What About Evil and Suffering?

It doesn’t take long to look around and know there is evil and suffering in the world. Turn on the TV or radio, buy a paper or magazine, log on to the internet or even your cell phone, and “BAM!” there it is in your face. From war to terrorism, from genocide to slave trade, from starvation to aids, from murder to theft, from domestic violence to divorce, suffering and evil is all around us!

The nagging question that has gripped people for centuries is, “Why does God allow evil and suffering?” If God is all benevolent, all powerful, and all knowing, why doesn’t he put an end to the pain and misery that millions experience everyday? This is probably the greatest hurdle for atheists to get over, and it has become their greatest arsenal against Christianity.

This is a difficult question to answer, and no matter what answer is given, it seems too simple and inadequate to really do justice to the question itself. Very often, the answers given to the question of suffering and evil do not give respect to those who are suffering. Sometimes, the answers given make the victims into perpetrators who are guilty of causing their own pain and misery. While it may be true that suffering and evil can be the result of poor choices, it is also true that suffering and evil plague the innocent. Injustice such as this has caused one person to say, “If God is God, he is not good. If God is good, he is not God.”

Some do make God the blame for evil and suffering. Since, the existence of pain and misery cannot be adequately dealt with by logic and reason, well, someone has to pay the price for evil’s existence. So, God becomes the one to bear the brunt of the punishment. Yet, this is nothing more than making God the scapegoat because we as finite human intellectuals have reached the full extent of our own logic and reason. (By the way, since the enlightenment we have made our ability to reason an idol. Logic has become the God of modernity, and we have suffered, to some degree, because of it. Uuummmm, very interesting, to say the least.) If we take God out of the picture, as an atheist would, then who would be the cause of evil and suffering? Well, the answer would be humanity since there would be no God to point the finger at. Now, if we place God back into the picture, could we not still say that in some capacity humanity is still responsible for pain and misery, evil and suffering. Yes, of course, we could make that very conclusion.

I, for one, do not pretend to understand pain and misery, evil and suffering. I have no pretense I have figured it all out. My answer will probably raise more questions, and we will be back at square one; however, in my opinion, I believe we should stop asking the question of why evil exist in the world. We should stop putting the blame on God, and we should begin working with God to stop evil and suffering in the world.

And here we are, back to the call God has given us. We are blessed to be a blessing. We as believers can put a sizeable dent in the existence of evil and suffering if we would truly live out God’s vision for us, to be a blessing to others because he has blessed us. Isn’t that just wonderful? We need to quit asking God why he allows evil and suffering because, in my opinion, he does not allow it, but he is actively involved in eradicating it from his creation, and at the close of history, he will complete this very act. We, as believers and humanity as a whole, need to point the finger at ourselves and ask, “Why do I allow evil and suffering?” That is the question God is asking us; however, he is also saying, “Turn from practicing evil, turn from causing others to suffer, place your trust in me, and join me in being a blessing to others as I bless you.”

I ask you to answer the call of God to bring about the end of evil and suffering. Pray with me for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven, and begin to work with me in ways to do the same.

A New Year: Moving Toward a New Heaven and a New Earth

I was just musing that we have put the year 2009 to rest, we have begun a new year in 2010, and that means we are one year closer to the New Heaven and the New Earth being established by our King Jesus. Isn’t that totally exciting? Well, it is to me. So, I am going to live this next year with the vision of being a blessing to others because I am blessed. Hopefully, as I live this out, a little more of Heaven will be brought to earth.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ”See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Revelation 21:1-5 NRSV

This vision is my guiding hope. It is this vision I put my hope in as I wait patiently in faith for it to arrive. It is this vision that inspires me to be a blessing to others because if this is what my King is doing, if he is making all things new, then I am motivated to join him in the process.

My vision for 2010 is to follow Jesus in making all things new. I am not one hundred percent sure what all this entails, but I am looking forward to the journey. Whatever it does consist of, I am sure it will have something to do with hanging out with those others may consider to be a menace to society. I am sure Jesus will lead me to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, and clothe the naked. I pray I will have the tenacity and fortitude to follow him in doing these things.

I ask you to join me as we both join Christ in the restoration of His creation.

What about Heaven and Hell?

Is heaven real? Yes. Is hell real? Yes.

Heaven is a dimension where God lives. A spiritual dimension that is all around us. We can’t see it, and we cannot fully engage in it. Yet, it is real. Heaven is not a place that is a million miles away where God is sitting on a throne looking down at us. God is here living among and with us and even in us, though we do not completely with all of our being encounter Him and His Kingdom.

Heaven is where God is, and it is where God’s will is being done. It is all around us. It is surrounding us. God is omnipresent. His Spirit is everywhere. We get glimpses of Heaven when we see someone healed or see someone come to put their trust in Christ and begin to live with Him as their leader. Heaven is here all around us. We cannot fully participate in it yet, but Jesus has brought it near. Remember, Jesus said, “Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near” (or is at hand).

In the present, we live in the tension that Heaven has arrived and has been inaugurated; however, it is not fully here. We live in the present where the past (the coming of the Kingdom with Jesus) kisses the future (the full recreation, consummation, the New Heaven coming to the New Earth, and the establishment of the New Jerusalem). This is where we reside. We long to fully experience Heaven, which is all around us, but we can only partially engage with it; yet, the hope of the future experience of Heaven awaits us, and this hope gives us the courage to push forward in faith working in love to co-operate with God in the present to bring Heaven to earth. In essence, we become God’s agents to bring about the recreation of the entire cosmos. Those who choose to join Christ in bringing Heaven to earth in the Present will live with God in the New Heaven and the New Earth in the future consummation.

Those who choose to live with Christ now will live with Him in the future.

Hell is another dimension where God is not. A dimension where God’s will is not being done at all. It is the complete opposite of Heaven where God is and His will is done. Hell is complete separation from God, and because of this separation it is Hell. A place of darkness, suffering, and agony. A place were narcissistic people try to satisfy their selfish desires by feeding on other narcissistic people. Hell can be experienced on earth in a similar way as Heaven, though it cannot be fully experienced at this time. People around the world are suffering, starving, sick, and being treated unjustly. Sin reigns in the hearts of many, and nations war against nations. Unbridled consumerism and materialism are the fastest growing religions that entire countries are bowing down to. Due to this stampeding greed, marginalized people are being exploited and treated in inhumane ways. People of all cultures and religions are blinded to the truth of the Gospel, even some of those who call themselves Christian.

This is but a small example of the Hell that is on earth; however, as terrible as these things are, they do not compare to the full expression of Hell. Those who choose to disregard the way of Heaven in the present will live in Hell in the future, when Christ comes back to judge the living and the dead and to fully establish His Kingdom with the New Heaven and the New Earth.

Those who choose to live without God now will continue to live without Him in the future.

So, we as Christians bring Heaven to earth in the present, and by doing so, we co-operate with God to bring the full expression of His Kingdom at the close of history. We do this as we live out our calling of being blessed to be a blessing. Being a blessing to others through the power of the Holy Spirit actually reduces the impact of Hell in the present, and eventually, as we move toward the full consummation of God’s creation, Hell will be completely erased from His creation, and there will be no expression of Hell in the New Heaven and the New Earth. This is the exciting news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God had its D-Day in the arrival of Jesus, and through His people the Holy Spirit expands the Kingdom until the final day of victory.

Want you join the call to be blessed to be a blessing? The Kingdom of Heaven awaits you!