Friday, October 21, 2016

Is it Fair to Blame God for All the Suffering in the World?

Is God really to blame for all the evil and suffering in the world?
Would a loving God really create a beautiful and perfect planet and then add germs, viruses, bacteria, destructive and catacaclysmic upheavals, earhtquakes, suffering, and death just to torment His creation? Some say yes. This is to test our faith. But does such inevitable tribulation really come from God? Jesus taught us to pray, "Deliver us from the evil one. . .Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." These evils do not come from heaven, although they do perfect patience in us according to James 1:3.

In keeping with His character of perfect love and holiness, God did NOT create Satan. He created Lucifer, a beautiful archangel filled with music and called the star of the morning (Ezek. 28: 11-17).
When Lucifer rebelled, he took a third of the angels with him (Rev. 12:9).  Some people believe that Satan lives in Hell. God did  prepare hell for the devil and his angels, (not people originally) Matt. 25: 41. However Satan and his mionions are not there yet.  Where are they?

Jesus saw Satan fall like lightning to the earth. So now we have the appearance of evil on the earth.
Satan, the deceiver, immediately went to work to destroy the perfection of God's creation. He caused Adam to lose dominion through sin, and then he stole Adam's crown (Heb. 2:7) and became the prince of this world (Jn 16: 11). Now we have two invisible kingdoms here on earth, the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of Light (Col. 1:13). There is a spiritual war going on and it does affect this planet.
We know that was not God's will. Sin and death (death is defined in John 5:25 and Gen. 2:17 as separation from God) was never God's will. He wanted to walk with us and talk with us as He did with Adam and Eve in the Garden It is not His will that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9).

We also know God had a secret plan, even before the foundation of the world, to redeem it (Rev. 13:8).
We know it was a secret plan because I Cor. 2:8 says the rulers (Satan and his cohorts) of this world would not have crucified our glorious Lord if they had understood God's amazing plan of redemption. Satan could not guess that the last Adam (I Cor. 15:45) would reverse the curse. He could not comprehend such great love the Father has for us.
Satan did not guess the power of the blood of the lamb, which was God's own blood. God paid the penalty for Adam's sin and legally fulfilled the law of righteousness. Then He invited all who would receive Jesus to enjoy eternal life (John 3:16).

God also has a plan to restore earth to its original, perfection (Rev. 21:1). Death and suffering are not His will. The last enemy to be destroyed is death (I Cor. 15:26).

God gets the blame for so many horrible things that are not His will. Think about this. If I permit my son to drive my car, I expect him to obey the traffic laws and drive  courteously and responsibly. It is not my will if he chooses to drive recklessly, or drunkenly, and causes an accident that takes lives. But ultimately, am I to blame because I permitted him to drive? It could be argued so.
If the young man recovers, repents and asks forgivenss for the accident he caused, should he be allowed to drive again? What would the father say?









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