"The Origin of Suffering and Evil"
ORIGIN OF SUFFERING
We must continually recall the Genesis story. God created a perfect paradise with human beings in charge. When we sinned and rebelled against God, it marred our “imago Dei” or “image of God.” Sin and suffering entered the world for the first time and continues until now. So once again, let me state unequivocally, God was not the author of sin, evil, and suffering. WE were…and are now. God sent His Son to remedy the situation, to restore us to our right relationship with our Creator and to “save the world” from certain judgment and doom. God is the “good Guy!” This is the beginning point (truth) of any discussion about suffering.
ORIGIN OF EVIL
Likewise, God is not the originator of evil. “God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.” Who is “the evil one?” Christianity has a logical (although Spiritual in nature) answer to the reasons for such horrific atrocities and mayhem perpetrated upon the earth. Not only is mankind sinful, but there is a pure evil entity at work which explains a lot, in my opinion. His name is Satan or the devil amongst other not-so-flattering but well-deserved names, titles, and descriptions.
Christians do not believe in “dualism.” Moral Dualism is a philosophy that sees two equal opposing forces (good and evil) responsible for everything. Although we do believe in two opposing forces, first of all, they are not equal. God is God and Satan is a “god wanna-be.” Satan is not as powerful as God. Secondly, humankind plays a key role in the course of planet earth. Although opposing, unseen spiritual forces are raging all around us, we still have choices and make decisions.
CONCLUSION
So let us further lay the foundation and begin putting some of these pieces together. God is good. God is great. Man has sinned and rebelled against God bringing all manner of sin, evil, and suffering into this world. It is OUR fault. God, out of a motive of love, seeks to restore humankind to a right relationship with Him. Although God is pure love, He is also a just God and therefore must, according to His nature, rule fairly and righteously. He cannot wink or ignore sin and evil (then He wouldn’t be God). It (sin) and we must be judged. However, in His patience, He gives every person an opportunity to receive the free gift of salvation offered through Jesus Christ His Son.
There is an evil nemesis who works continually behind the scenes. He is not equal with God but is entirely evil by nature and anti-God. His chief objective and heart’s desire is to destroy and make grovel at his feet those created “imago Dei,” in the image of God. Nonetheless, he will be judged and destroyed one day by God.
Here is the bottom-line. The suffering of this world is, by and large, due to our sin against God. We have turned paradise into a “fallen” world. Listen closely. This does not mean that every sin or evil deed or act of disobedience has a direct counterpart. In other words, if we have a sudden and uncontrollable fit of rage, it does not mean we will unexpectedly be the proverbial “struck by lightning” or stub our toe as a direct consequence or immediately “get what we deserve” because of this one particular sin. It does not work that way. Nevertheless, it DOES mean that our overall rebellious, fallen, sinful nature created the mess we are in and continues to propagate the mess we are in.
One final time, it is not GOD’S fault for the suffering and evil in our world. It is OUR (humankind’s) fault with an ever-so-generous helping hand from “the” evil one. Whatever our perspective on God, suffering, evil, disease, etc. in this world, it can not place any guilt upon our Creator. His creation was perfect. Even after our mutiny against Him, He continues to love us and desire us for His own. He seeks to redeem and restore us.
I know that does not answer all of our inquiries. I will attempt to answer more specific questions next week. But, for now, if you have felt hurt or wounded or abandoned or mistreated by God, perhaps it is due to our faulty perception regarding suffering in the world. We have blamed God for certain things He likewise abhors and would never do. This is one of Satan’s most effective tactics which is the reason he is called the great deceiver. It is time to heal that wounded relationship with our Creator. Even though we are guilty of critically injuring God’s paradise, God poured out His just and fair sentence and wrath upon His own Son instead of us. Does this sound like a God who is “out to get us?!”
ORIGIN OF SUFFERING
We must continually recall the Genesis story. God created a perfect paradise with human beings in charge. When we sinned and rebelled against God, it marred our “imago Dei” or “image of God.” Sin and suffering entered the world for the first time and continues until now. So once again, let me state unequivocally, God was not the author of sin, evil, and suffering. WE were…and are now. God sent His Son to remedy the situation, to restore us to our right relationship with our Creator and to “save the world” from certain judgment and doom. God is the “good Guy!” This is the beginning point (truth) of any discussion about suffering.
ORIGIN OF EVIL
Likewise, God is not the originator of evil. “God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.” Who is “the evil one?” Christianity has a logical (although Spiritual in nature) answer to the reasons for such horrific atrocities and mayhem perpetrated upon the earth. Not only is mankind sinful, but there is a pure evil entity at work which explains a lot, in my opinion. His name is Satan or the devil amongst other not-so-flattering but well-deserved names, titles, and descriptions.
Christians do not believe in “dualism.” Moral Dualism is a philosophy that sees two equal opposing forces (good and evil) responsible for everything. Although we do believe in two opposing forces, first of all, they are not equal. God is God and Satan is a “god wanna-be.” Satan is not as powerful as God. Secondly, humankind plays a key role in the course of planet earth. Although opposing, unseen spiritual forces are raging all around us, we still have choices and make decisions.
CONCLUSION
So let us further lay the foundation and begin putting some of these pieces together. God is good. God is great. Man has sinned and rebelled against God bringing all manner of sin, evil, and suffering into this world. It is OUR fault. God, out of a motive of love, seeks to restore humankind to a right relationship with Him. Although God is pure love, He is also a just God and therefore must, according to His nature, rule fairly and righteously. He cannot wink or ignore sin and evil (then He wouldn’t be God). It (sin) and we must be judged. However, in His patience, He gives every person an opportunity to receive the free gift of salvation offered through Jesus Christ His Son.
There is an evil nemesis who works continually behind the scenes. He is not equal with God but is entirely evil by nature and anti-God. His chief objective and heart’s desire is to destroy and make grovel at his feet those created “imago Dei,” in the image of God. Nonetheless, he will be judged and destroyed one day by God.
Here is the bottom-line. The suffering of this world is, by and large, due to our sin against God. We have turned paradise into a “fallen” world. Listen closely. This does not mean that every sin or evil deed or act of disobedience has a direct counterpart. In other words, if we have a sudden and uncontrollable fit of rage, it does not mean we will unexpectedly be the proverbial “struck by lightning” or stub our toe as a direct consequence or immediately “get what we deserve” because of this one particular sin. It does not work that way. Nevertheless, it DOES mean that our overall rebellious, fallen, sinful nature created the mess we are in and continues to propagate the mess we are in.
One final time, it is not GOD’S fault for the suffering and evil in our world. It is OUR (humankind’s) fault with an ever-so-generous helping hand from “the” evil one. Whatever our perspective on God, suffering, evil, disease, etc. in this world, it can not place any guilt upon our Creator. His creation was perfect. Even after our mutiny against Him, He continues to love us and desire us for His own. He seeks to redeem and restore us.
I know that does not answer all of our inquiries. I will attempt to answer more specific questions next week. But, for now, if you have felt hurt or wounded or abandoned or mistreated by God, perhaps it is due to our faulty perception regarding suffering in the world. We have blamed God for certain things He likewise abhors and would never do. This is one of Satan’s most effective tactics which is the reason he is called the great deceiver. It is time to heal that wounded relationship with our Creator. Even though we are guilty of critically injuring God’s paradise, God poured out His just and fair sentence and wrath upon His own Son instead of us. Does this sound like a God who is “out to get us?!”
