Suffering does not have to have the last word in our lives. God has not left us alone in our suffering. If we turn to Him, there is strength we never thought we had. There is comfort we never thought was possible. And there is hope for today and tomorrow. Well, one day he will. Evil was defeated on that first Easter, and one day it will be removed altogether.
How do you fix a story that is broken? We all have our stories. Some of them seem beyond fixing. The Christian faith says you fix a broken story by embedding it in a much bigger story in which good wins, and evil loses. One day there will be justice. However, not all suffering is for atonement. The afflictions of Christ while on earth did not extend forward to include every hardship endured by his people.
When we suffer, it is for his sake Mark When Christians are persecuted, it is Christ who is the object Acts —5. Although attacks on Christ during his lifetime brought complete satisfaction to God, his enemies were not yet satisfied.
And so they continue to attack him by attacking the church. His afflictions are now received by us. The whole creation groans with pain Rom. This sorrowful, broken world was subjected to futility by the same God who cursed the human race for its disobedience.
And we suffer and groan along with it vv. Romanticism about nature, nostalgic views, and utopian views about the beauty of the creation do not coincide with the reality of world history. But world history does not end with death and futility.
Some experiences of suffering are on an individual, family or community level. Others are on a much larger scale. There are many factors to consider, but the bottom line is: The Bible shows us that suffering, rather than disproving it, actually points to the existence of a good God who cares about people. The Bible shows us very clearly that God is good and ultimately does not want people to suffer but that suffering is nevertheless a reality in this life.
Though some people may seem to have things easier than others, everyone experiences suffering of one kind or another. There are seemingly endless sources of suffering when you look around.
Every day, there is war, murder, rape, and persecution happening all over the world. Sometimes, we only see the suffering from a distance. When it strikes closer to home , suffering can change your perspective. When you or someone you love has been a victim of a crime, for instance, it can change the way you look at people around you and your feelings of general security.
Sadly, even good things can turn into sources of suffering. Relationships can bring us some of the greatest joy possible in this life, but they can also cause deep, lasting wounds. One of the most terrible experiences in this life is the death of a loved one. Being betrayed by a friend or having a partner end your romantic relationship are sources of heartache that can have a lasting effect on future relationships.
It makes sense in light of all the suffering in the world that people would ask why a good God is not stepping in to change things. The question of suffering initially prevented the author and Oxford scholar C. Lewis from believing in God. But he eventually realized his desire for good and justice actually pointed to the existence of a good and just God. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust?
A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? Our desire to end suffering is a glimpse of the good God who created people to reflect His loving nature by caring for one another. We feel that our world should be different. It should be free from suffering. That very impulse is a longing that God gave us so that we would look for something beyond this life.
God made a good world, but He allowed people to make choices, and the choices they made ultimately ruined it. Suffering began with people rebelling against God. The book of Genesis tells the story of this first rebellion.
God made the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, and gave them the perfect, good world He made. He only gave them one rule:. The devil, in the form of a serpent, convinced Eve to eat from the tree by persuading her that God was holding out on her. The devil tempted her with the power to be like God, which would enable her to go her own way without trusting God. When they ate from the tree, Adam and Eve decided to take the power of good and bad into their own hands rather than trust God.
Through that choice, humankind broke their relationship with God and brought imperfection into the perfect world He made. God had protected His people from evil and death. But in choosing to step out from under His protection, where they enjoyed eternal life, Adam and Eve brought death and suffering into the world for the first time. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, tells us about the new creation God will make in the future. One day, God will make everything new and once again perfect and free from suffering.
He Himself will live among His people. Until then, the world will remain in its imperfect state. Our choice is whether to experience life in an imperfect world in relationship with a perfect God or without Him.
Find out more about how you can know God personally. Our rejection of God and all the things that result from it are what the Bible calls sin. Suffering can be the result of different types of sin. This brokenness is evident all around us, from natural disasters to the fact that we cannot trust other people. Death itself is a result of original sin. Before the first people disobeyed God and went their own way, there was no death.
Adam and Eve lived in harmony with God, who is the source of life. Once humankind severed that relationship, death was the natural and inevitable consequence. If someone chooses to punch you in the eye, you suffer the consequences of their actions in the form of a black eye.
If someone chooses to break into your home and steal your property and money, you suffer the loss of possessions and probably the loss of your sense of personal security. God will usually allow you to experience the consequences of your actions, and that may include suffering in some way. This can be referred to as individual or personal sin. If you choose to cheat on a test, you may suffer the consequence of failing that test or the class, and there may even be consequences to your standing as a student.
If you choose to commit a crime, the consequence could be going to prison and suffering the loss of your freedom. God does not enjoy people's pain, but he does allow them to experience pain. Like any responsible parent, sometimes he imposes painful consequences designed to correct his children.
Often, though, the pain we experience is the natural result of our own choices or of living in a painfully broken world. Just as parents allow kids to suffer the consequences of their mistakes so they can learn and develop character, God allows people to suffer the consequences of their individual and collective sin. Remember, there is an important difference between what God causes and what He allows. God created the world and gave people a free choice to obey Him and live in His perfect creation or to rebel by going their own way and suffer the consequences.
People chose to rebel. He respected our choice; He did not make that choice for us. God continues to respect our choice of whether or not to live under His authority and protection. He still allows people to choose whether or not to do what He wants in small things as well. If you are a parent, and you tell your child not to steal but they choose to steal anyway, they will face consequences.
But if that child then points the finger at you as the parent and says their actions and the consequences are your responsibility, that is not right. People often choose to hold God responsible for things they have chosen to do that result in one kind of suffering or another. God loves you anyway. And as the greatest parent we could know, He cares about your suffering, whether or not it is self-inflicted.
People often think of God as distant and immune to suffering. But the God of the Bible is not above suffering Himself. In the book of Genesis, we first encounter God as a loving parent. He creates in a way, gives birth to humanity in the form of Adam and Eve, and He sets loving boundaries for them.
But they choose to reject Him. They cut to the heart. God experienced this pain first. New York: MacMillan, Martin, Walter. Plantinga, Alvin. God, Freedom, and Evil. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, Manage consent. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website.
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