Why Does God Allow Evil and Suffering in The World ?
Have you ever asked the question – If God is real, then why doesn’t God do something about all the evil and suffering in the world?
If you have asked that question, then Good News! Because firstly, I am going to share with you what God has done in the past about evil, what God is doing right now about evil and what God is going to do in the future about evil! Then secondly (at the bottom of the page) I am going to share with you the problem of suffering in the world. But it makes more sense to deal with evil first, then suffering second.
And everything I share with you here is based upon the irrefutable evidence for God, which you can read in my book – This is The Meaning of Life: with over 300 pages of evidence this is true.
The Christian Holy Bible begins with the creation of the universe, planet Earth and all forms of life including humankind, which God describes as being very good.
At the end of the Bible we read that God creates a new Heaven and Earth, and there will be no more death, sorrow, crying or pain, for the former things have passed away.
So, at the beginning of the Bible and at the end there is no evil. That just leaves the bit in the middle when humankind populated the world and who are fully responsible for all the evil in the world.
In Genesis chapter 6:11-13, we read that humankind was corrupt before God and filled with violence.
If you were God, and the humans you had created were so rotten, so full of evil and violence, that you wished you had never created them, what would you do? You would probably think of destroying the lot of them and starting again.
Well, that’s exactly what God decided to do: to rid the world of all evil, but there was just one man, Noah, who was pleasing to God. And when God sent a worldwide flood to destroy all life, God had Noah build an ark (a large wooden ship), fill it with animals, and Noah and his family were saved. And through Noah and his family, they began to repopulate the Earth.
You might think that the descendants of Noah would have been eternally grateful to God, and lived their lives in a way that was pleasing to God. But unfortunately, it wasn’t long before humankind began committing acts of evil again.
Eventually, God chooses one man, Abram, who he renames Abraham, and reveals that though the descendants of Abraham God will make a great nation, and all the nations of the world will be blessed.
The descendants of Abraham were known as Hebrews, who became known as Jews. The nation became Israel, and the blessing to the world was the birth of Jesus Christ.
But 1,500 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, the Hebrews found themselves enslaved by the Egyptians. And it is there, that God chooses one man, Moses, to lead this tribe of Hebrew slaves out of slavery and to the Promised Land of Canaan, which we know today as Israel.
God chose these Hebrew slaves to become his chosen people (above all other tribes and nations of the world). And it is through Moses that God gave them (and all humankind) the Ten Commandments, and instructions on how to worship God and live their lives in obedience to God.
You might think that these Hebrew slaves would have been eternally grateful to God, for rescuing them from a life of slavery and setting them free. Yes, that would have been the sensible thing to do, but it wasn’t long before they were being disobedient and turning to their evil ways.
Before Moses died, God revealed to the people that he would (in the future) send another leader/prophet to them who would be like Moses. Fast forward 1,400 years and that person was Jesus Christ. And those of you who have read my book – This is The Meaning of Life, will know that over the past 3,400 years of history, the only person in the world who was like Moses, was Jesus Christ.
God, after watching his chosen people fail to keep the Ten Commandments for the past 1,400 years, comes to Earth in the person of Jesus Christ.
Jesus has come with a rescue plan for the Jews, and for all humankind, forever. Jesus has come to defeat the evil in the world, and to establish the Kingdom of God here on planet Earth.
In the eyes of God, every human on planet Earth was evil, even like enemies of God. Yet God stepped down from Heaven where he had every comfort, and all the worship and adoration of the angels in Heaven. God came down to rescue us. God came down to rescue YOU!
Jesus called people to repent and receive the forgiveness of God. Repentance means admitting we have been living our life without any care of the commandments of God, apologising to God for our foolish ways, and deeply desiring to begin living our life in a way that is pleasing to God.
We are also to be grateful to God for Jesus Christ who was crucified, died and was laid in a tomb. Jesus death was the sacrifice of God for the sins of all humankind forever.
In all other religions, people offered sacrifices to their gods, in the hope their sacrifice would be pleasing to their gods and they would be rewarded.
But the Lord God of all creation, offered his own beloved Son, Jesus Christ, as a sacrifice. In the hope that the sacrifice of God would be pleasing to us!
You see, the penalty for our sin (disobedience) to God is death, and not just physical death, but also the Second Death that eternally separates us from God and eternal life.
But, when we repent of our sins, and when we accept the sacrifice of God. Then it is as though Jesus Christ died in our place, his death for our life. Jesus death on the cross, instead of you having to face the Second Death and eternal separation from God and eternal life.
So, this is how God has dealt with all the evil in the world in the past and present day, but what about the future?
God has declared that at the appointed time, Jesus Christ will return and those who have repented and received Jesus as their Lord and Saviour will be saved, and the rest will be destroyed – all who are evil will be destroyed.
Then there will be a new Heaven, a new Earth, a new City of Jerusalem, and all the kingdoms of the Earth will be the Kingdoms of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Kingdom of God on Earth and the Kingdom of Heaven will be just one Kingdom of God.
There will be no evil, for everyone will love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, and love one another as themselves.
How can you know this will be true? Just read my book – This is The Meaning of Life: With over 300 pages of evidence this is true. And you will discover all the evidence you could wish for.
But I would encourage you, even beg you to do this as soon as possible, because we are living in the end-times, when Jesus could return without any warning.
For God has declared that men and women die and then face the judgment of God. Those whose names are written in the Book of Life, (those who repented, accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, and live their life in a way that is pleasing to God), they will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Because it is through Jesus Christ that we receive the Gift of Eternal Life from God.
For those who lived their life without any care for God, they are like the ones that God destroyed in the worldwide flood. But now they will face the Second Death in the Lake of Fire. No second chance, this is how God ensures no evil will enter God’s Kingdom of Heaven.
A lawyer asked Jesus, what must I do to inherit eternal life (in Heaven)?
Another lawyer asked Jesus, what is the greatest commandment of God?
The answer to both questions was the same –
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love one another as yourself.
Why did Jesus say that? Because in Heaven everyone loves God in this way, and that’s what makes Heaven, Paradise.
Also, those who are not willing to love God in this way, are evil according to God.
I will leave you with the words of the apostle Peter, from 2 Peter 3:1-18.
3 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Saviour, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”
5 For this they wilfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
Why does God allow Suffering in the World?
I am hoping that my answer to why God has allowed all the evil in the world has made sense, and that you are thankful for God's love and compassion in dealing with evil.
But what about all the suffering? What about children who suffer from an accident, sickness or death? Well, just as I mentioned before, in the beginning, there was no accident, sickness or death.
This is because Adam and Eve lived in the very presence of God.
Then, at the end of this age, the promise of God is that there will be no suffering, no tears, no death, for we will all live in the presence of God.
Will it be that all accidents can be avoided? I doubt it, but perhaps our bodies will be like the angels in Heaven and 100% resistant to injury and pain?
When we realise that when Adam and Eve lived in the presence of God, and obedience to God, then sin, sickness, injury, suffering and death did not exist. At the end of this age, when everyone is living in the presence of God and in obedience to God, then sin, sickness, injury, suffering and death will not exist.
If only we now lived in the presence of God and everyone in obedience to God, then for sure we would not experience sin, sickness, injury, suffering or death.
Let's not blame God, when it's our fault. God has never broken his promises to humankind, but every single one of us has broken the commandments of God. Everyone!
Jesus Christ died an agonising death on the cross, so he could save you from your sins. So he could offer you forgiveness when you come to him in repentance, and offer you the gift of eternal life in Heaven - if you want it.