How can God allow Suffering?

Mark Broadbent
12 September 2010

*Most of us have experiences that are inconvenient but not to an extent of suffering
*Most of us don't really know what it's like to suffer
*We are living in quiet a comfortable life
*We need to acknowledge this although we encounter lots of problems

1. Getting rid of God doesn't get rid of suffering
*The problem still remain
*Most people are only focusing on one part; Christianity
*They look at the problem of evil and world and asks if Christianity solves their problem
*But if we compare Christianity with Atheism, we must ask ourselves how well does Atheism solve suffering
*It's not wise to just focus on one world view but instead, think which one makes more sense
*It could be that none of the beliefs is satisfying us
*Instead, we should ask this question;
"If we get rid of god, what do we do with suffering tomorrow?"

2. How can God allow suffering?
a) God never intended for there to be suffering
*Not good for man to be alone. So God created a partner for Adam-There was no suffering involved
*God intended pure bliss, no pain, jealousy, emptiness and not a hint of suffering

Matthew 6:9-10: 
"This, then, is how you should pray:
" 'Our Father in heaven,
hallowed by your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.


b) Suffering entered the world because of sin
*Adam and Eve realized they were naked and covered themselves. Thats where suffering came in.

Romans 5:12: Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.


c) God can use suffering for good
*Suffering can be use to make people stronger and contented
*Nobody has ever gone something great without undergoing suffering
*Suffering can be use for something good

Romans 12:2-8: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let his use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.


d) Jesus suffered more than anyone
*He tasted his our medicine for us

Isaiah: 53:3-5: 
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

e) There will be no suffering in heaven
Revelation 21:3-4: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with me, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyss. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."


*This world is the worse that life will ever get. Thats for those who put their faith in Jesus.

The Prob? THIS DOESNT ACTUALLY HELP
*For a person undergoing suffering, those explanations aren't helpful at all.

Mark 15:34: And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi Eloi, lama sabachthani"- which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"


*Our sin was placed on Jesus and God turned his back against his son
*He is God. He would know that someone has to come to be the mediator of God and men and knew that someone had to bear our sin before the world began but why did Jesus cry out "My Lord, my Lord, WHY did you forsake me?"
*Is it because suffering has no solution?
*Is is because it is our nature to ask why in the midst of suffering
*He knows how it feels
*He won't give you the answer but he has gone through the feeling of suffering

3. We are called to enter into suffering not to avoid it.
*There are people that won't serve and give because of too many worldly priorities but claim to be a Christian because he believes in God
*Commitment requires sacrifice and he would not want to go through it
*Meant to live an easy life
*People would say life would be easy with Jesus

The PROB?
*He has no idea in Christianity, this is just part of church culture
*Being a non Christian, we can invest out time, energy into anywhere we want
*We may use that to minimize suffering
*But being a Christian, we should enter into the world of suffering, to enter and experience those who are suffering together
*To be the body of Christ and fulfill the mission in this world
*Can't just read a couple pages of the gospel and be a Christian

Matthew 16:21-26: From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"

Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Stan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?


*Peter have been bought to the perception that Jesus came to let us live an easy life
*Many people have been in the church for so many years but drop out sooner or later
*Many have never take up the invitation of taking their own cross, dieing in the past life and being reborn again
*We wouldn't let our present life and enter the new life not free of suffering but of which matters to Christ, which is to enter the life of suffering and minister in the life of others.
*It is a free gift that we enter a door not to a playground but a door of suffering
*Is this something that you are having trouble with?

**Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path**