Problem of Evil and Suffering Pt. 2

This Sunday we continued our discussion on the problem of evil and suffering. For part one see the previous blog post below. This week we started out continuing our discussion on evil which can be summarized as thus:

- Can God be really good and all powerful and never end or finally do away with evil? Last week we discussed why a good and all powerful God allowed evil to happen in the first place (see the previous post). But can this God allow evil to exist forever? I say, "no". God would not be just if evil is never judged. In Revelation 20:10 - 21:4 tells us that one day God will judge and banish all evil and suffering...and that He will make His dwelling with man forever. So we know that God is just and will one day set everything right...Praise God!

- Why is God waiting to end evil...why doesn't He end it right now or why didn't He end it as soon as Adam sinned? God could have ended evil right after Adam sinned, but the result would have been in Adam's eternal condemnation and a people less heaven. God loved Adam (and his descendants) too much to let things end that way. Without Christ's sacrifice no one can survive the coming judgment. Why didn't God end the world after Christ's sacrifice? All I can say is that He is patient and long suffering...God will end things on his own time, but until then perhaps He wants as many people with him eternally as possible.

- Are evil and suffering the same thing? What is suffering if not? Suffering and evil are tightly related but different things. Suffering can be seen as a consequence of evil. If we look in Genesis 3 we see the first suffering enter the world because of Adam's sin. It was a direct consequence, seemingly brought on by God's curse, but why?

- What is the purpose of suffering? God uses the consequence of evil, suffering, to redeem us. Imagine if life on this earth was easy and pain free...would we even know that we were desperately in need of God and His forgiveness? Our pain and suffering lets us know something is wrong, that we are missing God, and it drives us to him. This is why Paul can say they we should consider it joy when we suffer. But suffering can have other purposes to, I think. Sometimes suffering can be punishment or discipline. But the Christian should primarily view it as discipline to train us to depend only on God.

But God is not distant in our suffering. God was not content to let evil steal his creatures and His creation or to lose them forever to evil. God the Son became a man so that He could bear our suffering with us and for us. Ultimately he suffered on the cross and the agony of being separated from His Father.

This enabled God to end evil without ending us. His suffering produced our salvation.

This Sunday we will look into the book of Job to see what insights it gives us on human suffering. Please prayerfully read at least chapters 1 and 2 in preparation and also 38 through 42.

Thanks...

casey