The Simple Answers… To Life’s Most Important Questions.
Bible Study Course Lesson 1 – 15
Probably the biggest question that most Christians simply can’t answer is WHY, if there IS a God, would He permit such suffering as we see all around us? Why would a LOVING God permit WAR, and heartache and pain and misery? Why would He permit hunger, broken homes, and genocide? WHY? Many atheists say plainly that any being who would do such a thing has no right to be worshiped! And THOSE ATHEISTS ARE RIGHT! Any God who would cause such things DESERVES HATRED, not worship! So does He? Is God to blame for these things? If God is at fault, we should know about it!
God is all-powerful, everyone knows. It is certain that He COULD prevent such unhappiness if He chose, but we see all around us plain evidence that God DOES allow suffering – so HOW can He claim to be a LOVING God, and permit so much evil to happen in His domain?? WHY does God allow suffering??
For that matter, why didn’t God make you perfect? Think about it! Why would God create a being who could sin, a being who had to be TAUGHT what the law meant? Why not save us all a lot of hassle and just make us PROGRAMMED to obey these laws? If God could have done that, then wouldn’t He have done so? Why not have everyone just start out “saved”?
This lesson will give you these answers. But to begin with, we have to ask the simple question of how God could prevent suffering. I’m serious! Think about it! Exactly WHAT would He have to do, in order to prevent all misery in this world? Stop at this point, put down the lesson before reading on, and honestly consider the question. Give God solutions, not problems. If you want Him to fix the world’s ills, you need to have considered how He’d have to do it. How could God prevent suffering? *****
Now that you’ve thought about it, what have you come up with? Suppose God were to magically destroy all nuclear weapons, guns, and tanks, would that stop the wars? Surely not! Man was killing his fellow man long before guns were invented. If he can’t use guns, he’ll use knives – if those are taken away, he’ll use wooden spears, clubs, rocks, and if nothing else is available, he’ll use his teeth. So if God were to destroy the weapons of mankind, wars would still happen. Fewer might be hurt at one time, but many would still die. So what if God were to kill all the “bad guys” who cause wars?
Whom would He kill? Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin? What about the generals who fought for them? What about those who put them in power? Or what about the enlisted men who fought for them – those who supported Hitler and cheered his name? Are they “bad guys” too? What about the people who feed, clothe, and support an evil empire? Regardless of what Western propaganda teaches, many Soviets preferred – and still prefer – Communism. Are they to blame for genocides and wars just as much, or even more, than Stalin? And if so, must God kill them too? It’s easy to see that very few are completely innocent of the cause of war, and so to prevent wars by killing those to blame, God must kill more than the wars themselves would kill!
So clearly, none of these is a real solution. So where else could we look for a solution to war? Suppose God were to bless the Earth with an abundance of food, wealth, and money. Would they live in peace then? History shows that the wealthier the people, the more they start wars; it has always been the richest nations that were imperialistic because there is never enough money! And the less people have to work, the more time they have to bicker and feud and want what belongs to someone else!
You can’t bless people into righteousness! So if God’s blessing wouldn’t work, what else remains? How else COULD God stop wars? How else COULD God end human suffering? The only way to solve it is to strike at the ROOT of the problem – at the CAUSE of wars and suffering! And there begins the lesson!
WHY DOES GOD ALLOW SUFFERING?
Was man made with original sin, or good? Genesis 1:31. What happened then, once man was made “upright”? Ecclesiastes 7:29. Are these “inventions” good things, or evil? Psalms 106:29, 39. So did man prefer to try Satan’s way instead of God’s way? Proverbs 14:12. Why did man prefer Satan’s way? Jeremiah 17:9. Man’s basic state is not good, regardless of what most people today believe. God, who made the nature of man, insists that it is basically selfish (Romans 8:7). For example, a new born baby is not evil, it simply cares about nothing but itself. It’s not wrong to be hungry. It’s wrong to push your brother away so you can eat instead of him.
So we begin life in a selfish state, which – while not evil – very easily leads to evil. Our selfishness is restrained by fear of people who are bigger than we are, but in order to be like God, we must not only restrain our selfishness, we must change it. We must replace it with concern for others MORE than ourselves (Philippians 2:3, Romans 12:10, 1 Peter 5:5, etc). But that does not come naturally to us. What comes naturally is obeying our lusts as quickly as possible. That, according to James, causes wars. So what would God have to do to change it? HOW would God prevent war? We already saw that destroying the SYMPTOM of those lusts wouldn’t work – destroying the weapons or the dictators would not prevent war. So God must fix the CAUSE. But how?
There are two ways God could do that. The obvious solution would be for Him to intervene and prevent man from following the dictates of his own lust which causes wars. God could simply make all decisions for you. He could take away all free will and all free choice and do everything Himself. That way, no one could EVER make a bad decision, because no one could make a decision at all! All humans would be, in effect, a hive mind for God with no independent thought of their own. It’s true, this would make a harmonious world.
But what would the consequences of that be? Your computer can’t make a bad choice, or a good one. And so there are never wars between computers – they can’t make any choices, so they can’t start wars. But can you have a meaningful relationship with your computer? Can you feel love and compassion from it? You can certainly PROGRAM it to say “I love you!” and “Oh, I’m so sorry you feel bad!” – but since you MADE it say that, the words have no meaning. They can’t satisfy you. If God were to FORCE you to obey – MAKE man make only good decisions, COMPEL him to deny lust, and passion, and choose only good – how could God derive any satisfaction from that?
In the last lesson you learned that God is building a FAMILY. People He cares about who care about Him. If God were to rob you of free choice – take away your RIGHT to make bad decisions – He would rob Himself of the very thing He wants to create. God cannot love a mindless drone any more than you can fall in love with your laptop. But I said there are TWO ways for man NOT to choose to follow lusts. The one way we just discussed. The other is much harder for man and much harder for God to accomplish – but produces a much more valuable result!
That second way is to build character in man – true, godly character that each man CHOOSES to have! And that means to stop war, God must TEACH – not force, but TEACH – man to RULE his own lusts, and CHOOSE for himself to do right! Can you learn to drive from a book? No, you learn how to drive by trying – and often failing – to drive. Can you learn to juggle by watching someone else? Or must you learn by continually dropping and picking up and trying again? Can you learn to write, without first scribbling? And you can’t learn to make good choices without first making bad ones, and feeling the results – and making better choices next time!
Remember, when God created Adam the job was left half-done. He was created to physically resemble God, but his nature was not yet like God’s nature. God couldn’t create a perfect human because, no matter what information they were given about right and wrong, they would never know WHY wrong was bad until they did bad things and felt, for themselves, the pain it caused! Are you here to learn to tell good from evil? Hebrews 5:14. How does that verse say we learn that? Is it something that we are born with? Isaiah 7:16. Is it our free choice to make? Deuteronomy 30:15,19. How do we choose? Romans 6:16-17,21,23. And how do you correct a bad choice? Verse 17. How can you tell a bad choice from a good one? Verse 21. And what does a series of bad choices ultimately bring? Verse 23.
We must learn this for ourselves because we are not born knowing what “hot” or “pain” or “suffering” or “evil” means. As a child, we gather vague ideas of what they mean, but no one ever learns what it means to burn yourself until you’ve been burned. And I can tell you “pain hurts” but until you FEEL pain, it’s only words to you! But after you burn yourself, then you learn to dislike pain; next time you avoid hot things, and avoid being burned. Sin is no different.
You must feel it for yourself; see how it makes you feel, see what sort of a life it builds for you, and understand it fully as much as you understand that pain hurts. Then you learn to avoid it, and hate it, and reject it – and that is the beginning of the SECOND part of the creation of man – becoming like God and learning to HATE SIN!
MAKING GOODNESS MATTER
We could have been programmed to be good, and our actions would have been good, but WE would only be doing what we must – we would neither be good nor evil! For a choice to do good to have any meaning, there must have also been an option to do evil which was rejected! Consider a rock rolling down a hill; it cannot do good or evil, for it can do nothing but what gravity demands. It does not have the power to make a choice. And so whether the rock falls on someone’s head and kills them, or falls on the head of the wolf chasing them, it is neither evil nor good; it is only doing exactly what it was made to do, and what circumstances compelled it to do. So even if it accidentally only does good, it is still meaningless as far as CHARACTER is concerned.
But suppose we could give that stone free will; as long as it rolls down a tunnel, we still won’t know what its character is. Only when it reaches a fork in the road, a place where it has an OPTION to help someone or harm them, and then CHOOSES one over the other, will we know whether it is good or evil! And so it was with Adam and Eve before they made a choice. In the Garden of Eden, were Adam and Eve good? Genesis 1:31. Had they been exposed to evil? (Same verse). [Note: So their goodness was meaningless because they had not chosen good over evil – they were simply obeying by habit.] Were they then exposed to evil? Genesis 3:1. Did they resist evil, or immediately succumb to it? Genesis 3:6. Did they choose evil over good? 1 Timothy 2:14.
Adam was not deceived – not completely deceived, at least – and consciously chose to follow Eve who followed Satan’s advice. So now they had CHOSEN. This was a wrong decision, but it was a DECISION. They had never made a moral decision before; they had merely blindly trusted God to tell them what to do! Genesis 3:7 records that their eyes were opened – NOW they began making moral choices, starting by eating the fruit which symbolically gave them “the knowledge of good and evil”. Before then, their source of “knowledge of good and evil” had been God. Now they took that forbidden power to themselves, and started making moral decisions! Decisions they were not yet qualified to make, which is why God had forbidden them from doing so!
But was this an accident, a mistake of God’s? Did God not see this coming? Did you ever wonder why God let Satan in the Garden of Eden? Think about it. Is God more powerful than Satan? Does God tell Satan where he may and may not go? Job 1:12. So then God must have permitted Satan to go to the Garden of Eden? Many religions picture the fall of Adam as something that surprised God, and salvation as an afterthought, but the scriptures do not agree. Did God know that man would sin before man was created? Psalms 103:14, 1 Peter 1:19-20. Was the plan of God outlined LONG before the world began? Hebrews 4:3. Was salvation planned before Adam was created? Matthew 25:34. And since salvation was part of the plan, did Jesus agree to die before the foundation of the world was laid? Revelation 13:8.
So we can only conclude that God permitted Satan to enter the Garden of Eden for a reason. And what reason was that? 1 Corinthians 11:19. And how are those that “are approved” made manifest – made to stand out? 2 Chronicles 16:9. So when God’s eyes roam over the Earth, what does He look for? What stands out to Him? (Same verse). So then does God use this choice to help Him decide who is obedient and who is not? 1 Chronicles 28:9. Does God at any other time give people the OPTION to do evil, while commanding them not to do so? Exodus 16:23-26. Did God do this as a test, so that “they which are approved might be made manifest”? Exodus 16:4. Did Israel fail that particular test? Exodus 16:27-29.
Did God often give Israel opportunities to do evil, while clearly warning them NOT to take advantage of those opportunities? Judges 2:21-23, Deuteronomy 8:2. And why did God do all that? Deuteronomy 8:3. So then God permits heresies, false doctrines, and Satan himself to exist and be near us, to allow us to freely choose between good and evil? 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 (especially verses 10-12). Do you begin to see? God PERMITS evil to exist, not because He likes evil, but because YOU must decide whether or not YOU like it! And He must know YOUR choice!
Remember from the last lesson, God only finished the FIRST HALF of man’s physical creation on day six. After that, the creation of man’s CHARACTER began. And it began with the very first choice man made – a bad choice, the wrong choice, but a MORAL choice! A choice based on what man perceived as right and wrong. Man made his first moral decision and strange though it may seem, with that choice man began the process of creating godly character when he chose to disobey God and follow Satan! Because right or wrong, it was a CHOICE, and therefore a step in the right direction towards developing the nature of God!
But now God presents each of us with an alternative to Adam’s choice; Adam made a bad choice, it is true. (Romans 5:12). But now, through the sacrifice of Christ, anyone can make the right choice. (Romans 5:18). But we must make a choice! We must choose NOT to obey sin! (Romans 6:12). Does God want you to choose? Joshua 24:15. Can you freely choose to disobey God? Proverbs 1:29. Do entire nations choose to disobey God? Isaiah 65:12. And are wars (the sword) the result of that choice? 2 Chronicles 14:6, 2 Chronicles 16:7-9.
If wars are the result of a choice to follow after lust, greed, and envy, then the solution would be NOT to follow after lust, greed, and envy. So how does man learn to do that? The only way possible – by seeing the FRUITS of sin and learning to HATE it and choose God’s way instead! See Matthew 7:15-20. In that scripture, Jesus tells us about false prophets and how to know them. He doesn’t expect us to take His word for it! He says WATCH their fruits! SEE what Satan’s way of life brings! But then when you see that, He expects you to CHOP THAT TREE DOWN! Then burn it up! This universal truth applies on SO many levels, from false teachers and ministers who don’t teach the Bible, to the evil thoughts of your own heart, and ultimately even to Satan the devil himself!
Whatever you see bearing evil fruits YOU MUST CHOOSE TO HATE, and if it is something in yourself, something you are doing or thinking, you must CHOOSE to STOP IT! Does God like watching men sin? Lamentations 3:33. God does not like tolerating the sin which causes suffering! He allows it because Adam freely chose to follow that path in spite of God’s warning, and every man since has supported Adam’s decision! Wars are the result of man following the way of Satan, and not the way of God! And no amount of gun control or prosperity will change the fact that man chose Satan’s way and keeps choosing it every day!
When you ask why God allows suffering, you should first consider Matthew 6:10. If God’s will was being done on Earth… WHY PRAY FOR IT? God’s will IS done in heaven – you may be sure there is no evil there. Habakkuk 1:13. But for now, MAN’S will is being done on Earth! Your will! Not His! Did God place man on Earth to RULE it? Genesis 1:26, Psalms 8:4-8. Why? Why give man dominion over the Earth? Because you learn by doing – and even more by failing. You really learn to walk not by walking, but by stumbling. You learn to run by tripping, and you learn to climb by falling. And you learn to rule by ruling – and ruling badly!
And because of the trust He MUST be able to have in you, God has given all mankind a sandbox to play in. A place to build castles and knock them down, to make mistakes and correct them, to eat some sand and spit it out. Satan exists – evil exists – so that you can see it, see its fruits, and then CHOOSE to destroy it! Has man done that? Certainly not! If man has learned anything from history, it’s that man never learns from history! Isaiah 66:3. And so God permits them to experience the fruit of their mistakes. Isaiah 66:4. And those of you who make the RIGHT choice will be spared the majority of that “fruit” of their mistakes. Isaiah 66:5.
HOW YOU AVOID SUFFERING
God is not the cause of suffering in this world! God permits it for your own good, as a part of the NECESSARY development of the heirs of the universe – namely, you and me! God allows Satan to tempt us, warns us what will happen if we do things Satan’s way, and then allows us free choice to follow his sweet, deadly lies – and finally He makes sure we pay the price! Not a price too high for us to learn from, but a price that fits our crime, hopefully sufficient to SHOCK man into realizing he is not FIT to decide right and wrong for himself! Adam was not FIT to rule, which is why God told him NOT to eat the fruit! God knew Adam COULD eat it – God allowed Adam to do so – but He also knew the untold grief it would bring if Adam was to make his own decisions – and oh, how history has proven God right about that! (Psalms 34:8).
You must realize that you, as you are now, are not FIT to make decisions about right and wrong for yourself! And so you must CHANGE your mind to be, in all points of morality, a COPY of the mind of God! The second half of the creation! Are you born knowing good from evil? Isaiah 7:16. Are you actually born preferring sin? Psalms 51:5. Is it possible for you, as a normal, “natural” person, to understand why God’s way is better? 1 Corinthians 2:14. As natural, you are carnal – a fancy word meaning fleshly, or one who follows the lusts of the flesh. Romans 7:14. And can a carnal person follow God on his own? Romans 8:7. So clearly, you need help – you can’t do it on your own, no matter how wise you are. 1 Corinthians 3:18-20. So then what is it that you need? Romans 12:2. Must you reject the world, its opinions and ways, to take the mind of God? James 4:4. Must you also come out from all unclean things – things that act contrary to God, including churches and friends? 2 Corinthians 6:17. And even family? Matthew 10:37, Luke 14:26-27.
Your heart, as it is, CANNOT save you. It CANNOT help you (Proverbs 14:12). It must be replaced by a BETTER heart, and your only way to do that is by rebuilding it after the pattern God gives you through His spirit! Much more on that in future lessons!
So what did David pray to God? To keep his heart as it was, but make it a little better? Or to start from scratch, building it from the ground up on a true foundation? Psalms 51:10. Can you try to keep the world (your friends and family) and God happy at the same time? Matthew 6:24. Must you COMPLETELY submit to the will of God, or can you keep on going your own way? 1 Peter 4:2. Can you still be basically the same person, just do one or two things differently? Can you draw any line and say “I will do this much for God, and no more”? Luke 9:62. So what then must you do? Ezekiel 18:31. And this new heart, and new spirit – HOW will that be made? Ephesians 4:22-24. And WHAT is your model on this new man, with a new heart? Colossians 3:10.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
Get that! Remember how, when you know what you’re looking for, the Bible said that all along! That last scripture ties this all back together! You are being made a new man COPIED FROM THE IMAGE OF HIM THAT CREATED YOU! That’s the second half of the Genesis creation that YOU are now helping God finish! But you will only inherit those promises of a new body and adoption into the Family of God IF YOU FULFILL THE CONDITIONS! Only IF you have LEARNED to tell right from wrong, good from evil, learned by USE what sin brings and learned from EXPERIENCE to HATE it with all your being! Only if you’ve obeyed God with all your heart through thick and thin will God find you useful in His Kingdom! But if you can do that, you will be WORTHY to be adopted into the Family of God, WORTHY to be trusted with all power in the universe, because God can be CERTAIN that you hate evil as much as He does!
So God has not caused suffering; He has allowed it, because every man and woman who ever lived has INSISTED on doing the things that inevitably lead to suffering! And to deny them their inalienable right to be stupid would be to rob from them their priceless opportunity to build RIGHTEOUS CHARACTER, and build in themselves a MIND LIKE GOD HAS! Words fail us to describe the awe-inspiring magnitude of this plan, and our future as creatures we cannot yet even imagine! (Romans 8:18, 1 John 3:2). God MUST permit you to be evil, for your own future is at stake – but He will only permit it for so long, only until such a time as those who are willing to be saved have been saved!
There is a time limit! God will not permit this suffering world to continue indefinitely as it is – He has a definite schedule and when the time comes, He will return to rule all nations with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15), and FORCE the nations to obey (Micah 4:3)! …But only after He has given full chance to obey Him to all that will listen. Only after every effort at proving to man that the fruits of disobedience to the laws of God is ALWAYS death. Then… 1 Corinthians 15:24-26. Then at last, death itself is destroyed, and ALL unhappiness is banished from the universe!
Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. You are to pray that God’s will be done on Earth because THIS IS WHAT THE WORLD WILL BE LIKE WHEN GOD’S WILL IS DONE ON EARTH! When the world is finally brought into submission to the will of God, THAT is the world that will be created! God will NOT allow suffering in a world that HE runs! And neither would you! When that world comes, God wants to have a family who has already been through the fires of sin, and HATES all those things that cause suffering and death as much as He does! A family He can trust throughout all eternity, to love their neighbors and bring happiness and peace to all mankind, and then, He will at last TRULY bring PEACE ON EARTH! God speed that day!
For more lessons enrol in the Comprehensive Bible Study Course by Nathanial Burson The Simple Answers… To Life’s Most Important Questions.