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Presented, January 17, 2010 an        Return to Study of God

STUDY OF GOD (16)
QUESTIONS ABOUT GOD (1)

Today we begin our final section of our study of God.  As I have noted all along, our intent in this series is to give us a better understanding of who God is with the view toward taking Him more seriously and giving Him the reverence He deserves.   WE have established who He is (including that Jesus and Holy Spirit are both God).  What remains is to make some application and answer questions often presented about Him.  Today we want to examine some challenging questions about God and man.  Next week we want to examine how God works today.  We will conclude this study with a lesson of application – what should our response to Him be (a summary).

 I.                    Why does God allow evil?

a.        Let it be clear that God does not commit evil nor does He tempt us to (James 1:13).  In fact, He hates evil in its every form.   Evil cannot approach Him, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).  So as evil exists in this world, why does God allow it? 

b.       First, we are not questioning the power of God (I am assuming you believe this).  He has the ability to stop evil and IS in control of all things.  God could have prevented all evil in one of three ways:

                                                   i.      God could intervene every time evil occurs.  But in so doing, He would be enabling those who do evil, because there is no consequence.

                                                  ii.      God could remove those who commit the evil.  But then who would be left?  Are we not all guilty of sin?

                                                iii.      God could have made us so that we could not sin – But this would make us as “children of Abraham” out of stones (Matt. 3:9).  Such would remove free will and make our service to Him mere patronization. 

                                                iv.      These are NOT what God wanted. Instead, God created a REAL world with REAL choices and REAL consequences.   As with all things from God this is THE BEST option as we shall see.

c.        Understand the origin of evil – Satan

                                                   i.      What is evil? Have you thought about how to define that word?
McClintock and Strong defines it as, “discord or disturbance in the order of the universe.”  It is found in two forms – 1) “Natural evil is whatever destroys or any way disturbs the perfection of natural beings, such as blindness, diseases, death, etc.” and 2) “Moral evil is the disagreement between the actions of a moral agent and the rule of those actions, whatever it be.” (McClintock and Strong Encyclopedia, Reprinted by: Baker Book House Company, Grand Rapids, 1981)
Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary, defines the word as, “A force that opposes God and His work of righteousness in the world.” (Thomas Nelson Publishers, ©1986)

                                                  ii.      Evil has been described as the absence of good by many. In the same way that darkness is the absence of light. 
When God created this world it was good.  6 times in Genesis 1 we read the phrase, “God saw that it was good” and in vs. 31 it says, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was VERY good.  So the evening and the morning were the sixth day”. 

                                                iii.      Satan introduced that which is NOT good (i.e. evil) to this world (Gen. 3:1-7 – when he tempted Eve and Adam), but it was man who CHOSE to accept it.  They sinned and as a result this world is cursed (Rom. 5:12-19).  Friends, this is what we inherit from Adam – the CONSEQUENCES of sin, not HIS sins.

d.       So why does evil exist?

                                                   i.      Because God ALLOWS it to exist!  But with reason.

                                                  ii.      Because man CHOOSES to sin! Evil continues to exist because man continues to accept it (i.e. sin). John 3:19 says that men loved darkness rather than light.

                                                iii.      Because man is a free moral agent.  It is important that we understand this.
If there were no evil (either moral or physical) in this world, we would not have choice.   But there is, and every time man faces it, he must choose between right and wrong. 
We have already noted that He could have created us without the ability or need to make choices, but, when God created man He wanted someone who would serve Him because he WANTED to, not because he had to. 
He wanted one who would truly LOVE him and not by force, cf. 1 John 4:19, 1 Peter 1:6-8.
That is why in the Garden of Eden, God gave Adam and Eve a CHOICE WITH consequences based upon the choice he made (Gen. 2:16-17).  This choice has continued to this day with every person of accountable age.   
Since the garden, the Bible has continually offered man the CHOICE of obeying God or disobeying Him – Joshua 24:15, 1 Kings 18:21, “How long will you falter between two opinions?  If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him”, Rom. 6:16, Matthew 7:13-14, etc.
Being free moral agents we will determine our own destiny based upon the choices we make.  God doesn’t force us to do anything.  But know that there are consequences to our decisions!

e.       God DOES prevent some evil!

                                                   i.      In many ways God has done things to prevent evil.

                                                  ii.      He has given us a conscience – which convicts us to do the right thing, unless we damage it.

                                                iii.      He has given us the gospel - A guide designed to improve this world in every way.

                                                iv.      He sent Jesus to this earth – think about that in view of evil.  We may not understand why God does things the way He does, but know that completely understands.  He sent His only begotten Son into this evil world (John 3:16) to live, suffer and die so that we can overcome evil.  Jesus faced the hardships, temptations, humiliation, poverty, inconveniences of life, and many other things FOR US! We CANNOT say that He does not understand: Jesus lived it for us!
“For whatever reason God chose to make man as he is—limited and suffering and subject to sorrows and death—He had the honesty and the courage to take His own medicine. Whatever game He is playing with His creation, He has kept His own rules and played fair. He can exact nothing from man that He has not exacted from Himself...” (Dorothy Sayers, Creed or Chaos? New York: Harcourt, Brace and Col, 1949, p. 4) ^[1]

                                                  v.      He has promised us help – Matthew 10:28-30, 1 Cor. 10:13, etc.

                                                vi.       Who knows when He does intervene? (More on this when we discuss how God works today).  Throughout history, He has intervened – in the Bible you have the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Babylon destroyed, the fall of Israel, the Fall of Rome (foretold), etc.  I shudder to think what this world would be like IF GOD did not have the power to control all things!

f.         Let us understand that the existence of evil does NOT limit the power of God nor does it make Him uncaring!  When we understand evil and how to overcome it, it causes us to better appreciate God.

 

II.                  Why does God allow suffering?

a.        The answer is related to evil in this world.

                                                   i.      Both evil and suffering are products of the sin of Adam.  Recall once again that when Adam sinned and was punished, the earth was cursed.  The suffering in this world is a product of that curse.

                                                  ii.      Much of the sufferings we face is directly related to sinful behaviors – sometimes it is the consequences of our own sinful behavior and at other times the result of the sinful behavior of others.  For the Christian, it might even be the chastisement of God (Heb. 12:5-8, Deut. 8:5).   While not always so, at time even birth defects and disasters are the results of men behaving badly.

b.       Suffering actually can produce many good results

                                                   i.       Regardless of the reasons, suffering can produce good results.

                                                  ii.      Some of the good results of suffering:

1.       It can humble us.  Often times when we suffer in this life it helps us realize how helpless we really are.  That can cause us to turn to God.  2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

2.       Suffering can also build our character - James 1:2-4, Rom. 5:3-5

3.       It can cause us to turn to Him or back to Him – There are many examples in scripture of trials and tribulations causing some to become closer to God – Joseph in prison, even Manasseh (2 Chron. 33:10-13) and Ahab (some of the wickedest kings of Judah and Israel) were humbled later in life as a result of afflictions from God, Jonah, and even Nebechudnezzar (Dan. 4), etc.  It took blindness to get Saul’s (Paul) attention (Acts 9) and don’t forget the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-18).

4.       It can encourage us to become “other worldly” – if there were no suffering, why would we want to leave this world?  The fact is that the difficulties and disappointments we find in this life keep us from becoming too attached – 1 Pet. 2:11 describes us as sojourners and pilgrims, Heb. 13:14 – we have no continuing city here, etc.
2 Corinthians 4:17 says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.”

5.       It can bring out our best and cause us to appreciate what we do have.

                                                iii.      Such results are only meaningful if we have a godly attitude. 

1.       Consider again Paul as he rejoiced in his sufferings – 2 Cor. 12:10

2.       The book of revelation speaks of bowls of wrath being poured out on the earth, but the ungodly did not rejoice.  Instead they cursed God.

3.       How we respond to suffering depends on our attitude.

c.        Why does God allow the godly to suffer? 

                                                   i.      Many obey the gospel (or repent and turn back to Him) thinking their troubles will go away.  But quite often, instead of making life easier, their life becomes more challenging in many ways.  This causes some to turn away from God (Cf. Luke 8:13 – the stony soil) disenfranchised. 
People often ask, especially Christians, “Why me?” Often this is a response to misdirection, such as the health and wealth gospel (i.e. “God wants to bless you”). 
Consider this, “Why not me?”  But know that you CAN handle what happens if you put your trust in Him.

                                                  ii.      BUT, if the godly truly understand and LOVE God, suffering makes them stronger.  True Christians are best equipped to handle suffering and tragedy.

                                                iii.      What if God singled out all the godly and exempted them from suffering?  It would not be long before all would become godly, which would remove the good that can come from suffering.

                                                iv.      But Christians have help as we noted earlier – 1 Cor. 10:13 tells us we will NOT be tempted beyond what we are able to handle.

 III.                How much suffering should God allow?

a.        Most of us accept that there is going to be a certain amount of evil and suffering in this world.  And as Christians, we know the good that can come from such.  But our problem usually arises when we or others are affected by it in a way that we view excessive.  Isn’t that the REAL issue with us?  Isn’t that when we begin to blame God and become angry at Him?

b.       Let us be careful before we question God!

                                                   i.      Don’t blame Him! We have already established that He is not the cause of disaster and sin!
Romans 9:19-24, “…Who are you to reply against God?  Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’…”

                                                  ii.      He is a sovereign God which means He can do what He wants to do!  However consider that:

1.       We KNOW that He loves us – John 3:16, etc.

2.       We don’t know what IS best

3.       We don’t know His motives - Isa. 55:8-9, “My way and thoughts are not yours.”

4.       Realize that while He cares for each of us, He also has the overall scheme of the world and His plans to consider.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

5.       He is in control and WILL win! 1 John 4:4 says, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” 

                                                iii.      Romans 11:33, says, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are his judgments and His ways past finding out.  ‘For who knows the mind of the Lord? Or who has become His counselor?  Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?’  For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.  Amen.”

                                                iv.      It is in trusting Him that we find our real hope! Proverbs 3:5-6  says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”  Do you trust Him?

c.        Finally, consider 2 Peter 3:9 which says He does not want anyone to perish (also Ezek. 33:11, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.”).   God wants what is best for us and He wants to save us.  For example: Consider how when disaster strikes it usually drives man toward God. 

 Conclusion: We know that evil and suffering do exist.  It is my hope that in this lesson we have a proper respect for God, even as we face evil and suffering.  We ought to be careful before we blame and accuse God.  While we may not fully understand how or why, we know that evil actually makes Christianity possible. 

One final thought: Because evil DOES exist Christians ought to fight it.  While this earth is filled with evil, we should NOT be partakers of that evil.  In fact, we should still do all we can to defeat evil.  That is the ONLY way to over come it.  “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).  Think about it.