided to sing like
Horatio Spafford, “It is well with my soul.”
No reason
I remember a story of a Jew who thanked God that the doctor did
not select him for the gas chamber. His inmate wondered why he should be
thankful. The point of the inmate was that he had absolutely no reason to die
in the hands of the Nazis. There is also a story of a prisoner, who was knocked
down by a prison guard when he ran out to quench his thirst from the dripping
rain. He asked, “Why?” The guard replied, “There is no “Why?” here in
this prison.” We live in the world under the tyranny of evil forces around us.
No meaning
It is difficult to imagine Isaac Newton 16 years of research works
were burnt up in flame, a fire caused by his pet dog. I remember watching a
scene of a movie “Matrix,” where Neo failed to jump and fell tumbling
down badly. One guy asked, “What does it mean?” Another replied, “It doesn’t
mean anything.” There is no meaning of evil in this fallen world.
Because of Sin
Only in the framework of Christianity, we have the answer to the
mystery of evil. We, Christians know the fallen world, the curse, the sin, and
the serpent of the garden. Evil is never the design of God. Sin corrupted the world and
brought under the power of evil. The world is fallen. Death came through sin.
Sufferings, lost, thieving and so on are the evidence and the results
of the fallen world. There is no free zone of evil on earth. Evil by its nature
is always against us and beyond our control. We cannot avoid it; we have to
live through it. Even our Lord Jesus was hungry, thirsty, mocked, beaten, and
condemned to death without reason. He got the full blow of evil.
Overcome by Goodness of Christ
In doing so, He overcame the world, the evil forces in it, the
sin, and the death by raising from the dead to exaltation. The Lord
chose to suffer so that we might live with hope. He rose again so that we might
overcome the world through His spirit in us. The world and its evil will soon
pass away when Christ comes back to create the new earth. At the end
(which actually is the beginning of the eternity), justice, truth,
righteousness, goodness shall triumph and flourish in the presence of Christ,
our Lord.