War is so dreadful with the great loss of life, awful conditions causing fear, scarring people physically and emotionally, and then there is the financial cost. Faced with intense suffering people might ask the following questions:
Is God, willing to prevent evil, but not able to and so is He weak?
Is He able to prevent suffering but not willing and so is He sinful or evil?
If God is both able and willing to stop suffering then why is there evil in the world?
People have argued these points for years and have not arrived at a satisfactory conclusion.
Suffering has basically two categories. First is the problem of moral evil due to man’s sins e.g., war, and the problem of natural evil e.g., earthquakes. Some problems can be a mixture of both. Some do not talk about a personal God because their life has been so negative and horrible.
Some atheists think that they have solved the problem of suffering and evil by saying that, “The universe is bleak and you have to accept it as it is.” A famous atheist once said, “There is no good and no evil. DNA just is and we dance to its music.” So was the murderous Hitler, just dancing to his DNA? Such atheists insinuate that there is no morality. Then why do they criticize or judge God or people? If there is no good or evil then the problem of evil vanishes away intellectually. This is not satisfactory because logically we are moral beings and can see right and wrong. Every person is made in the likeness of God. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis c1v26) and so is capable of seeing good and bad.
COULD A GOOD GOD MAKE A WORLD IN WHICH THERE WAS NO SUFFERING?
Yes, God could. But then none of us would be there because there would be no capacity to love, which depends on the freedom of will to choose. When God created us, He gave us a free will and so there is the option of choosing the good or the bad and they both have consequences. Would people prefer a real or a robotic partner? People’s friendship and love is meaningful because it comes from a voluntary will. As we can choose between good or bad, what we do has meaning and has good or bad consequences.
WHAT SHOULD GOD DO?
If you could tell God who He should remove from the earth who would you choose to go?
Bad politicians? If they were removed would that make the earth perfect? No. Then who else should go? Murderers? Violent people? Criminals? People who cause disruption? People who do not do as they should? The Bible says “… For there is no difference: v23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory {the character and standards} of God.” (Romans c3v22b-23)
To make a perfect world, God would ultimately have to remove each one of us.
GOD IS JUST
“…there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.” (Isaiah c45v21) “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis c18v25)
God is just. If He came to this earth now, how many people should He condemn or judge for their sin? We are all guilty. So, the fact that God has not come and judged the world means that there is opportunity for us all, as sinners, to have our sins forgiven, and so avoid the judgement we deserve.
IS THERE ANY EVIDENCE THAT GOD CAN BE TRUSTED WITH AN ULTIMATE ANSWER TO SUFFERING?
There has only been one truly “innocent” and “righteous” man in all of history, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is described as “in him is no sin.” (1John c3v5); “who knew no sin” (2Corinthians c5v21) and Who “did no sin” (1Peter c2v22). As Jesus Christ was the eternal Son of God, He was holy, innocent and righteous, and yet He suffered more than anyone else who ever lived.
Christ suffered and died for us! “Christ died for our sins” (1Corinthians c15v3). He took the punishment for our sins, when He was on the cross outside of Jerusalem, so that ultimately He might deliver us from sin and its bondage. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1Timothy c1v15). Therefore, sinners who believe in Him for salvation can receive “the forgiveness of sins” with no exceptions (Ephesians c1v7), “eternal/everlasting life” (John c3v16), belong to the family of God (1John c3v1-2), be “kept by the power of God” (1Peter c1v5) and finally go to heaven after they die (John c14v2-3).
“That whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John c3v15).