Suffering Part 1
Let's start off by first defining what suffering is.
Quote:
|
suffering, pain or distress, one of the most persistent of all
human problems. Even those who experience relatively minor suffering in
their own lives are constantly confronted with the suffering of others
within their own families, among their acquaintances, or even in distant
lands. Suffering takes many forms: physical pain, frustrated hopes,
depression, isolation, loneliness, grief, anxiety, spiritual crisis, and
more. Harper's Bible dictionary. |
Why is there suffering in the first place? Did God plan for us to
suffer? No, I don't believe He did. If you read the first few
chapters of Genesis, you'll see that the Lord created this world, us,
and everything in it, and declared it good. There was no suffering, no
tears, no sorrow, no pain. Adam enjoyed a close personal relationship
with the Lord and all he could want or need was provided for him. This
was God's desire for us as well. However, Satan got into the mix and
Adam made that fateful choice, and sin entered the world. Along with
sin, came the consequences of sin, one of which is suffering.
We can also see that suffering is not God's desire for us by looking in the last few chapters of Revelation. Here God gives us a glimpse of what our lives will be like throughout eternity.
Revelation 21:2-5 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
I think by looking at both the beginning of things and at the end of things, we can all see that God does not desire for us to suffer. It is not His intention that we should. Instead, it is the result of sin that entered the world when Adam made his fateful choice.
Suffering in our lives can be caused both by sin being in the world in general, as well as by our own personal sin. I'm not talking about God sitting on His throne and saying, "Look, Cindy sinned, let's make her suffer now so she'll learn not to do it again". I don't believe that even for a second! No, instead it's more akin to the law of cause and effect. If I sin by breaking a law (The bible tells us to obey our rulers) the natural consequence of that sin is that I may very well be caught, have a record of my crime follow me the rest of my life, go to prison etc. Now let's say that my crime was robbing a store. I already listed how I might suffer because of what I did, but what about the store owner? He didn't do anything but I robbed him. He is then suffering because of the consequences of sin being in the world, not because of anything he did.
Now there's one other area that people usually think of when we talk about the consequences of sin in our lives, and that is this passage:
John 9:1-3 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
Many people, especially the WOF prosperity preachers, take this verse to mean that disease is caused by specific sins. What Jesus is saying here though is that this is not necessarily true. In this particular man's case, Jesus said it was allowed so that God could be glorified when Jesus healed him.
Now, about this idea that sin can cause disease and illness. It actually can. Before you get ready to beat me about the head and shoulders though, I am not saying that all disease and illness and pain are caused by personal sin. Not at all!
Think of it this way. A baby is born with deformities. Who sinned, the baby or her parents? Neither did, just as in the case presented to Jesus. The sin that caused the deformities is the consequence of general sin present in all humans and in nature itself. All of nature has been corrupted with sin. We have pollution and all kinds decay and death in nature now because of sin. Prior to Adam's sin, even the plants lived forever. There was no decay, no death.
With nature itself corrupted and mankind corrupted, with the poisons in our air and in our soil, is it any wonder that babies are born deformed? So no, God didn't form the baby wrong. He didn't make a mistake. Sin entered in and caused the deformity. God did allow it however. This is a result of His curse on Adam and Eve and on all creation due to sin. Our bodies were originally designed to never grow old and to never go through anything like deformities or diseases, so please don't believe that for a second. God wouldn't do something like this to us.
Let's take this same scenario one step further. Let's say that the baby was born this way because of her parents sin. Yes, that can actually happen. Not because God is condemning the baby though. Here's one way this could happen: The parents of this baby sinned by using cocaine and heroin. That sin directly affected their babies health, not because God looked down from heaven and saw what they did and proclaimed that He would make them pay for what they did by hurting their baby though! Again, God wouldn't do that. Their baby's malformation is caused simply due to the fact that those particular chemicals have that affect on a growing embryo. How do I know that God wouldn't do this?
Deuteronomy 24:16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
Ezekiel 18:20 "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
I think having discussed all of these different ways that sin can affect us, we can now see that it really was not God's plan for us to suffer. We were not made for that. Our suffering is a direct result sin entering the world when Adam made his fateful choice. Having established that, we can now deal with why God allows it.
We can also see that suffering is not God's desire for us by looking in the last few chapters of Revelation. Here God gives us a glimpse of what our lives will be like throughout eternity.
Revelation 21:2-5 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
I think by looking at both the beginning of things and at the end of things, we can all see that God does not desire for us to suffer. It is not His intention that we should. Instead, it is the result of sin that entered the world when Adam made his fateful choice.
Suffering in our lives can be caused both by sin being in the world in general, as well as by our own personal sin. I'm not talking about God sitting on His throne and saying, "Look, Cindy sinned, let's make her suffer now so she'll learn not to do it again". I don't believe that even for a second! No, instead it's more akin to the law of cause and effect. If I sin by breaking a law (The bible tells us to obey our rulers) the natural consequence of that sin is that I may very well be caught, have a record of my crime follow me the rest of my life, go to prison etc. Now let's say that my crime was robbing a store. I already listed how I might suffer because of what I did, but what about the store owner? He didn't do anything but I robbed him. He is then suffering because of the consequences of sin being in the world, not because of anything he did.
Now there's one other area that people usually think of when we talk about the consequences of sin in our lives, and that is this passage:
John 9:1-3 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
Many people, especially the WOF prosperity preachers, take this verse to mean that disease is caused by specific sins. What Jesus is saying here though is that this is not necessarily true. In this particular man's case, Jesus said it was allowed so that God could be glorified when Jesus healed him.
Now, about this idea that sin can cause disease and illness. It actually can. Before you get ready to beat me about the head and shoulders though, I am not saying that all disease and illness and pain are caused by personal sin. Not at all!
Think of it this way. A baby is born with deformities. Who sinned, the baby or her parents? Neither did, just as in the case presented to Jesus. The sin that caused the deformities is the consequence of general sin present in all humans and in nature itself. All of nature has been corrupted with sin. We have pollution and all kinds decay and death in nature now because of sin. Prior to Adam's sin, even the plants lived forever. There was no decay, no death.
With nature itself corrupted and mankind corrupted, with the poisons in our air and in our soil, is it any wonder that babies are born deformed? So no, God didn't form the baby wrong. He didn't make a mistake. Sin entered in and caused the deformity. God did allow it however. This is a result of His curse on Adam and Eve and on all creation due to sin. Our bodies were originally designed to never grow old and to never go through anything like deformities or diseases, so please don't believe that for a second. God wouldn't do something like this to us.
Let's take this same scenario one step further. Let's say that the baby was born this way because of her parents sin. Yes, that can actually happen. Not because God is condemning the baby though. Here's one way this could happen: The parents of this baby sinned by using cocaine and heroin. That sin directly affected their babies health, not because God looked down from heaven and saw what they did and proclaimed that He would make them pay for what they did by hurting their baby though! Again, God wouldn't do that. Their baby's malformation is caused simply due to the fact that those particular chemicals have that affect on a growing embryo. How do I know that God wouldn't do this?
Deuteronomy 24:16 Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sin.
Ezekiel 18:20 "The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
I think having discussed all of these different ways that sin can affect us, we can now see that it really was not God's plan for us to suffer. We were not made for that. Our suffering is a direct result sin entering the world when Adam made his fateful choice. Having established that, we can now deal with why God allows it.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please comment on this so we can encourage and share with each other..