The Problem of Pain and Suffering

One of the major roadblocks to faith for many comes from the issue involving the presence of evil and pain in the world. The problem of evil has caused several to question the power, presence, love, and sovereignty of God. Many find themselves asking if God is as good as what the Bible portrays Him to be, why does He not do anything in response to the problem of evil? These people may be shocked to discover that the Lord already has. The purpose of this study is to address the problem of evil and how God, through Jesus Christ, has given man an answer to the problem of evil, pain, and suffering. What is the problem of evil and suffering? People have the tendency to look to the problem of evil only after they see or experience some level of suffering. The question regarding the problem of evil often begins with an emotional outcry against what some may deem as unfair suffering. John Frame summarizes the problem of evil in the following way, “1. If God is omnipotent, he is able to control evil. 2. If God is good, he wants to prevent evil. 3. But evil exists. Conclusion: either God is not omnipotent, or he is not good.” When it comes to the problem of evil, it is often hard for many to separate feelings from fact. In the minds of most individuals, mankind is identified as inherently good. Practically no one would state that man is wicked or deserving of judgment but in order to appropriately answer the problem of evil, one must have the proper knowledge of man and of God. The answer to the problem of evil will ultimately come down to that which is true of man and that which is true of God. People often think of the problem of evil when confronted with some form of suffering and the reason that they often question God is because of how God is presented in Scripture. If they base their argument over how God is presented in Scripture, they must also address the other side of the coin. How is man presented in the Word of God? The problem of evil should first address whether or not man is good. If man is ultimately good, then the problem of suffering truly is a problem. If man is not good, then the cry against God’s justice and goodness is invalid because sin must be punished in order for God to be holy. God’s perfect love for man is never at odds with His perfect justice. What I want us to do tonight is try to address the problem of pain and suffering as one of the major roadblocks to faith. How do we justify the presence of evil in the world? For that question, I want us to look at what Peter writes in 1 Peter 4:12-19

1 Peter 4:12–19 ESV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

You are likely familiar with the problem of pain and suffering but if you are not, people question it in the following ways: If God is so good, why do bad things happen to good people? Or if God is so powerful why does He not stop evil and suffering from happening? Those are the questions that we are going to attack tonight. One of the Christian theologians that I admire the most is C.S. Lewis and he wrote an incredible book called, The Problem of Pain and in it, he recounts how before he came to Christ, one of the biggest hindrances to his belief in God was the problem of good and evil, or the problem of pain. He, like so many of us, felt compelled to ask, “why doesn’t God do anything about all this hurt that I am seeing?” Here is what Lewis wrote, “The race is doomed. Every race that comes into being in any part of the universe is doomed; for the universe, they tell us, is running down, and will sometime be a uniform infinity of homogenous matter at a lot temperature. All stories will come to nothing: all life will turn out in the end to have been a transitory and senseless contortion upon the idiotic face of infinite matter. If you ask me to believe that this is the work of a benevolent and omnipotent spirit, I reply that all the evidence points in the opposite direction. Either there is no spirit behind the universe, or else a spirit indifferent to good and evil, or else an evil spirit.” Lewis was right in a lot of ways; this world is filled with pain and problems. If God is so good, why doesn’t He do anything about all of this suffering? However, the answer to that question as we are going to see in a moment is that He already has.

What Questions are we Asking?

What is Peter saying in these verses? ? I think one of the most important things that he says is in verse 12 when he says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” Peter is asking, “guys why are you so surprised when bad things happen? Why do you look at the state of the world and wonder as to why these bad things seem to be happen?” Suffering in this world is bound to happen. You may have heard me say before that all you have to do is live long enough and you will suffer. Christianity is not our get out of suffering on this earth free card, it is however, our suffering is limited card. This does not mean that suffering is only allowed to go so far with us in terms of pain but we do know that our suffering does have an end date. Not only does Peter say that we shouldn’t be surprised by our trials or suffering, he says that we should rejoice in our sufferings! James says the same thing in James 1:2-3 when he writes, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” Way back in 1 Peter 1:6-7 Peter reminds us to rejoice in our sufferings. Peter 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.” Peter is saying, “Don’t you guys see it? Your sufferings and trials right now have a purpose! They aren’t meaningless, they aren’t surprising, they aren’t outside of God’s sovereign control, they are made to produce something of value in you and to result in praise, glory, and honor being given to Jesus Christ.” Peter then goes onto say that the suffering that we deal with on this earth is not because we ourselves are so vile and wicked but because suffering is natural and some suffering is connected to our relationship with Christ. Peter says in verse 14, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” To be counted worthy to be insulted for the glory of Jesus Christ is one of the highest honors that we could have. Our suffering as followers of Christ is not designed to make us feel ashamed, but is designed to give us cause to glory in our Savior. I believe that Peter summarizes all of his teaching on suffering in verse 19: “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” We will come back to this verse later on but let’s address the 2 questions that seem to make up the problem of pain. Do you remember what those 2 questions were? They tend to go something like this: If God is so good, why do bad things happen to good people? Or, if God is so powerful, why does He not do anything to stop suffering? If you have seen the movie, Batman Vs. Superman, you might remember that Lex Luther even brings this concept up. He doesn’t even pose a question, instead he just makes the statement of, “If God is all powerful, He can’t be all good. And if He is all good, He cannot be all powerful.” When it comes to the questions revolving the problem of evil, I would like to argue that we are asking the entirely wrong question. Voddie Bauchman really helped me to understand how we should approach these questions so I’ll borrow a lot from him. The question of, “If God is so good, why do bad things happen” is the wrong question to be asking. Let me propose another question: Knowing what the Bible says of sin, God’s holiness, God’s perfect justice, and man’s sinfulness, how is it that you and I can think the things that we think, do the things that we do, and say the things that we say and God does not strike us down in our sleep? The question should not be, “why does a perfectly good and just God allow bad things to happen to good people?” The question should be, “why does God allow good things to happen to anyone?” The problem with the problem of good and evil is that it assumes far too much of man and far too little of God. The problem assumes that we are morally perfect creatures but that is not true. The Bible says in Genesis 6:5, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” That is the state of mankind today. We are not creatures that have just a hint of sin in our lives, we are creatures that are totally enveloped by sin. Our hearts are so blackened towards God because of our sin. Who are we to look at the sovereign God of the Universe and say, “I could do your job better”? You see until you start asking the question in the way that I have just mentioned, “How is it that I can say the things I say and do the things I do and God not strike me down this very moment” you are asking the wrong question. Until you start asking the question in that way, you believe that there is something in yourselves or in some individuals that deserves something other than the wrath of God Almighty. How is it that we are alive today? Why has He not consumed me in His anger? Why can I continue to blaspheme His name amongst the earth? Why does God not bring His judgment on me now? When you ask the question in that way, then you understand the issue that we are addressing. The problem with the world today is that we have taken the approach to suffering that it is completely unwarranted. We have assumed that we are perfect little angels and that there are such a thing as good people in the world. The Bible is clear though that there are no good people in the world. Paul says in Romans 3:10-12, “As it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” Jesus says in Mark 10:18, “No one is good except God alone.” Isaiah 64:6 says, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.” Our problem is this: You aren’t good. You are very bad. How bad are you? Paul Washer said that you are so bad and so wicked that if you are not a follower of Christ, the very first thing that you will hear as you take your first step into hell is all of heaven rejoicing and praising God because He has rid the earth of you. That is how bad you are. God’s attributes can never cancel out or override another attribute. This means that God’s perfect love is never at odds with His perfect justice. God cannot overlook sin; therefore, sin must be punished. It can either be punished in you or out of His infinite grace, He can punish your sin in His Son. The cross is our answer to the question: Why has God not done anything about suffering?

What has God done with Suffering?

We can never accuse God of taking a passive approach to suffering. The cross of Jesus Christ is our evidence that God sees suffering and has done something about it and the empty tomb is our evidence that God is all-powerful, even over death and suffering. Paul says in Colossians 2:13-15 “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.” Not only did the death and resurrection of Jesus take away the ultimate weapons that Satan has, Christ’s death and resurrection allows us to see Christ triumphing over sin, death, and suffering. If God were powerless to do anything about suffering, that doesn’t explain how He rose again. If God were uncaring to us in our suffering, that wouldn’t explain why He would suffer on our behalf. One of the greatest truths that we have in our arsenal is knowing that God is not indifferent towards our sufferings but He is with us in our sufferings. Not only is He with us in our sufferings; He Himself has suffered! Tim Keller said, “Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire.“ God sees suffering in this world, He sees the impact of sin and He has done something about it, He is doing something about it, and He ultimately will do something about it. He had a plan in eternity past, He implemented the plan through the death and resurrection of Christ, and He will ultimately conclude that plan when He makes all things new. To say that God does nothing in regards to suffering is to say that He did nothing on Calvary’s Hill. It is because Christ suffered, bled, and died that we can have the hope that all suffering will one day end and the problem of pain will ultimately be answered. I shared this story during the first service a couple of weeks ago about Donald Grey Barnhouse, the former pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Years ago, Barnhouse lost his wife to cancer and he was left with 3 children under the age of 12. As the family was driving to her funeral service, the Barnhouse’s passed a large truck that cast a large shadow over the car. Barnhouse saw his oldest daughter looking somberly out the window and he asked her the question, “Sweetie, would you rather be run over by the truth or by its shadow?” She looked confused and said, “By the shadow I guess, because it can’t hurt you.” Dr. Barnhouse said to her, “Your mother has not been overridden by death, but by the shadow of death. That is nothing to fear.” You see it is because Christ took the death that we deserve that all that we feel is the passing of death’s shadow. It is because Christ got hit by the truth of death that we can go through the shadow of death and suffering and not fear it. When it comes to how we handle suffering, we need to be able to hold onto 3 hopes: we need something to hope on in the past, something has to have been done that we can look back on. We need something to hope in and hold onto now as we suffer and we need something to hold onto in the future. When it comes to what we hold onto in the past, we hold onto what Christ went through. We hold onto what He suffered and we see that His suffering was not a result of sin but a result of His love. It is because Christ loves us that He suffers for us. He put off His immortality for mortality, He exchanged our death for His life. If God is willing to suffer on our behalf then, we have no reason to doubt that He is indifferent or unloving in our suffering now. That in a way is what we hold onto here and now. What we hold onto now is that our suffering is never for nothing. Peter says back in 1 Peter 1:6-7 “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.” We go through suffering now with the knowledge that as Christ relates to us in our suffering by suffering, we too relate to Him in His suffering on our behalf. We can look at the trials and pain that we are experiencing now as reminders that these things will not always be and that these trials have a purpose to build us up in Christ. Our sufferings now remind us that we cannot do this on our own. They remind us that just as we were powerless to save ourselves, we are ultimately powerless to do anything about sin and suffering. We cannot ignore the reality of suffering anymore than you can ignore the sun on a hot day. You can act like it is not there but you will still feel the influence of it. C.S. Lewis said, “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” We as Christians are the only people in the world who can look at present suffering and see a purpose behind it. Unbelievers will say that suffering is only a result of chaos and an unloving or absent God but we can see the sufferings of this world and see that God is there. We will talk about that more in a few minutes. Finally we need something to hope for in the future. What is our hope in life and death? That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death— to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. Our great hope, our blessed hope as it is referred to in Titus 2 is found perhaps most clearly in Revelation 21:1-7

Revelation 21:1–7 ESV

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, 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, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

One of the best moments in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings comes in Return of the King when Samwise Gamgee, the best character in the entire series by the way, finds Gandalf and he thought that Gandalf was dead but once he finds him, Sam says, “Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue?” That is what God will ultimately do with pain and suffering. He will ultimately make all things that are sad untrue. C.S. Lewis said, “Some say of some temporal suffering, “No future bliss can make up for it,” not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.” So, we have a hope to look back on, a hope to hold onto, and a hope to look ahead for. When we look at suffering in the world, we cannot see it as something that disproves the existence of God but we can look at it as something that supports the existence of God. How does that work? When you see people suffering, why do you feel bad for them? If you were to go to other places in the world and see some of the ways that people are suffering, would your heart break for them? Imagine going to Nepal in India and going into a restaurant and seeing an 11-year-old girl that is being prostituted out through child sex trafficking. Imagine seeing children dying from diarrhea because they don’t have access to life saving medicine that we take for granted. Why do you feel bad for them? If we are to believe the evolutionary mindset of survival of the fittest, we shouldn’t have any reason for feeling bad for them because we are surviving. If we are to believe in evolution, we should look at the suffering of others as a good thing because it shows that we are stronger, better, healthier, and survivors. How could any of us look in the face of a suffering child and be happy that they are in that condition? We shouldn’t be! I believe that the reason that we can look at suffering and feel angry towards it is because we know that each and every one of us is made in the image of God. We know that there is something wrong in the world and that wrong is sin. Some might argue, how is it then that we can look at all those wrongs and feel something but God doesn’t seem to do anything about it? Well, I would argue back, what have you done about it? What have you done to combat suffering in this world, what have you done to love your neighbor, when you’ve seen people thirsty or hungry or naked, what have you done for them? Could you not be the answer to the problem? Why does it seem like we are only aware of God’s presence when suffering is in our face? Anytime we see a plane explode in the sky killing hundreds of people, we ask, “where was God in this? Why would He allow this to happen?” But at the same time, how is it that a hundred thousand planes can land safely every day and no one thanks God that He has allowed this to happen? Each day God provides millions of mechanical, natural, and personal factors to work together perfectly to keep planes in the air and most of the people in those planes neglect God every single day? John Piper says, “The world and even thousands of Christians give no praise and thanks to God for millions of daily, life-sustaining providences because they do not see the world as the theater of God’s wonders. They see it as a vast machine running on mindless natural laws, except where our heart’s rebelliousness and self-exaltation find a suitable opportunity to find fault with God and justify our blindness to a billion acts of kindness toward his defiant creation.” Every day we should be reminded that God is sovereign over all things and that includes the deep things of suffering.

Suffering and the Sovereignty of God

Peter says, “Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” What this means is that suffering bows before the throne of God. God says to suffering, “you may go this far but no further” and suffering obeys. In the book of Job, God tells Satan that he is only allowed to do so much and Satan is powerless to go pass that point. If we are suffering according to God’s will, we know that suffering has not escaped His caring eyes. We know that this suffering is only momentary and that God does have a plan for it. There is nothing that can happen to anyone that God has not allowed to occur. This is not to say that God brings forth evil but that God prevents the one that is evil from stepping outside of God’s jurisdiction. We look at the story of Job and we see Satan coming to God saying, do this and Job will curse you and God allows those things to happen but what we need to notice is that all that happens, God must first approve. God says you can afflict Job with this but you will not kill him. Satan is not sovereign, God alone is sovereign over all things. The problem of evil is a stumbling block for many. The God of the universe has not left man without an answer to that problem. God definitely answered the problem of pain, evil, and suffering through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. While man may not have all of the answers that they like in response to the presence of evil and suffering now, God promises to put an end to all pain totally in the future. It is in this hope that believers throughout time have been able to find hope through pain and suffering.