WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING



WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING?

Part I: WHY IS THERE SUFFERING IN THE WORLD?

This is probably the second most often asked question, following the one about the purpose of human existence. It always seems that few good answers have ever been offered as to the reason for suffering, even by theologians and teachers. Usually, when faced with unspeakable tragedy and death, words such as these are offered: God works in mysterious ways, or, God has called him or her home. Those are not answers, and even if they were, they are not the right answers! They are not answers that bring comfort.

Let’s begin to understand by looking at a time long ago when there actually was no human suffering. After God created the first humans, Adam and Eve, He placed them in a beautiful watered garden to live (Gen. 2:15). Their job was “to tend and keep it.” There was plenty of good food in the form of fruits and vegetables—they were vegetarians (Gen. 1:29). They did not have to kill animals—make them suffer—in order to survive. And further, all animals ate plants as well (v30), and thus there was no predation—suffering—among animals.

The weather was perfect, tropical, as there was not even a need for clothes (Gen. 2:25). There were no threatening natural disasters like flooding, tornadoes, hurricanes, et al. What an incredible world, one with a total absence of suffering! The prophet Isaiah described it in beautiful words,

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain…” (11:6-9).

Isaiah wrote nothing shall “hurt or destroy.” Nothing means nothing. There was no illness, injury, pain, or death in the Garden of Eden where man was to live. Man could “take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever” (Gen. 3:22). This tree was representative of the eternal life-giving Holy Spirit (Jn. 4:14; 7:37-39). In return for living in this world without suffering, God asked for only one thing in return: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die”—suffer (Gen. 2:17).

But we know that Adam and Eve did eat the “forbidden fruit.” They sinned against God, and as a result they were forced to leave their wonderful world where there was no suffering and enter one that was completely different. It was to be a world where there was “pain” and “sorrow,” one where God “cursed the ground,” and Adam would have to work hard just to eat, and then finally die (Gen. 3:16-19).

The apostle Paul hinted that this cursing of the ground carried far more implications than just hardship for farmers, when he wrote in reference to suffering,

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Rom. 8:18-22).

What kind of world—“creation”—lay outside of the Garden? In his commentary on this passage, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary says, “There is an impurity, deformity, and infirmity, which has come upon the creation [earth] by the fall of man.” As we are well aware, the very earth itself brings untold suffering to mankind through natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and the rest. There are many dangerous animals which prey on each other and even man. Disease and illness charge a heavy toll of suffering and death. But by far the worst suffering comes by the hand of man himself. In his pride, greed, anger, and selfishness, he leaves more suffering and death in his wake than all other causes of suffering combined!

Because they sinned, Adam and Eve and all their progeny were forced to leave a world absent of suffering and enter one replete with suffering and death. At first glance this seems grossly unfair to you and me, doesn’t it? After all, what did we do to earn our ticket into this horrible world of suffering? Why are we suffering because of others’ choices? Why can’t I have a chance to live in Paradise? I wouldn’t sin! Are you so sure? What makes any of us think we would be better than Adam and Eve, make a better choice? The only reason we would think that is because of our own enormous pride and conceit. The truth is, every one of us would have sinned and been booted out of the Garden! God knew that.

Why would a loving God want His children to live in a world where there is so much suffering? There are three reasons. First, God wants to impress upon man the enormity of what it means to sin against Him. He never takes sin lightly, nor should we. And if we have any doubts, we should consider that God gave us His only Son to die for us because of our sins. God wants us all to come to see that we are sinners, that we need Him, that we must rely upon Him. Second, and here is the good news, God invites all who repent and believe in His Son to return to the Garden! The third reason will be explored in Part II of this article. But let’s return to the second reason.

Earlier we read a description in Isaiah of the conditions extant in the Garden of Eden. But Isaiah was looking forward not backward, to a future time when some would be admitted back into the Garden of Eden. How and when and where would this occur? The answer is found in his words, “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.” The Garden would be found in God’s “holy mountain.” Where and what is that?

We find the answer in Hebrews, which says,

“But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect” (Heb. 12:22,23).

Here we see that God’s “holy mountain” is Mount Zion, which is a metaphor for the “church,” the collection of the saints throughout the church age. Isaiah prophesied of a time when Eden-like conditions would exist among the people of God. It would not be a physical condition, but it would be a spiritual state in which Christians should not “hurt or destroy,” cause any one to suffer. This “do no harm” mindset should even extend to animal and plants and the earth itself. That is why Jesus told his disciples, “Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Mtt. 10:16). Jesus told all of his congregations, “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7).

Who are these overcomers who are welcomed back to the Garden? Let’s read what the apostle John wrote,

“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (I Jn. 5:4,5).

So the overcomers include all of God’s people of faith, whom Jesus invites into Paradise to eat from the tree of life. His statement has awesome implications. On that day of Pentecost nearly two thousand years ago (Acts 2), God poured out His Holy Spirit upon the disciples, and they all began to eat from the Tree of Life and “live forever”! The result was a sudden, immediate and dramatic change in the natural human condition among the converted disciples. Eden-like conditions broke out. Here is what we read in Acts,

“Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as everyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people….” (Acts 2:44-47).

This change was brought about by the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, which allowed the disciples to “walk in the Spirit.” Soon after Pentecost the apostle Peter preached,

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).

God’s plan has always included the wonderful refreshing time when He would restore mankind to the Garden of Eden, beginning with His saints! Just like in the original Garden where God Himself walked and talked with Adam and Eve, so His presence in this new Paradise comes through His Son living in us.

In a prequel to the events of the up-coming Pentecost, Jesus invited a man to return to the Garden of Eden with him. He told the repentant and believing thief crucified next to him, “Assuredly I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Lk. 23:43). Jesus knew that this man who had only minutes or hours to live would obviously not still be around in 7 ½ weeks to receive the Holy Spirit with the rest of the disciples. So he welcomed the thief to be with him in the Garden then and there.

Let’s now deal with some important questions. If the community of Christians is truly supposed to be like the Garden of Eden, why has there always been so much un-Eden-like behavior in that same community. Haven’t many Christians caused harm and destruction in the world which has lead to a significant amount of suffering? What happened to the unity and joy that the earliest Christians enjoyed? We must properly answer these questions lest we make God a liar.

The answers are found in Jesus’ parable of the tares and wheat. Due to its length, I ask you to pause right now and read it in Matthew 13:24-30,36-43. Jesus said the Christian community would never be pure, but rather, it would always be comprised of two general types of people: tares/pretenders and wheat/believers. Why? In order to root out the tares and remain pure, it would require judging what lies in others’ hearts, a job no one has been given the authority or the equipment to do. So Jesus says, let it be.

Dozens if not scores of verses warn of tares such as wolves in sheep’s clothing, those who only give lip service to, or water down Jesus’ words, those whose faith is dead because they have no works which follow—all are pretenders. These tares do not dwell in the Garden. Yes they give believers a bad name. So be it. But Jesus knows who his sheep are, and they know him and his voice. It is they who dwell in God’s holy mountain. It is they who strive not to hurt or destroy. It is they who have been invited back into the Garden of Eden to be with Jesus in Paradise!

Tease:

WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING?

Part I: WHY IS THERE SUFFERING IN THE WORLD?

This is probably the second most often asked question, following the one about the purpose of human existence. It always seems that few good answers have ever been offered as to the reason for suffering, even by theologians and teachers.

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