Why is there evil in the world and why can I say it did not originate with God?

I think I've posted on this before.  I'm sure I'll post on this again.  But because I can't stand for another person to still be lost on this, I will post on this.  Why is there evil in the world and why can I say it did not originate with God?  Ultimately, unless God shows himself to you, I won't change your mind, but if he does, this will help.

1.  I'm not God.  This is a question only he can answer, and from what I see in Scripture, we as creatures do not have the capacity to understand the answer at this moment in time.  We can give guesses like God gave people free will (which I do believe), that we sinned, and now there is evil in the world.  But in the end, and RC Sproul agreed, we will not know the answer as to why God created a world in which Satan could tempt people and that they could betray the Lord and cause undue harm on all creation.

2.  Even if we know the answer, it still won't make our pain less.  It might even make it worse.  When God finally answered Job, he didn't answer his questions.  He simply said, "where were you when I created the world?  Can you do it better?  Can you explain Leviathan and Behemoth?"  It was enough for Job.  When you see him, it will be enough for you.  But Job would not have been satisfied if he had been told that God pointed him out to Satan, and then God gave Satan permission to attack him so that God could prove that Job truly loved God because God is enough apart from what he can do for Job.  He'd be more mad.  I'm baffled at it myself.

3.  Another thing I've gleaned from listening to RC Sproul through the years is that people are made in God's image.  We are copies of God.  And as copies of God, we will never be perfect like the original.  That imperfection is where sin and evil come from.  Again, that doesn't really solve the dilemma, but it explains why evil comes from creatures created by God but not from God himself.

4.  Back to Job, God wanted to show him off.  He wanted to prove the integrity Job had.  Romans 9:21 asks, "Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?"  I don't know why evil exists, but I know in the end, that evil is going to make God's elect church shine even brighter and stronger than if it did not exist.  God is creator and wants to show off his creation to those who will not love him.  And if they still do not love him, it will add to their punishment when the end comes.

5.  How can you ask if God originated evil and question his goodness when he sent Jesus to die for our sins after he said we would die if we did sin?  He could have left us to be punished forever, but he gave us a way for that to not happen and we must believe in Jesus to be saved.

6.  If this still doesn't satisfy you, where will you go.  I said in my last blog that you can't escape God.  Psalm 139 says that God is both in heaven and in the depths of hell.  You will face him no matter what.  You can either make peace with him through the blood of Jesus and have your question answered when Christ's kingdom is complete and we are free from sin forever, or you will face his anger forever.  But it won't be because God is capricious or heartless or impotent.  It will be because after all the time he gave you to turn to him, you did not take advantage of it and come to love and believe in him.  He wants you to love him and to love him freely.  And he gave you a way to be reconciled to him.  Please, take that way before it is too late!