Why does God allow suffering and evil?
Why are babies born blind? Why is a promising life snuffed out as it is on the rise? Why are there wars in which thousands of innocent people are killed, children are burned beyond recognition and many are maimed for life?.
There may be times when you find it difficult to reconcile God’s truth to your own opinion or worldview, God’s truth is eternal, it does not change, our understanding of the truth does change as we allow God to work in our hearts and minds.
These sessions are not about opinion, they are about learning truth, the truth contained in the Bible, together we are going to focus on how we apply God’s truth, black & white in a grey world. To set godly priorities, grow in Christian character and live according to God’s standards so that we are a living witness to others.
Romans 8:28-39 (NKJV)
28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
36As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Why does God allow Suffering and Evil?
The question why does God allow suffering and evil is one of the most significant questions of this or any other time. For many people this question is more important than any other.
There tends to be two classic statements used to answer this question, either:
- God is all-powerful but not all-good and therefore doesn’t stop evil; or
- He is all-good but unable to stop evil, in which case he is not all-powerful.
The general tendency is to blame God for evil and suffering and to pass on all responsibility for it to him.
What types of questions about suffering do you find most difficult to answer?
- Why innocent people suffer
- Why there are natural disasters
- Why one spouse leaves another
- Why young people die
- Why there is war
- Why people murder others
What about you? What kinds of hard questions about suffering have you asked during your life?
When have you found it difficult to answer someone else’s questions about suffering?
There are no easy answers. The question of suffering and evil is not one to be treated lightly.
For a moment lets go right back to the beginning and recall what happened when God created Adam and Eve. God created them perfect, they were not created evil. Adam and Eve had free will, God did not create them as mindless puppets, they had the ability to think, to obey or disobey. If they had obeyed God there would never have been a problem with evil and suffering. They would have lived an unending perfect life of perfect fellowship with God, they would have enjoyed Him and His creation every day.
When God created Adam and Eve this is what he intended for them when He created them. Adam and Eve chose to rebel against God’s will and from that time on the bible tells us in Romans 5:12 that “just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death came to all men, because all sinned”. People are responsible for sin - not God.
Why didn’t God design us not to sin?
He could have. He could have made us like puppets or machines with no will or freedom of choice. There would have been no love either. Love is voluntary, choice is voluntary. If God had made us robots we would have ceased to be human. God chose to make us as He did, and we face the reality of choice because of what He did. Augustine of Hippo. said “As sure as I lived, I knew that I possessed a will... nobody else was making the choice for me.”
Could God stamp out evil?
Jeremiah reminds us in Lamentations 3:22 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail”. A time is coming when God will stamp out all of the evil in the world. There is a time appointed in God’s plan, when th e devil and all his works will come under eternal judgement. For now, God’s unchanging love and grace prevail and His marvellous offer of mercy and pardon is open to everyone who accepts Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
What would happen if God stopped all evil today?
The simple answer is that He would do a complete job! But we would want God to stamp out evil on our terms, perhaps stop wars or murderers but stay away from us.
Hugh Evan Hopkins said: “The problem of evil arises largely from the belief that a good god would reward each man according to his deeds and that an almighty God would have no difficulty in carrying this out. The fact that rewards and punishments, in the way of happiness and discomfort, appear to be haphazardly distributed in this life drives many to question either the goodness of God or His power”.
Would God be good if he were to deal with every person according to their behaviour? What would that mean in your own life?
The truth is if God were to remove evil and sin from the world today, to be a just God His actions would need to be complete and address all evil and sin. That would include all our lies, personal impurities, our lack of love, our failure to do good, our failure to put God first. If God were to decree tonight that all evil and sin should be removed from the world - which of us would still be here tomorrow?
The whole of the Gospel, previewed in the Old Testament and broadcast in Stereo in the New Testament is that God’s goodness consists not only in his justice but also in His love, mercy and kindness.
How thankful should we be that “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear him” (Psalm 103:10-11).
Happiness is usually thought of in terms of comfort. true genuine, deep-seated happiness is something more profound. True happiness is not precluded by suffering. Sometimes in His infinite wisdom, God knows that there are things to be accomplished in our character that can only be brought through suffering. To shield us from suffering would rob us of a greater good.
1 Peter 5:10 says: “And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in ~Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast”.
Hugh Evan Hopkins said “One reason sin and suffering flourish results from sin’s being treated like a cream puff instead of a rattlesnake” .
Does Christianity state that suffering is punishment from God?
In the minds of many people it does. “What did I do to deserve this?” is often the first question on the lips of a person that is suffering, and the conviction of friends, spoken and unspoken, frequently operates on the same assumption. The book of Job shows how cruel assumption was accepted by Job’s friends and their assumption compounded his pain.
Both the Old and the New Testaments teach that there are times when suffering is a direct result of the judgement of God, but there are also many instances when it seems unrelated to personal wrongdoing
Galatians 6:7 reminds us that “A man reaps what he sows”. The fact that there may be a connection between suffering and sin is evident, but not always abundantly clear One day the disciples saw a man who had been blind from birth and they asked Jesus who had sinned to cause the blindness - the man or his parents. Jesus made it clear that neither were responsible for the condition, he said “this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life” (John 9:1-3).
On another occasion, when Jesus heard that Pliate had slaughtered some Galileans, Jesus pointed out that they were not greater sinners than other Galileans. Jesus also said that when eighteen people were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them were not greater sinners than others in Jerusalem. From both incidents Jesus made the point “Unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:1-3)
How could God send people to suffer in Hell?
God sends no one to Hell - we send ourselves. God has done all that is necessary for us to be forgiven, redeemed, cleansed and made fit for Heaven. All that remains is for us to accept this gift. If we refuse the gift then we give God no option but to accept our choice.
One of the most profound truths in the whole Bible is found in God’s word
recorded in Ezekiel 33:11 “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn away from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die.”
Lets look at Romans 8;28-39
According to this passage what does God do for us?
Consider the questions you’ve raised about suffering. How does verse 28 address those questions?
Some people interpret verse 28 as saying that God brings us suffering or allows suffering so that we can learn from it and because greater good comes out of it. Other people insist strongly that verse 28 tells us that God does not bring the suffering, but works through it to bring about good in spite of evil. Paul is quite sure that God is at work in all things, whether or not it is obvious from our vantage point.
It is helpful for us to look back to the big picture that Paul outlines earlier in Romans 8 in verses 18-27:
18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. 26In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.
Within this ‘big picture’ Paul outlines both our place and our purpose.
Can you think of any examples when suffering is unjustly attributed to God?
It is important for us to make a distinction between what people think god could/should prevent and what people think God is the cause of. We sometimes forget that much of the suffering in the world can be traced directly to the evil choices people make.
Negligence in the construction of a building or the greed of a builder using substandard concrete to make more profit could cause the building to collapse.
How many lives have been lost due to drunk driving? A person drinks then makes a choice to drive which impacts the lives of others.
Cheating, lying, stealing and selfishness all cause suffering. We can not blame God for the actions of people.
Even in the case of natural disasters, a person’s stubbornness may put them in unnecessary danger.
As Christians we also often forget the continuing presence of Satan which accounts for more evil and suffering than we may recognise.
Verses 28-30 tell us that God has foreknowledge about “those who love Him.” What does foreknowledge” mean in reference to God, Jesus and Christians?
The issues here are foreknowledge and predestination, while important doctrines in their own right the importance here is that Paul is pointing us to the fact that God is working on our behalf, from the beginning of time until its end.
What issues do the rhetorical questions in verses 31-35 raise?
Paul’s questions in these verses are more rhetorical than literal, however they do reflect the thoughts that many of us have at various times in our lives and should be taken seriously.
Can you describe the specific actions God has initiated for us?
What assurances of God’s trustworthiness in the midst of suffering are found in these initiatives?
According to verses 35-39 what cannot separate us from Christ?
How does this knowledge give you courage in the face of suffering?
How can you respond to questions about suffering in light of this passage?
We need a greater understanding of God’s presence in the midst of suffering. This week as you pray talk to God openly about the suffering and injustice you see. Let God know what questions you still have and how you want to grow in understanding.
There are some things that we will never fully understand. Sometimes all we can do is trust. Peace comes when we recognise that in this life we do not have the full picture. At times it is our reaction to suffering, rather than the suffering itself, that determines whether the experience is one of blessing or blight.
There is a famous quote “The same sun that melts butter also hardens clay” Is there someone you know that seems to be like clay - but is actually melting like butter? How can you represent Christ to them? How can you help them?
We need to view life through the lens of God’s love, we need to affirm with Habakkuk, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Saviour”
(Habakkuk 3:17-18)
