Suffering: one reason people do
not believe in God
1)
A man once went to
2)
Streets were congested; on both sides of the roads he
saw small shanties.
3)
Some of these places were made of cardboard; others
were made out of burlap.
a)
People lived along the roads and were regularly exposed
to soot and exhaust.
b)
Naked children played in open sewage ditches.
c)
People with missing or distorted limbs sat in the dirt;
insects were everywhere.
4) A taxi driver told this man
that people are born on the sidewalks, live on the sidewalks and die on the
sidewalks.
5)
The man who witnessed these sights asked himself this
question:
6)
“Where was God in that festering hellhole?”
a)
If God had the power to better this situation, why was
He not acting?
b)
If God really loved these people, why did He not rescue
them?
c)
Over the years many have asked questions like: “Where is God in times of suffering?”
d)
Or, “Why doesn’t God care and help? “If God is good, why does he let evil men act
so badly?”
7)
Some have been so troubled by these questions they have
concluded that God does not exist.
8)
In the minds of some, human suffering and evil disprove
the existence of God or a “good God.”
a)
For the next several weeks we want to consider some of
the most common objections to God.
b)
In the Bible we find men asking some “why” questions
about God.
c)
Ps. 43:2 – “God, why have you cast me off?”
d)
Why does God “stand afar off” (Ps. 10:1)?
e)
Why would God have a sustained anger with people (Ps.
74:1)?
f)
Today’s lesson concentrates on why there is human
suffering, evil, and tragedies.
9)
As we think about this subject for some time, I would
like us to bear in mind an illustration.
a)
This illustration has four parts: a bear, a bear trap, a park ranger and God.
b)
We know the basic differences between us and a bear.
c)
A bear is more powerful, but it is not on the same
intellectual level.
d)
We are smarter (or supposed to be smarter) than a bear.
e)
The difference between us and a bear is much smaller
than the difference between us and God.
f) Man and bears are both
earthy – created beings. God is
presented as uncreated and all knowing/powerful.
10) Isa. 55:8-9 says God’s thoughts are vastly superior to
ours.
11) For
toady we want to look at things from an earthly perspective (us and a bear).
a)
It will be helpful to envision a bear that is caught in
a trap.
b)
A ranger sees the bear and he wants to free him.
c)
The ranger tries to win the bear’s confidence, but the
bear does not thing the ranger is out to aid him.
d)
It looks the ranger is trying to attack him while he is
limited in what he can do.
e)
The ranger then begins to shoot at the bear with
tranquilizers so he can help.
f)
The bear sees the gun, feels the first dart, and grows
even more hostile.
g)
The bear does not realize that the park ranger is
acting out of compassion.
h)
Finally the bear is drugged and immobilized, but it
still has a sense of what is taking place.
i)
Our bear feels his paw pushed further into the trap
that is holding him.
j)
Now it looks to him like the ranger is about as
merciless as anyone could be.
k)
The bear does not realize this is necessary to put his
food further into the trap to release the spring.
12) From
the bear’s perspective, the park ranger is mean, cruel, completely unloving.
13) A
similar thing is true for man and God.
a)
Man often things that he has all the answers.
b)
We think that our view of things should be the way that
it is; who can know more than us?
c)
We have invented computers, space ships and planes, we are the brightest and best.
d)
Compared to God, we are far less intelligent than a
trapped bear that meets a park ranger.
e)
This is one of the things we must consider when we deal
with “objections to God.”
f)
Our understanding of some things is very limited.
g)
This fact is not all we need to consider, but it is one
essential point.
14) I
have often heard from people the idea that “suffering/evil” proves there is no
God.
15) If
God existed, and He is all powerful, He would wipe out suffering and do away
with evil people.
a)
I have heard many make this argument, but it is seldom
to find someone to reverse this logic.
b)
If there is no God, why is there so much good in the
world?
c)
If there is no God, we must say that “good” is based on
deceit (a false belief in a supreme deity).
d)
If good is based on deceit, then good is not really all
that good.
e)
When we start thinking about good and evil, there is
more to consider than many realize.
16) Have
we ever stopped to ask ourselves makes “evil” evil?
a)
What is the basis for saying that certain acts are
immoral – wrong?
b)
Why is it wrong to kill people at will?
c)
Why is theft wrong?
Why is sexual assault wrong? Why
is lying wrong?
d)
By saying that things are “evil,” we are claiming the
violation of a standard.
e)
What is this standard?
Who gave it?
f)
It is certainly not given by some country.
g)
There are some actions that are regarded as evil in
virtually every place.
h)
The very existence of evil argues for the existence of
a supreme being.
17) Consider
this point as well.
a)
It is bad science, but some have suggested that matter
has always existed.
i)
A few have tried to defend the idea that matter is
eternal. Something has always existed.
b)
If this is true (things are always evolving and getting
better), why does so much evil exist?
c)
Would has not the theory of evolution stamped out or
greatly reduce evil?
d)
After all, “evolution” means “evolve” (things get
better and better).
e)
Our world certainly does not reflect an evolution in
goodness.
18) At
this point some may be thinking, “interesting
thoughts, but what about the issues raised earlier?
a)
If there really is a God, why does suffering exist?
b)
After all, the Bible used by Christians says God does
exist and He is all good.
c)
It teaches that God is all powerful and all wise. How, then, can evil exist?
19) Christians
are often presented with the idea that God is all powerful so He should wipe
out evil.
a)
We may need to go back and consider what it means to be
“all powerful.”
b)
We do not mean, when we use this terminology that God
can do anything.
c)
Tit. 1:2 says God “cannot lie.”
d)
God cannot make Himself cease to exist; God cannot both
exist and not exist at the same time.
e)
He cannot make evil good or good evil.
20) God
is perfectly good, and He created man good.
21) With
the creation, God gave man the ability to sin.
God did not create evil.
a)
Let’s view the matter from the standpoint of a handgun.
b)
We may create a gun.
One man buys it for his collection or target practice.
c)
Another buys it to commit murder. Our intentions may have been good; others act
improperly.
22) This
morning I am going to advance the idea that needs to be carefully considered:
a)
God could not have created a world where it was
impossible to sin and people still have free-will.
b)
Remember that there are some things that God cannot do.
c)
God cannot be involved with a logical contradiction.
d)
He could not make a light that is both “on” and “off”
at the same time and in the same place.
e)
This is also true of creation.
23) Free-will
(the ability to choose) necessarily implies have the choice to sin (commit
evil).
24) If
man did not have this choice, our early would be like a place that has
“colorless color.”
25) That
cannot exist.
26) Earth
would be a place where we would find “round squares” – those cannot exist.
a)
God could have created a world where sin and suffering
would not be, but it would be a lonely world.
b)
Without free will, there would be no choice to love.
c)
In heaven there will be no sin. We used our free-will to choose on the earth.
d)
We decide in the here and now where we want to spend
eternity.
e)
Our choice is literally finalized in death; the moment
we die our eternal fate is sealed.
f)
In life we have a full range of choices and that
necessarily means that evil must be a possible choice.
27) In
the creation, God did His part perfectly; the fault lies with man. It was humans who messed things up.
28) When
we look at the vast majority of suffering in our world, we find that much of it
is self imposed.
29) People
ask why God did things to people – often people created their own mess.
a)
Look at the mortgage problem – who is at fault?
b) Slander, murder,
selfishness, sexual sin, promise breaking, recklessness….man creates much of
his own evil.
c)
In spite of these things it is claimed that God is
“good” so how can He permit evil?
30) “Good”
is just like “all powerful” – people use this word far too loosely.
31) What
do we mean by “good” when we describe God.
32) Do
we mean that a person is always helped?
I do not think any of us would say “yes” to this.
33) In
some cases it is not “good” to help people who have a problem (they are
suffering).
a)
Today
there are cases where people get themselves into a fix and we believe they
should not be helped.
b)
Ed McMahon is a name many of us recognize.
34) He
has a 4.8 million dollar mortgage and he is 85 years old.
35) The
last I knew he was more than $600,00 behind on his
mortgage payments.
a) Do we think he should
receive help or not? Most would say he
used poor judgment and should not be helped. Others
make bad choices and we say, “You made the bed, now you must lie in it.”
b) As human beings not even we
believe that everyone should be delivered from bad circumstances.
c) Parents and teachers often
tell those who come to they, “You are responsible for the consequences.”
d) If we do not believe we
should always bail someone out, why fault God for not doing this?
36) As people we know that
suffering sometimes has value.
37) People learn things from
suffering. Some grief benefits people. Tragedy can strengthen people.
38) There are exceptions, but
much of what the world says is “awful” is actually productive for man.
a) Imagine a world that has no
suffering, no pain, no tragedy, and no hardship.
b) We never got sick,
entertainment was free….we have everything but pain.
c) Man would soon become like a
spoiled brat.
d) We would be making no
choices; we would be like zombies (robots).
39) To all these things a person
may say, “Evil exists and God lets people get away with it.”
40) Whoever came up with this
beauty did not find his point in the Bible.
41) There is a saying: “Justice delayed is not justice denied.” This is certainly true with God as well as
our courts.
42) A man might not go to trial
and then confinement for several months or a year or more.
43) Because there is a delay,
does the “criminal get away with it?”
No. Justice is simply delayed.
44) Such is also true with God –
justice is sometimes delayed until the end of time.
45) A person will not only be
punished, but eternally punished.
46) To this someone says, “Well,
God should knock off the really bad people and deal with lesser offenders
later.”
a) This is another common idea
about God, but it is also not very thoughtful.
b) If we were God, were do we
draw the line?
c) If killing 10 people justifies an immediately divine smiting, what about
the man who kills 2?
d) What about the man who only
kills one?
e) What about almost beats
someone to death and that person recovers?
f) When we look at the
scriptures, we find that all are immoral (Rom. 3:10, 23).
g) God has told us the world
has tribulations; there is going to be grief.
h) That grief is swallowed up
in the Christ of the Bible.
i)
Paul once said he wanted to “know” Christ and this included the Lord’s
sufferings.
47) Grief and pain are not
designed to take man from God; they are clues to tell us there is a God.
48) It is a God who cares. A God who cares so much He sent His Son into
the world to die for our sins.