Imagine if you were given a chisel and a hammer and told to make a statue
Could you have made one that looked that good?
It is famous because people find it impressive and beautiful
However, to some people it just looks broken
Some people look at modern art and find it beautiful but I usually just see a disaster and a mess
This is an illustration of how we look at life
On my wedding day I basically only had happy thoughts of life and love, friends and food
But there were probably people who died that same day elsewhere in the world and to them they were seeing the same world in a very different way
Truth never changes
John 14:6
Jesus is the truth
Hebrews 13:8
Jesus never changes
Therefore the Truth never changes
John 17:17
Scripture is truth
Mark 13:31
Scripture will never change
Therefore the Truth never changes
*Watch video at the bottom of the notes
Notice what RC Sproul said, "Truth is defined as that which corresponds to reality as perceived by God, because God's perception of reality is never distorted"
Because our perceptions can become distorted some people have felt justified in murdering but God's perspective remains clear and must be trusted even when it doesn't seem correct from our vantage point
Tonight we are going to discuss some of the negative experiences we face in this world
Questions to do with pain, suffering, and death are some of the most difficult questions I know of
I know that there are many people who have walked away from God because they could not find answers to this question
When I went to college I struggled immensely with this subject and it, more than almost anything else that happened at college, made me question my faith
Before I try to provide an answer to this question let me mention a few things
I do not believe that any other religion can provide as meaningful an answer as Christianity
For instance:
Atheism (which is what most people who turn away from Christianity because of this question) can only say that suffering and death are necessary for evolution. There is no meaning in life or death. And you and whatever you are going through really doesn't matter in the larger scheme of things.
Some answers may make sense but not be desirable
Say I told you (and this is not what I believe) that the reason for death was to keep the population from getting to big for the earth to handle
That is a reason and it may make sense but it is not satisfactory to us. We want a better reason. We don't like that answer.
I believe that only the Christian God can provide us with answers that are both true and satisfactory
Jonah 4:2
God's answers must be in keeping with His personality and so the solutions must be just but also compassionate
On the other hand, some solutions may appeal to our feelings yet be complete lies and that is why we must go to God and the Scriptures for this topic rather than man's intellect
Pain looks different for each person
Cancer looks different to a doctor than to someone just diagnosed with cancer
C.S. Lewis wrote a book in which he said "If only this toothache would go away, I could write another chapter on the problem of pain."
Answers do not take pain away
When a mother is giving birth to a baby and is screaming out in pain, if their husband told them that their pain was a result of Adam and Eve's sin and besides it was only temporary and that it would be worth it in the end, would they quit feeling pain?
We all look for answers and I believe they can help but answers may not take away our pain the way we think they will. So we still need to learn how to express our pain healthily and heal from it
The Bible talks a lot about pain
There is a whole book in the Bible about pain: Job
The Bible does not give a simple, one-verse answer to this question and we shouldn't either
About 2 years ago I was visiting a man who had been in a hospital bed for over one and a half years dying from cancer
He asked me why God would allow this to happen to him
He told me he couldn't think of a single sin he had committed that he hadn't asked God to forgive
He pointed out healings in the Bible and asked why he wasn't miraculously healed
These questions deserved much more than a simple answer or my personal theory about his situation
It is possible that at least some deaths and sufferings will never be explained until we get to Heaven
Job suffered a lot and even lost all of his 10 kids
Although the Bible tells us why God allowed this to happen God never told Job and he presumably died not understanding why he had to go through such pain
First let me tackle death
God created a world with no death
Romans 5:12
Why give us a choice to sin instead of making us robots?
I think for the same reason that I could have programmed a robot to love me but I chose to marry someone who freely chose to love me and God wanted the same
Why would sinning require death?
You could say the disobedience has consequences and as our creator God can set the rules
But God also uses death to forgive sins
Jesus died to forgive sins
Don't you think that if there were better options besides death God would have opted for them so that Jesus wouldn't have had to die?
Matthew 26:39
In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus Himself prayed to God asking for another way besides pain and death and I'm sure God would have preferred that too if there was a different solution
Death seems terrible to us but what is it?
From our perspective we lose someone who is very dear to us
When Jesus' friend Lazarus died Jesus went to raise him from the dead
John 11:32-35
Why would Jesus weep if He knew Lazarus would be alive in a few minutes?
It has been suggested that He wept because He realized the pain we go through when someone close to us dies
From the dead person's perspective
If they are saved
2 Corinthians 5:8
Philippians 1:23
If they are not saved they are waiting somewhere for their judgement
Now let me discuss pain and suffering
The Bible is quite explicit that the reason that pain, suffering and death exist in this world in the first place is because Adam sinned
Even if Adam hadn't sinned we sin too so we are all to blame
Genesis 1:29-30
In the Garden of Eden people and animals were vegetarians because God had made the world death and pain free. But mankind messed that all up.
Why did people suffer according to the Bible in the following situations:
Jesus
Jesus suffered and died for the benefit of others (all of us)
Adam & Eve
They sinned
On the other hand some people's suffering is unrelated to their sin
John 9:1-3
Why was Able killed?
Other bad people (Cain)
Reasons include:
For the greater good (Jesus)
It could be sin related or not
Sometimes it is just the result of living in a messed up world
Sometimes it is because others choose to hurt us
It may even be self-inflicted
It is important not to assume we know
A final note
We all come at this with different experiences and questions and my answers and experiences may not fully satisfy you but if you keep seeking God He will help you deal with this difficult subject
As I told you at the beginning, this is something I wrestled with a lot because of things I experienced
I read books which hardly helped
I studied the Bible and that helped some
But there was always one more question and I told God it would take more than my lifetime to deal with this subject and I asked Him if I would always struggle with this
And that is when God asked me if I would trust Him even though I didn't have all the answers I wanted. And when I was finally able to tell Him that I trusted Him and that I believed He would always do the right thing I was finally able to have peace in this area of my life.
I don't know what you have experience. Maybe the death of someone you loved. Maybe personal pain you have experience at home or at school. Maybe you haven't had to deal with anything very traumatic. But my prayer for all of you is that God will meet you where you are at with your questions and emotions.
And let me say that Jesus experienced more suffering and pain and even a worse death that any of us ever will. So He understands.
Isaiah 53:3-10 (NLT)
But let me leave you on a positive note because that is what the Bible does
Remember that man that I told you about who asked my why God wasn't healing him?
He died of that horrible cancer 2 weeks later
I know of some people who have been healed of cancer but this man and many like him were not healed
But look at Isaiah 53:5
The Bible promises that because Jesus was hurt we can be healed
Philippians 3:20-21
That man will one day have a body as amazing as Jesus had after He rose from the dead
Revelation 21:4
That man will never again experience pain, suffering, or death
He will forever experience life as God intended from the beginning
His suffering is now over and he is enjoying God's presence
And God will do the same for all who trust in Him
He will give everyone a new body that will never die and He will give us a new earth free from all pain and tears for us to enjoy with Him forever
That is what we have to look forward to
In the meantime, just as some do not experience complete healing until after death, some of us (like Job) will not experience complete emotional healing and answers until after death. But one day we will discover all that we are looking for and more.