When the world becomes a rage room

One of the most asked questions is, “Why doesn’t God do something about the evil in the world?”

It’s a great question. God is all powerful. He’s holy and cannot tolerate anything less.

And yet evil exists. It exists because his own created people decided to listen to someone other than him. Evil exists because the very people he created decided to disobey the one command he gave.

Isn’t it interesting that we will pray, “God, please fix this,” when we have made a big mess?

Well, God does something. Here’s what he says:

And I will put enmity
    between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
    and you will strike his heel.”(Genesis 3:15 NIV)

The first gospel promise in scripture comes on the heel of Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the garden of Eden. God speaks these words to the serpent who deceived Eve to eat from the tree of good and evil, the only tree in the garden that was off limits.

God could have been angry. God could have been furious. God could have been beside himself.

But God was slow to anger. God was rich in mercy. God abounded in steadfast love.

Enmity: they will know that you are an adversary. You are not looking out for their best interests. You are an enemy. Your are a liar. You are looking for someone to devour.

God doesn’t fool around. Even though the devil prowls around like a lion, the Lord is much more than a lion tamer. The devil might seem strong, but the Lord is going to more than tie him up and plunder his house. (Although he will do just that.) Jesus isn’t going to put the devil in his place with a commanding “Get behind me, Satan!”

Christ comes to crush the enemy. By the time Jesus is done, the adversary is going to look like the car crushed into a small cube of metal before being hauled off for scrap. The one who put enough pressure on carbon to make diamonds is going to put the squeeze on the devil. The pressure at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean? That’s nothing compared to the weight of God’s boot on the neck of Satan. Messiah comes to crush the enemy.

We’ve got a few “rage rooms” in the area. A rage room is “a place for individuals and families to release stress and tension by breaking various items, from dishes and knickknacks to TVs and furniture.” Sweet. They provide you with bats, axes, and sledges so you can smash and scream to your heart’s delight accompanied by blaring music.

For a moment, the temple was Jesus’s rage room, when he cleared out the money changers. But that was just the coming attraction. Just wait till the Christ goes to town on the forces of evil!