Why Doesn't God Stop Evil?

Why is there so much suffering in the world? If God is a God of love, why is there so much evil? The devil brought evil into the world, not God. Why did God create the devil? I used to think that the devil was like Donald Trump or Nigel Farage. Someone you don't like but it gives people a choice. The universe has to be a democracy. But no. God created the devil to be good. He was a beautiful angel. Ezekiel 28:11-19. He was perfect in wisdom and beauty. When he was in the Garden of Eden, he was covered in beautiful stones. He was the anointed cherub on God's holy mountain. He was blameless in all his ways until unrighteousness was found in him. He became proud of his beauty. He wanted to be like God. Isaiah 14:12-21. So he was taken from the mountain of God and caat down to the Earth.

The devil tempted Adam and Eve to sin. When Adam and Eve sinned something terrible happened to the universe. The fabric of time and space was torn in two. The entire cosmos went haywire. The whole of creation is in bondage to decay. Romans 8:18-25.  It is groaning like a woman in labour. Everything has broken down. The reason that we have earthquakes and famines and natural disasters is that Adam and Eve sinned. The whole of creation is also waiting eagerly for its redemption, the day that God will put everything right. Jesus calls the devil the prince of this world. John 14:30. The devil took Jesus up a high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world. Matthew 4:8-10. The devil said he would give them to Jesus if he bowed down to worship him. Jesus never said, 'You can't give me the kingdoms of the world, they don't belong to you.' The devil has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they can't see the light. That is why people do the terrible things that they do. 2Corinthisns 4:3,4.

Why doesn't God do something to get rid of the evil in the world and to sort it all out? One day he will. Jesus is coming back. Psalm 96:11-13. All the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in his righteousness. 2Peter 3:3-10. The elements of the earth will melt. The earth and everything in it will be burned up and laid bare. Jesus' coming is a violent event. This isn't done for sadistic reasons. Isaiah 11:1-10. God will judge the earth to rescue the afflicted and the poor, to strike it with the rod of his mouth. His breath will slay the wicked. The reason he doesn't do this straight away is that he is patient, giving as much time as possible for people to come to repentance and to find new life in Jesus Christ. Matthew 24:14. The gospel must be preached to the whole world. When all languages amd nations have heard it, when people are without any excuse, Jesus will come back.

Jesus will reign on the earth. The lion will eat grass with the lamb. Nature will no longer be red in tooth and claw. 'They will neither hurt or destroy on my holy mountain.' The earth will be filled with the knowledge and glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. Isaiah 11:1-10. There will be new heavens and a new earth. Isaiah 65:17-23. There will never be a baby who dies after only a few days and someone who dies at the age of a hundred will be thought accursed. Isaiah 65:17-23. People will live for centuries like they did in the days of Enoch and Abraham. Evil will be taken away. The devil will be bound in a pit. Revelation 20:1-3. 

This is a temporary state of affairs for 1,000 years while Jesus reigns on the earth. During this time people will live into their hundreds but there will still be death. When heaven's city comes down to earth there will be no more death, mourning, sorrow, crying or pain. Revelation 21. The city of God is 1500 miles long, 1500 miles wide and 1500 miles high. Imagine a sky scraper the size of a continent a million storeys high. A real physical place. Plenty of room. I don't think you'll have to drive to work through the rush hour traffic. Just imagine the things we could do in there. Some medieval paintings of Heaven make it look really terrible. You're sitting on a cloud and Jesus is standing some distance away from you in unapproachable light. Boring. Heaven is a real place, a place where God has righted all the wrongs and taken away all the evil in the world.