Did you ever wonder why a God of love would allow the tragedies that occur in the world? Does it anger you that so many people seem to suffer innocently?
When people suffer they generally question whether God
really cares and is a ‘God of Love’. This may be a natural reaction as no-one
wants to suffer in any way. I must tell you that it was never God’s intention that
the human race should suffer. When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in
the Garden of Eden it was a place of tranquility and peace, in fact everything
‘in the garden was rosy’. They personally enjoyed the blessing of God and were there
to develop a prosperous earth and to have total control of everything on the
planet. Their circumstances could not have been more idyllic.
So why are things
so bad now? To answer this
question we must consider God’s relationship
with our ‘first parents’ at the beginning of human history. There
was no suffering of any kind – WHY? Because there was no SIN! The human will
and the right to make a free choice had not yet been used to disobey the
commands of God. This however did happen very early in human history and sin became
a reality. The Bible puts it very clearly; ‘by one man (Adam) sin entered into
the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all
have sinned’. Adam had been well warned of the awful consequences of
disobedience: distance between man and God, human suffering of every kind and
ultimately death. The physical world would also be affected which we can now
see in the current evidences of a deteriorating planet.
The Bible record teaches us that the initial cause of suffering
does not lie with God, it lies with man. It is the result of man’s fallen and
sinful nature which we all inherited from our ‘first parents’. Our suffering is
as hurtful to God as it is to us because God not only sees our temporary
sufferings but he knows that if we die without his salvation we will suffer for
ever in hell. We are powerless to solve the problem of sin but God took great
delight in providing ‘the solution’. The evidence of God’s love is that He sent
His Son, Jesus ‘into the world to save sinners’. Why Jesus? Because the person
who died for sin had to be sinless! There was only one person who qualified –
God’s own Son, Jesus. By his death
Lord Jesus paid the price for sin and as a result God can offer forgiveness to
everyone. One of the reasons the Lord Jesus ‘rose again’ on the third day was
to prove that God was satisfied with the work that he had done.
A final question! Why
doesn’t God sort it all out now? Can’t He remove sickness and suffering and
make life a lot more pleasant for all of us? Why does he not act in justice now
instead of at the end of time? There is no one short answer to this question
but here are a few of the reasons why things are the way they are.
1. The
death of the Lord Jesus at Calvary laid the foundation for a full and final
solution. You can enjoy personal salvation now but you still have to live in a
world of sin until you die or the Lord Jesus comes back.
2. God
has not yet judged the world or removed sin from the world because He is still
offering salvation to people. When He withdraws the offer of salvation He will
judge the world and all the other effects of sin will be dealt with at the same
time.
3. The final reason is that people often
learn lessons through the hard circumstances of life and they can miss what God
is saying to them when life is smooth and easy.
In closing – will you take up God’s
offer of forgiveness? To do so you need to be deeply aware of your sin and admit
to God that you have wronged him. The next step is to turn from your sin (reject
it and leave it behind) and believe in (trust in) the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the only one who can offer you forgiveness. ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you will be saved’.
To verify this information please read the following passages in the Bible (Romans 5.12, Acts 17.22-31,
Acts 16.31)
To access podcasts and videos explaining the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk
This site will give you access to Bible Teaching Audio's and Video's as well.
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