God's Blame: Wrestling with Evil and Suffering

God's Responsibility for Suffering

0:00 Speaker 1: God is to blame.

0:01 Speaker 1: Cancer, accidents, war, injustice, poverty, work, hunger, misery, pain, crime, fevers and disease are ever present and ever around us.

0:13 Speaker 1: God created death and limits the number of days a man may live.

0:18 Speaker 1: Whatever handicaps or limitations you have, god takes responsibility for it.

0:23 Speaker 1: The Lord said to Moses who gave man his mouth, who makes him deaf or mute, who gives him sight or makes him blind?

0:31 Speaker 1: Is it not I, the Lord?

0:33 Speaker 1: Exodus 4.11.

0:35 Speaker 1: In the midst of this suffering, god sent his son Jesus to tell us that God is love.

0:41 Speaker 1: But how can God be loved when he permits, allows or sends so much evil into our lives?

0:47 Speaker 1: What you are about to hear will not seem pleasant, but it is nevertheless the truth, a truth that, if accepted, leads to joy, eternal joy.

0:58 Speaker 1: In fact, it is better to feel sorrowful than happy, because, in reality, in this life life, there isn't much to feel happy about, and it is good to take that truth to heart.

1:08 Speaker 1: Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart.

1:14 Speaker 1: Ecclesiastes 7.3.

1:17 Speaker 1: A lot of people blame God for the misery in their lives, and they are correct.

1:21 Speaker 1: God is to blame, no matter how you look at it.

1:24 Speaker 1: God is responsible for the pain and suffering in the world.

1:27 Speaker 1: He has either set into motion the pain we feel or he has permitted it to happen.

1:32 Speaker 1: Take this example God allows accidents to occur.

1:36 Speaker 1: Anyone who strikes a man and kills him shall surely be put to death.

1:41 Speaker 1: However, if he does not do it intentionally, but God lets it happen, he is to flee to a place I will designate Exodus 21, 12 and 13.

1:51 Speaker 1: However, responsibility for pain doesn't mean guilt.

1:55 Speaker 1: God did no wrong in creating and allowing pain, and has some very good and justified reasons.

2:01 Speaker 1: A serious look at the world around us causes us to conclude that mankind is under a heavy burden, a burden God says he has laid on men.

2:10 Speaker 1: I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven.

2:16 Speaker 1: What a heavy burden God has laid on men.

2:19 Speaker 1: Ecclesiastes 1.13.

2:21 Speaker 1: As we just heard, god laid this heavy burden on man and, as a result, unleashed Satan on the world, a devil that torments man and causes even more pain and suffering.

2:32 Speaker 1: After all, god kicked us out of the Garden of Eden and allowed Satan to do his evil works.

2:38 Speaker 1: In fact, the Bible tells us that God takes responsibility for bringing disaster to cities.

2:43 Speaker 1: When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble when a disaster comes to a city?

2:49 Speaker 1: Has not the Lord caused it?

2:51 Speaker 1: Amos 3.6.

2:54 Speaker 1: Finally, the list of evils ends with the fact of death.

2:57 Speaker 1: All life ends in death and each day brings us one hour closer to our time of death.

3:03 Speaker 1: Death may take some by surprise, yet everyone at one point must leave behind all they hold dear in this world.

3:10 Speaker 1: If God is a God of love, why does he permit and work so many troubles in the world?

3:15 Speaker 1: What are we to make of wars, accidents, famines and crimes?

3:20 Speaker 1: What should we make of a God who allows injustice and seems so quiet and disinterested in the sufferings of this world?

3:27 Speaker 1: The correct question, the answer is found in asking the correct question, for the question isn't why does God allow evil, but why doesn't God permit more evil to enter your life?

The Heavy Burden God Laid on Man

3:41 Speaker 1: The allowance of evil by God is only understood in the context of hell, the lake of burning sulfur, where all but a very few who go to heaven will be tormented day and night for eternity, where a billion years is only the start of torment.

3:56 Speaker 1: If anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

4:02 Speaker 1: Revelation 20.15.

4:04 Speaker 1: Most understand that the and tyrants of this world deserve hell, but few understand that they are also worthy of damnation.

4:13 Speaker 1: Those who count themselves as Christians fail to embrace the misery in their lives as God's discipline.

4:20 Speaker 1: Hebrews 12.7.

4:22 Speaker 1: But a clear understanding of hell clarifies why God allows or sends bad things.

4:27 Speaker 1: For the sake of argument, let our listener assume that he or she is worthless and will end up in the lake of fire or hell.

4:35 Speaker 1: Or if a Christian is in need of discipline.

4:38 Speaker 1: If we accept this fact, then we can easily see why God allows all manner of bad things to happen in our lives.

4:44 Speaker 1: God demonstrates an act of the deepest mercy when he permits an individual to experience hardships now rather than instantly be thrown into hell, For every bad thing that happens only serves to warn us that we will be judged for the vile, worthless beings that we have made ourselves.

5:02 Speaker 1: Or if a Christian the need to more adequately die to self All have turned away, they together become worthless.

5:11 Speaker 1: There is no one who does good, not even one.

5:14 Speaker 1: Romans 3.12.

5:15 Speaker 1: God is like a judge who condemns an evil man to death but delays the execution for years, hoping the condemned man becomes truly sorrowful for his crime.

5:25 Speaker 1: In other words, no matter what your condition or belief.

5:29 Speaker 1: In this life, we receive far less than we really deserve.

5:32 Speaker 1: Simply stated, each person is worthy of hell just as much as Hitler.

5:37 Speaker 1: This tract cannot possibly answer every question about why God allows evil, but it can make clear the reason why he does not punish you for your sins.

5:45 Speaker 1: Right now, he desires to show you mercy.

5:48 Speaker 1: God delayed your death sentence to allow time for you to admit that you deserve far worse than you have received up until now.

5:55 Speaker 1: Those who have experienced God's mercy know this to be true.

5:59 Speaker 1: Psalm 103, 10.

6:02 Speaker 1: Right now, god holds back evil.

6:06 Speaker 1: Most people sense that the world is falling apart and as lawlessness increases, mankind will soon destroy itself.

6:12 Speaker 1: As the following passage reveals God holds back wickedness until no hope remains that anyone will repent.

6:20 Speaker 1: Indeed, god holds you back from the evil desires that hide in your heart.

6:24 Speaker 1: Think for a moment what would happen if you could act upon every thought and desire you have.

6:29 Speaker 1: We refuse to realize how evil we are and cannot even see that our acts of kindness are wicked.

6:36 Speaker 1: Proverbs 12.10.

Why God Permits Evil to Exist

6:38 Speaker 1: For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work, but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way.

6:47 Speaker 1: 2 Thessalonians 2.7.

6:50 Speaker 1: To be clear if God permitted man complete free reign, mankind would have destroyed itself long, long ago.

6:58 Speaker 1: If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect whom he has chosen Mark 13.20.

7:08 Speaker 1: So the real question is why does God allow bad things to happen?

7:14 Speaker 1: For you see, bad things don't happen to good people because there are no good people.

7:20 Speaker 1: Mark 13.20.

7:21 Speaker 1: Injustice, this concept that God is to blame will grow tougher to accept.

7:27 Speaker 1: But we must look at life honestly if we want to discover a God of infinite love.

7:32 Speaker 1: Now do not misunderstand Wherever there is injustice, wrongdoing, or wherever one man harms another, we must demand and deliver justice.

7:42 Speaker 1: True Christians never turn their backs on injustice, sickness or heartache.

7:47 Speaker 1: Indeed, we weep, as Jesus did at the tomb of Lazarus, knowing he would, in a few minutes, raise him from the dead.

7:54 Speaker 1: We too must weep with those who face injustice and hurt, with those who suffer.

8:00 Speaker 1: When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said when Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

8:09 Speaker 1: When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

8:17 Speaker 1: Where have you laid him?

8:18 Speaker 1: He asked Come and see, lord.

8:21 Speaker 1: They replied Jesus wept.

8:23 Speaker 1: John 11, 32-35 Justice in the world is at best a shallow victory.

8:31 Speaker 1: We cannot deny our powerlessness to stop most suffering and even more to stop injustice.

8:36 Speaker 1: We cannot right wrongs that have been committed against others in the past and make right the wrongs we have done to others to any worthwhile measure.

8:44 Speaker 1: In short, we cannot possibly straighten out a fully twisted and corrupt world.

8:49 Speaker 1: Only God can do that, and this brings us to the hope in God.

8:53 Speaker 1: God can and does desire to right every wrong and wipe away every tear.

8:59 Speaker 1: Mark these words down Whatever suffering, wrongs or pains we face in this world, god will make it more than right.

9:14 Speaker 1: You just have to give God a little faith and time.

9:15 Speaker 1: In the context of eternity, our current pains are short matters and the God, who is pure joy, peace and love, can comfort and heal to such a degree that we will forget we ever faced troubles.

9:22 Speaker 1: The first step to this peace is found in accepting one more fact God placed you in your life situation, your country, state and city, with the people around you, whether good or bad.

9:34 Speaker 1: For one reason, the address where you were born was determined by God before the world began.

9:40 Speaker 1: As scripture tells us, god determined the time set for them and the exact places where they should live.

9:47 Speaker 1: From one man, he made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth, and he determined the time set for them and the exact places where they should live.

9:57 Speaker 1: God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us Acts 17, 26 and 27.

10:08 Speaker 1: In other words, god put you at your address for a specific reason, that you might cry out to him.

The Reality of Hell and Justice

10:15 Speaker 1: Hell is so serious, sin so deadly, life so short and death so sure that God didn't just let you be born at a whim.

10:23 Speaker 1: Rather, he boxed your life in so that you might, in your misery, seek Him In the greatest of love.

10:31 Speaker 1: God hopes that you will see your plight, admit the truth that you need a loving God and therefore seek Him.

10:37 Speaker 1: God permits every accident, every sickness, every crime, every injustice and every sinful thing you do so that you might seek out the true God.

10:46 Speaker 1: The Lord is so loving that for a brief moment he withholds His wrath against us because he longs to forgive us our crimes.

10:54 Speaker 1: Let no one guess as to why God permits the bad things he does.

10:58 Speaker 1: God does this because he wants to spare us from the lake of fire Peace.

11:06 Speaker 1: To understand all of this, we must look at time, from the lake of fire Peace.

11:09 Speaker 1: To understand all of this, we must look at time in the context of eternity.

11:11 Speaker 1: Our time here on earth is but a second compared to eternity.

11:15 Speaker 1: When we think of God allowing evil or injustice, we must think from God's viewpoint.

11:20 Speaker 1: To God, to God, evil and injustice last but a millisecond.

11:25 Speaker 1: In reality, in the context of eternity, his justice is immediate.

11:31 Speaker 1: God simply allows this brief second to give you and me a chance to repent so that we do not suffer hell.

11:37 Speaker 1: You see, you and I deserve hell.

11:39 Speaker 1: Allowing evil allows us the opportunity to sin instead of God immediately righteously judging us.

11:47 Speaker 1: Just because others die more quickly or in some more severe fashion doesn't mean they are more guilty than you.

11:54 Speaker 1: One reason God allows evils to happen around us is that in His wisdom, he knows who to judge first, so that others might take notice and repent of their sins.

12:03 Speaker 1: For those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?

12:11 Speaker 1: I tell you no, but unless you repent, you too will all perish.

12:17 Speaker 1: Luke 13, 4 and 5.

12:20 Speaker 1: Therefore, evil, sickness, discipline and injustice occur in the world.

12:25 Speaker 1: So that we might humble ourselves and see our need to repent.

12:30 Speaker 1: If you want the mercy, peace and joy that God offers through Jesus, then consider becoming a disciple of Jesus, for in Jesus you will find a God of overwhelming love and mercy, a God of love that will more than answer your doubts and questions.

12:44 Speaker 1: So stop, soften your heart, humble yourself and get down on your knees.

12:49 Speaker 1: Surrender to what God is working and ask Jesus what he is trying to teach you.

12:54 Speaker 1: Those who surrender to God, whether Christian or atheist, embracing and learning from evils, god allows, will proclaim the Lord is upright, he is my rock.

13:05 Speaker 1: There is no wickedness in Him.

Finding Hope and Mercy in Suffering

13:07 Speaker 1: Psalms 92.15.

13:11 Speaker 1: The Consider Podcast Examining today's wisdom, folly and madness.