Why is there so much suffering
Pollster George Barna was once commissioned to inquire of people what one question they would ask God if they had the opportunity, and that God would answer. By an overwhelming majority the most urgent question was this, "Why is there so much suffering in the world?" The problem arises because of what we as Christians believe about God and about evil. Five things we believe as Christians: 1. God exists. 2. God is all good. 3. God is all powerful. 4. God is all wise. 5. Evil exists. Here is where the problem comes. How can the last statement be reconciled with the other four? If God had made no claim to being totally good, then the existence of evil would be easy to explain. So, how do you square an all good, all powerful, all wise God with evil and suffering.
The question is asked, why didn't God create a world where there was no evil, no suffering? He did! Genesis 1:31 reads, "And God saw everything that he made, and behold it was very good." Yet the world is soaked with evil, pain, suffering, earthquakes, and Tsunamis erupt. The question is what went wrong? In the beginning everything was perfect until man sinned. Genesis 3:1 records the time when everything went bad. It was when man and woman was deceived by Satan and sin entered the world. From that time sin has been passed on to every person who has been born. You don't have to teach a kid to be bad, you teach him to be good. You don't have to teach a child to lie, you teach him to be honest.
Romans 8:20 tells us that sin not only corrupted the heart of the human race, it corrupted the physical world, "everything on earth was subjected to God's curse."
Basically we have three types of evil that exist into he world. There is "Moral Evil" (such things as war, crime, racism and cruelty) and there is "Natural Evil" (hurricanes, tsunamis, flood, and earthquakes) and there is "Social Evil" (poverty, hunger, homelessness). Job 38:1 after Job demanded an answer of the "why question" and God gave him an answer that ends every other question about why. God's reply, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?" God is saying in effect, you wouldn't even be here in the first place if I had not decided to create you to begin with.
We don't know the answers to a lot of the questions about why there is suffering, why is there so much pain, why flood, and earthquakes. This one thing we know, God is on the throne. He is in control. God has a plan and a purpose we cannot see. Our part is to trust Him. He is not obligated to answer any of our questions. God allows things to happen for a reason!
How do I know God can take the worst thing that ever happened in history and turn it into the best thing which could happen. He did just that in the death of His innocent Son, who died on a cross and made it possible for salvation and the opportunity for us to receive eternal life.
www.baptistregional.com
Pollster George Barna was once commissioned to inquire of people what one question they would ask God if they had the opportunity, and that God would answer. By an overwhelming majority the most urgent question was this, "Why is there so much suffering in the world?" The problem arises because of what we as Christians believe about God and about evil. Five things we believe as Christians: 1. God exists. 2. God is all good. 3. God is all powerful. 4. God is all wise. 5. Evil exists. Here is where the problem comes. How can the last statement be reconciled with the other four? If God had made no claim to being totally good, then the existence of evil would be easy to explain. So, how do you square an all good, all powerful, all wise God with evil and suffering.
The question is asked, why didn't God create a world where there was no evil, no suffering? He did! Genesis 1:31 reads, "And God saw everything that he made, and behold it was very good." Yet the world is soaked with evil, pain, suffering, earthquakes, and Tsunamis erupt. The question is what went wrong? In the beginning everything was perfect until man sinned. Genesis 3:1 records the time when everything went bad. It was when man and woman was deceived by Satan and sin entered the world. From that time sin has been passed on to every person who has been born. You don't have to teach a kid to be bad, you teach him to be good. You don't have to teach a child to lie, you teach him to be honest.
Romans 8:20 tells us that sin not only corrupted the heart of the human race, it corrupted the physical world, "everything on earth was subjected to God's curse."
Basically we have three types of evil that exist into he world. There is "Moral Evil" (such things as war, crime, racism and cruelty) and there is "Natural Evil" (hurricanes, tsunamis, flood, and earthquakes) and there is "Social Evil" (poverty, hunger, homelessness). Job 38:1 after Job demanded an answer of the "why question" and God gave him an answer that ends every other question about why. God's reply, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the Earth?" God is saying in effect, you wouldn't even be here in the first place if I had not decided to create you to begin with.
We don't know the answers to a lot of the questions about why there is suffering, why is there so much pain, why flood, and earthquakes. This one thing we know, God is on the throne. He is in control. God has a plan and a purpose we cannot see. Our part is to trust Him. He is not obligated to answer any of our questions. God allows things to happen for a reason!
How do I know God can take the worst thing that ever happened in history and turn it into the best thing which could happen. He did just that in the death of His innocent Son, who died on a cross and made it possible for salvation and the opportunity for us to receive eternal life.
www.baptistregional.com
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