Bible Study July 19, 2012

Hey Gang,

We continue this week in our study of apologetics with the question of all questions - why God allows suffering? Remember Charles Templeton’s initial doubt about God’s existence was over a picture in Life magazine of a mother in Africa, during a devastating drought, holding her dead child and looking up to heaven for why. Some will say that this is a question we simply cannot answer.

Then there's the Philosophical Dilemma: A good God would not want evil & suffering. A powerful God could remove all evil and suffering. Therefore, if God is good & powerful, there should be no evil & suffering. But there is evil & suffering. So God is either not good, not powerful or does not exist.

Shadowlands is a movie and story of C. S. Lewis as he meets an American fan, Joy Gresham, whom he befriends and eventually marries – she has a son named Douglas. The story also deals with his struggle with personal pain and grief. Lewis preaches that one should endure suffering with patience, but finds that the simple answers he had preached no longer apply when Joy becomes afflicted with cancer and eventually dies.

Shadowlands

Click Here to Watch 

  

   

Why does a loving God allow so much suffering and evil in the world?

Does God cause suffering or does He just allow it?

Does God want us to suffer?

C. S. Lewis once said, “It is because God loves us that he makes us the gift of suffering.”


C.S. Lewis would later conclude, "Why love if losing hurts so much? I have no answers any more. Only the life I have lived. Twice in that life I've been given the choice: as a boy and as a man. The boy chose safety, the man chooses suffering. The pain now is part of the happiness then. That's the deal." 



SUFFERING is a problem in life that comes home to everyone.

1. Whether it’s a child born blind, deformed or mentally afflicted. Or a good man in the prime of life is diagnosed with a deadly disease.

2. Whether it’s millions in the world that suffer from starvation and disease or millions in the world that perish or are made homeless in floods and earthquakes.

3. Lives are lost in acts of terrorism, by brutality and hijacking.



This is one of the most difficult questions for Christians to answer. How do you answer it today? Why does a loving God allow so much suffering and evil in the world?

• The “problem of pain,” as the well-known Christian scholar, C.S. Lewis, once called it, is atheism’s most potent weapon against the Christian faith.
• We ourselves do not establish the standards of what is right. Only the Creator of all reality can do that. We need to settle it, in our minds and hearts, whether we understand it or not, that whatever God does is, by definition, right.
• Having settled this by faith, we are then free to seek for ways in which we can profit spiritually from the sufferings in life, as well as the blessings.

Our lesson this morning wants us to look at the suffering we face in life from 2 view points.

1. The story of Job

2. Paul’s teachings of hope in Romans 8

We begin with the suffering of Job. What do you know of the story of Job?




Throughout the book of Job, Job asked God to give him an opportunity to present his case to Him. Here in chapter 40 God answers Job’s requests.
 

I. WE DON’T HAVE THE FULL PICTURE – JOB 40:1-9

1 The LORD answered Job: 2 "Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who argues with God give an answer." 3 Then Job answered the LORD: 4 "I am so insignificant. How can I answer You? I place my hand over my mouth. 5 I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more." 6Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind: 7 "Get ready to answer Me like a man; when I question you, you will answer Me. 8 "Would you really challenge My justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself? 9 Do you have an arm like God's, and can your voice thunder like His?



So, what can we learn from the story of Job or his suffering?

• Sometimes our suffering is not because of our sin.
• There is a "cosmic conflict" going on the behind the scenes that we usually know nothing about. Often we wonder why God allows something, and we question or doubt God's goodness, without seeing the full picture.
• Sometimes God doesn’t answer the why.
• Sometimes God is humbling us through our suffering.
• Sometimes God is trying to make us grow-up or mature through our suffering.
• Sometimes God is revealing to us the consequences of our sin – choices we make.
• Our suffering reveals who we are – by how we respond.

The Bible calls Job a perfect man (“blameless and upright,” Job 1:1). Why did God see the need to test Job’s faith?

• In His wisdom, God allowed the test not only to shape Job but also to give to us who come after him an example of how an upright person works his way through pain and hurt. Job already had an upright character, but through his struggles we observe how an upright person behaves in the midst of tragedy. That’s how the work of God gets displayed.
• Job’s faith was being tested to see if God was his only reason to believe. Only by loss and suffering could Job know that he served God not for worldly blessings or even family or even health.

So, what does Job’s story tell you to do when you question your pain in life and there are no answers?



1. Recognize that God will always bring good, that evil and suffering cannot stop it.

2. Remember that God loves us more than we can imagine or articulate.

3. Realize that we don’t have the full picture.

4. Recall Bible truths that help you.

5. Respond to God with obedience – no matter what.



Job 1:20-21 tells us…We must trust God, not only WHEN we do not understand, but BECAUSE we do not understand.



Now let’s look at Paul’s perspective on suffering. Did Paul experience suffering in his life; does he have any experience in this issue?

 

II. PUT SUFFERING IN PERSPECTIVE – ROMANS 8:18-21

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.



How does Paul want us to put suffering in perspective?

• In Romans 8 Paul wrote about many subjects, including hope. He says that the suffering of this life is temporary and it pales in comparison with the future glory. He points out that even creation is waiting for Christ’s return – the new heaven and new earth.
• Peter also reminds us of the glorious salvation God has worked in us. Then he says, 'In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 1:6-7). What wonderful truths to help us in times of suffering! Our sufferings are for "a little while." They won't last forever. Even if they lasted the rest of our lives (as some do) we look ahead to an eternity of glory with our Savior! Compared to that, the sufferings of this present age are only "a little while."
• Our sufferings only come "if necessary." Praise God! They haven't come for nothing! An infinitely wise and loving God has deemed it necessary. He knows what it will take to conform us to the image of Christ, which is the goal (Romans 8:28-30).
• · Our suffering has come to test the "genuineness of (our) faith." Progressive sanctification involves testing and trials. In them, our faith is purged from the junk that is in us. He is using suffering for our good! ("For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory" [2 Cor 4:17, NKJV] - our suffering is WORKING FOR US!).
• Our suffering will result in "praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
• "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us" (Romans 8:18).

Where would you say suffering comes from? Does God just allow or does He cause my suffering?

1. Our choices: Genesis 6:5-6 says: "The LORD saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” Likewise, Judges 21:25 records, "In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit." We make choices every day that bring us pain. Adam and Eve made the original choice to live life apart from God's prescription, but we repeat that choice constantly to lesser or greater degree. We eat foods that are bad for us, we take drugs, we disregard God's laws regarding sex, we knowingly commit crimes, we hang out with the wrong crowd, in short, we play with fire and complain when we get burned. But people are often their own worst enemies, bringing pain through foolish choices.
2. Other people's choices: We've all experienced pain because of someone else's choice, and the more influential the person, the more pain they can potentially inflict upon others. In Jesus' day, Herod's attack on babies caused weeping throughout the land. We all know the results of the choices of Hitler and Stalin.
3. Satan's work: The Bible says that some suffering is a direct result of Satan's activity, although the devil is restrained. Job's pain was inflicted by Satan, and Peter was attacked; the apostle later wrote..."Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)
4. God's judgment: Some suffering has come from God's hand, as He exercises His right to judge moral evil. The great flood, for example, killed thousands of people, sparing only Noah and his family. Herod died because of his own blasphemy: "Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died." (Acts 12:23)
5. God's discipline: At times God's dealing with His own people, as He disciplines them as children, is severe. For Achan, in the book of Joshua, his sin brought on death as he became an "example" to the rest of the nation regarding God's holiness. However, it would be wrong for Christians to interpret every illness or calamity as a direct result of some sin (like the "bad karma" approach mentioned above). Jesus actually dealt with this type of thinking in John 9. Seeing a blind man, His disciples asked who sinned, this man or his parents." Jesus corrected them: this blindness was no punishment for anyone's sin." Evidently one purpose of suffering is intended to make us realize our own sinful condition and ask the question, "Why don't we suffer more than we do?"

Is my suffering all part of God’s plan? How am I to see that God cares about my suffering?

• Yes, my suffering is all part of God’s plan. We must remember that God works all things according to the counsel of his will (Eph 1:11) and that he says "My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose" (Isaiah 46:10). If suffering comes, it has surely been allowed by God. What do we make of this? Is God cruel? Suffering somehow has its place in the good and glorious plan of God.
• Jesus Christ Himself, when He died for our sins, did not die without terrible suffering. He did not die peacefully in His sleep. He was not executed by painless lethal injection. Even though He had lived a perfectly sinless life, and had committed no crime, He was brutally beaten, flogged and crucified in great agony before being gored with a spear.
• God does care. He knows when humans suffer. But, let's remember, God isn't a mere human. He is God. His perspective is infinitely greater than ours. He sees the "bigger picture" - that our experiences as mortal humans, however painful or unhappy, will be to our eventual benefit. When a parent takes an infant to the doctor for a regular vaccination to prevent some childhood disease, it's because the parent cares for and loves that child. The young child however will almost always see things very differently. When the doctor's needle goes into that little arm, the child will often cry out and howl from the pain. It may look up at the parent, with those big innocent eyes, in the most pleading and pitiful way, as if to say, "Look at the horrible thing that's happening to me! Don't you care about my terrible suffering? How can you just stand there and allow this to go on? Don't you love me?" The parent however knows better. He or she is aware that everything is going to be all right in a very short time (even though it almost always has an emotional impact on the parent to see the child distressed in such a way). A minor, brief pain is the price the child pays for a healthier life later. Just as an infant cannot possibly understand the motives of its parent while it is still only a child, so too we cannot appreciably comprehend God's will for us while we are still as we are.
• It's a matter of perspective - the brief few years of a physical human lifetime, versus the eternity, time without end that will follow. God is our ultimate parent. He knows all about the problems we often have, but He also knows that our experiences with pain and suffering, along with all of the good experiences that we may have, will, among other things, help to make us more understanding and compassionate.

How does Paul put suffering in perspective?

• We live in a bent world and while we live here things will not be fair.
• Present suffering can’t compare to future glory. He says to evaluate present sufferings in light of eternity. Our hope is in eternity – we are assured of a better world.

So Paul goes on to say that while bad things continue to happen to good people; God works all things together for good in the lives of those who love Him. Why Christians can even rejoice in the midst of trials!
 

III. DISCOVER GOOD FROM SUFFERING – ROMANS 8:28-30

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.


What good can we discover from suffering?

1. Suffering keeps this world from becoming too attractive.

• The Bible tells us that we are pilgrims and sojourners, this world is not truly our home and God has prepared something better for us.
• If there was no suffering - No one would want to leave this temporary world and no one would desire the "eternal" home, and therefore prepare themselves for it.
• But the affairs of this life are so ordered - That the world soon loses its attraction and most young people may want to live forever, but by the time a man reaches his "three score and ten" he begins to desire something better. 

• God is in control.

2. Suffering can bring out our best.

• When tragedy comes to us – we see the constant support by friends, the preparation of food and even financial support.
• We see this happen quite often in times of natural disaster, when someone loses a house to fire, tornado, etc. and in times of terminal illness.

3. Suffering gives an occasion to silence the enemies of God.

• Remember the story of Job? Satan wanted to prove God wrong about Job, that he served God only because God had blessed him, but Job's patience under suffering silenced Satan!
• Likewise, God desires that we silence “foolish men.” Who ridicule the teachings of Christ as foolishness. Who say we are Christians only for what good we can get out of it.
• By patiently enduring or doing good in times of suffering - the value of being Christians really shines through. In the faith we have that sustains us in suffering, and in the love we show towards those who suffer.

4. Suffering makes us appreciative.

• We all receive so many good things in this life - It is easy for us to become prone to take them for granted instead of receiving them with gratitude toward God.
• Suffering can help us appreciate more fully - Good health, Good friends, and a loving family.

5. Suffering makes us more dependent upon God.

• Makes us recognize our need of God. Too often, we think ourselves self-sufficient "But when a dozen of the most skilled men in their profession tell you they have done all they can and it is completely out of their hands..." ...you suddenly realize how much you depend on God."
• Draws us closer to God. At no other time are we more likely to realize that we depend upon God for our very breath! As Paul proclaimed: "in Him we live and move and have our being" - Acts 17:28

6. Suffering helps purify us.

• Consider these two passages: 1Peter 1:6-7 - Suffering can be like fire purifying gold. And James 1:2-5 - Maturity can be developed through trials.

 

7. Suffering makes us sympathetic.

• Equips us to help others. It helps us to be better able to comfort others in their affliction. We may think we can sympathize with someone, but until we have been there personally, there is no true understanding of their hurt. Experiencing suffering makes us more likely to "weep with those who weep" - Romans 12:15 and better enables us to serve others.

8. Suffering teaches us how to pray.

• We all may be a praying people - we pray at the right times and maybe we pray for the right things, but in the midst of suffering we learn how to pray – Earnestly, Perseveringly, and with groanings which cannot be uttered. (Romans 8:26)

CONCLUSION

If we look at suffering purely from man’s point of view, we will not understand why suffering is permitted. When we look at suffering from God’s point of view, from the viewpoint of His love and plans for us in preparation of eternity, then we can begin to appreciate why He would allow suffering to occur.

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." C.S. Lewis

This is a tough study this week, so be in prayer for how God might speak through you as to how you could answer the question of why God allows so much suffering and evil in this world.

Hope to see you on Thursday!

In His Love,

David