The Open-Air Mission
‘Holding forth the word of life...’
(Philippians 2:16)
(Philippians 2:16)
‘Holding fast the faithful word...’
(Titus 1:9)
(Titus 1:9)
© The Open-Air Mission 2007
Why does God allow suffering ?
We live in a world of extremes. On the one hand we stand in awe of the best things in life - the warm sun beaming down on a beautiful garden filled with a variety of flowers, an act of sacrifice as a man dies to save a drowning child, a sea teeming with fish of all shapes and colours, a new born baby with it’s perfectly formed fingers and toes, the feeling in one’s heart that they are loved and wanted. Such beauty! But it’s not long before we are shaken into reality and realise that we also live in the world of cancer, earthquakes, war, murder, greed, child-abuse, disease, disaster and death.
Blaming God would, of course, seem the natural thing to do, but often this is because we know so little of His nature. The Christian is not a person who has all the answers, but one who has discovered personally that God is all-loving, just and fair and could never hurt or harm without good reason. Of course, we shall never receive an answer to suffering that will fully satisfy us in this life, but there is no better explanation for the tragedies in this poor world than that which is found in the Bible.
The world has not always been as it is. We are told that at the birth of the universe God looked upon all that he had made and it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). He saw a beautiful world in perfect harmony. Perfect love flowed between God and man and between the first man and woman. The earth produced perfect fruit, the animal kingdom knew nothing of ‘the food chain’. War and cruelty were unheard of. Joy and life, not pain and death filled the air, but it was short-lived.
The Bible tells us that every tear that has ever been shed can be traced back to that one act of rebellion in the Garden of Eden where “Sin entered the world” (Romans 5:12) and with catastrophic consequences. The world and mankind would never be the same again. Not only was the physical universe affected, but immediately fear, guilt, self-love and a thousand other things flooded into the heart of the first humans. The world is still reeling from the effect of that wilful act right up to this day and tragically disaster, disease and death cast their dark shadow over even our happiest moments in life.
Thankfully there is hope. But first we need a true diagnosis of the problem. It is always tempting to deal with the symptoms of an illness rather than treat the actual disease itself. The main problem is man himself, “The heart man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9) and true to our nature we usually seek to shift the blame. Far from being remote and unconcerned, God has mounted the greatest of rescue missions to save those He lovingly created in His own image. The ‘good news’ of the gospel is that God has himself entered into this suffering world in the person of Jesus Christ – a ‘suffering Saviour’. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
If you or I were to enter a perfect creation as we are, we would ruin it! We must come clean and arrive at the point where we acknowledge that we need to be changed. We must start with ourselves, repent of our sin and “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near”. (Isaiah 55:6). Then you will discover that God truly is concerned about this world, and most amazingly, with you as an individual.
Blaming God would, of course, seem the natural thing to do, but often this is because we know so little of His nature. The Christian is not a person who has all the answers, but one who has discovered personally that God is all-
The world has not always been as it is. We are told that at the birth of the universe God looked upon all that he had made and it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31). He saw a beautiful world in perfect harmony. Perfect love flowed between God and man and between the first man and woman. The earth produced perfect fruit, the animal kingdom knew nothing of ‘the food chain’. War and cruelty were unheard of. Joy and life, not pain and death filled the air, but it was short-
The Bible tells us that every tear that has ever been shed can be traced back to that one act of rebellion in the Garden of Eden where “Sin entered the world” (Romans 5:12) and with catastrophic consequences. The world and mankind would never be the same again. Not only was the physical universe affected, but immediately fear, guilt, self-
Thankfully there is hope. But first we need a true diagnosis of the problem. It is always tempting to deal with the symptoms of an illness rather than treat the actual disease itself. The main problem is man himself, “The heart man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9) and true to our nature we usually seek to shift the blame. Far from being remote and unconcerned, God has mounted the greatest of rescue missions to save those He lovingly created in His own image. The ‘good news’ of the gospel is that God has himself entered into this suffering world in the person of Jesus Christ – a ‘suffering Saviour’. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
If you or I were to enter a perfect creation as we are, we would ruin it! We must come clean and arrive at the point where we acknowledge that we need to be changed. We must start with ourselves, repent of our sin and “Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near”. (Isaiah 55:6). Then you will discover that God truly is concerned about this world, and most amazingly, with you as an individual.
Mike Mellor