I’m sure most people have not asked this question. Rather, the question everyone asks is ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’. I will try and answer this from a Biblical perspective, since the Bible has plenty to say on the subject.
Am I good or bad?
First of all, lets look at what defines a good person. Who decides who is good or who is bad? Where do we draw the line? What is the standard? We can’t let man define it, because yesterday’s bad is today’s good, depending on laws, culture and times. It changes all the time. The only unwavering and trustworthy standard by which we should look at ourselves is God’s standard, because ultimately He created us. He makes the rules and He is the judge, the One to whom the whole world will be held accountable (Rom 3:10). What is God’s standard? The law. Through the law comes knowledge of sin (Rom 3:20). That is the purpose of God’s law - to expose our wickedness and for us to realise our need for a Saviour. According to God’s standard, no one does good, not even one (Rom 3:11-12). Yes, I know, some people are better than others - in our eyes. But according to God if you managed to keep the whole law but failed in only one point, you’re guilty of all of it (James 2:10). Yes, God’s standard is nothing short of perfection. 100% righteousness. But that’s impossible, you say? Yes, exactly. That’s why no one is considered good. That’s why we all desperately need a Saviour, and there is no better way to realise our need than to look in the mirror of God’s law and call upon the Hope of the World, Jesus Christ, who lived a perfect life and died as the perfect sacrifice on our behalf. If only we would humble ourselves and put our faith in Him - the righteousness of God is available through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe (Rom 3:22). Therefore even the ‘best’ Christian has nothing to boast about. Every true believer has been saved by grace as a free gift, not because of good works or any contribution of their own!
I would even go so far as to say that if you’ve never realised that you’re not a good person, you are probably not saved, because God requires a broken and contrite heart (true repentance) (Ps 51:16-17). That is why Jesus saved the tax collector and adulterer who realised their sin, and not the Pharisees who thought they were already good because of their works.
Good things
Why then the notion that if we are good Christians we think we deserve special blessings from God? God is not like Santa who dishes out gifts to the ‘good’ children. He has already blessed the Christian with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Eph 1:3). Note again - we are blessed in Christ, because of Christ, through Christ, thanks to Christ, and not because of our own goodness. In fact, our righteous deeds are like filthy rags before Him (Is 64:6).
So what are these spiritual blessings we have in Christ? According to the rest of Ephesians 1, it includes:
• to be elected as His saints (v4)
• to be adopted as His children (v5)
• to be accepted and beloved (v6)
• to be redeemed through His blood (v7)
• to having received forgiveness of sins, i.e. we are now guilt free (v7)
• to know the mystery of His will (through His Word) (v8-10)
• the inheritance that is given to us through Christ, i.e. our eternal home in Heaven (v11)
• the sealing of the Holy Spirit, i.e. we can have assurance of our salvation (v13)
These are just a few, but note that spiritual blessings are eternal and cannot be lost or stolen. Health, friendships, comfort, money, family, etc are all temporary and can be here today and gone tomorrow. They do not make the list of spiritual blessings, and therefore I believe do not necessarily make God’s list of ‘good things’. That does not mean that there is anything wrong with any of these, but if we have them we should not think we deserve them, or if we don’t have them we should not think that we can demand them. Off course we can pray about them, but we have to trust God to work it out in our lives according to His will.
Bad things
Would you consider loosing everything, being persecuted or being murdered for your faith like Paul, Stephen, Simon Peter, Polycarp, Johan Huss, Tyndale, Jim Elliot and countless others a bad thing? Jesus said “blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:10). Sometimes we just loose a little of our comfort and then we think God has forsaken us! If only we will look to the spiritual blessings we have received in Christ and rejoice in them, because there is nothing better than having a hope for the future and eternal security in Christ. We really need to shift our focus from this world and what it has to offer, to eternity and what is at stake. In God’s eyes, dying in your sin without a Saviour is a bad thing. Gathering treasures on earth and not in heaven would be a bad thing too, I believe.
Let’s realign our thinking to God’s Word.
So a straight answer to the question: Why do ‘bad’ things happen to ‘good’ people? Since God is sovereign, we cannot blame the devil for everything bad that happens to us. He is still a created being and subject to God (the book of Job is a good illustration of this). But doesn’t he walk around like a lion seeking whom he can devour? Yes, but his goal is to destroy us spiritually, and that he can only do if we don’t stand firm in our faith. If we are sealed in Christ by die Holy Spirit, the devil cannot take that away from us.
But God is also good. Therefore even if what we perceive to be ‘bad things’ happen to us, we have to trust that God is working it out for our good. We have to believe that ultimately God is in control and He will allow bad things in our lives to bring us to Him / bring us closer to Him / discipline us / grow us in faith and holiness for our own good and so that we can share in His joy. (Heb 12:5-11, James 1:2-3,12 Rom 8:28-29, Is 48:10, Ps 66:10, 1 Pet 1:6-7)
I don’t deny that in Christ we can and should do good works on earth. But Christ, who sees the heart, will judge all believers and reward us accordingly with crowns in heaven (2 Cor 5:10). Any reward that you desire to get on earth is pale in comparison. Besides, if recognition in this life is what you’re after, your motives again exposes the selfish condition of your heart.
The better question to ask would be: Why do good things happen to bad people? The ultimate good thing that happened to bad people was that Jesus, i.e. God, came to earth to die for wretched sinners, his enemies. There is no good reason for this except that He is good and loves us undeservedly. If you have been saved by Jesus and therefore are a recipient of this free gift of grace, you should spend the rest of your life thanking Him, every day. No other gift is greater.
If you also enjoy other temporary gifts like health, family, friendships, a job, etc, you should consider yourself privileged. There really is nothing in you or me that entitles us to any of it. And lets not get confused as to why Christ really came and died!
