If God is the Creator of all things, the Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent One of all there is, was and ever will be, did He, in all of his Wisdom and Knowing, also create Evil? And if so, why? And, if He did not, why doesn’t God, who is all-powerful, destroy Evil?
Here’s what Paul wrote in Colossians, 1:16 :
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
If you take the phrase “all things” to mean everything, as I do, you have to include evil among the things He created. (I think it’s more accurate to say He created all beings with the potential for evil.)
But then you see that all things were also created for Him, so this potential for evil must serve some purpose of His. I believe that purpose is to give us a choice. During our lifetimes we can experience the effects of both good and evil and can make an informed decision as to which we’ll choose. Otherwise, deciding to align ourselves with God would have no meaning either to us or to Him, because we really wouldn’t have any alternative.
Now please don’t misunderstand me. If you get sick, it’s not fair to say that God made you sick. When the first man chose evil over good, sin entered the world and contaminated it. One of the consequences of that choice was that sickness and death became a part of the human condition. The same can be said for every other manifestation of evil we face. None of them were part of God’s creation before man committed that first sin.
But it can also be said that before He’s finished, God will have put an end to sin and death. Then those who have trusted in Him will say,
“Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Grave, where is your victory?”
“The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:54-57)