Why Does God Allow Suffering?
Christianity’s Biggest Questions • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Opening Comments
Opening Comments
Please journey with me in your copy of God’s Word to Romans 12:1–2 (Pg.891) as we continue our series, “Christianity’s Biggest Questions.”
This morning we come to one of the hardest questions people ask.
Why does God allow suffering?
I think this may be the question I get asked the most as a pastor.
It’s asked often when people are at their lowest point dealing with pain, loss, grief and sickness. And it’s one of the strongest objections people raise against Christianity.
Let’s endeavor to answer it together from the pages of God’s Word this morning from a text that at first glance might make you scratch your head.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Introduction
Introduction
There is something in every one of us that knows the world is not as it should be.
We see a child suffer, and something in us says, “This is not right.”
We stand beside a casket, and realize death is our greatest enemy.
We hear about abuse, disease, tragedy, violence, betrayal, and loss, and we know this world is deeply broken.
Suffering is personal. We attach it to the names and faces of people we love. We can see and feel its mark in our wounds and scars.
That’s why it often becomes a pressure test for what we believe about God.
To answer this question biblically, our text takes us to the only place strong enough to bear up under the weight of those questions: “the mercies of God.”
That is where the Christian life is anchored. But if we are going to anchor there when suffering comes, we need to answer the questions that suffering raises.
Why does suffering exist?
Does suffering make God evil?
How do we keep from thinking wrongly about God when life hurts?
So let’s begin where Scripture begins.
1.) Suffering exists because the world is broken.
1.) Suffering exists because the world is broken.
A. God made the world good, but sin brought brokenness into it.
To answer the question of suffering, we must go back to the very beginning of creation
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
The world was not created broken. God made man and woman to live under His rule, in His presence, enjoying His goodness.
Everything in creation was ordered under the authority of God, and as long as man lived under that authority, there was everlasting life.
If we flip forward to Genesis 3 we will see that man failed to do exactly that when they gave into the temptation of the serpent.
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—
Adam and Eve’s sin fractured the whole created order.
Because of their sin, a curse was brought into the world.From that point on:
The woman would experience pain in childbearing.
The marriage relationship would be marked by conflict.
The ground would be cursed so that work would become painful toil.
And eventually death would come for all mankind and they would return to the dust from which he came.
We still live in that fallen and sin cursed world today.
B. Not all suffering is tied to personal sin.
All suffering exists because sin has broken the world, but not all suffering is the direct result of someone’s personal sin.
Illustration: Job's Friends
Jesus corrected that kind of thinking.
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
There are times when suffering is connected to personal sin. Sin has consequences. Foolish choices can bring painful results.
But we should be slow to assign blame to a suffering person.
Sometimes suffering is connected to our own sin or the sin of someone else but often it is simply the sorrow of living in a world under the curse.
Only God sees perfectly which is which, it’s not our job to figure out why others our suffering.
C. A broken world shows us our need for mercy.
That brings us back to Romans 12.
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God,…
Paul begins with “the mercies of God” because mercy is what sinners in a broken world need.
We can’t reverse the fall and keep death away. No matter how hard we try there is no way we can fix what sin has broken.
But mercy has come to us in Christ. Jesus entered this broken world, suffered, died, and rose again to begin the work of undoing what sin has done.
Suffering exists because the world is broken. But that raises the next question.
If God allows suffering in a world He could stop, does that make Him evil?
2.) Suffering does not make God evil.
2.) Suffering does not make God evil.
The argument usually goes something like this:
If God is good, He would want to stop evil.
If God is all-powerful, He would be able to stop evil.
But evil and suffering still exist. Therefore, God must not be good, or He must not be powerful, or He must not exist.
The problem with that line of thinking is that it puts us on equal footing with God and assumes we would understand and approve of the mind of God. But we are not God, and He is not beholden to us.
We only have partial sight.
We see the suffering in front of us, but God sees the beginning from the end.
We feel the pain in the moment, but God knows every purpose He is accomplishing, every evil He will judge, every mercy He is showing, and every wrong He will one day make right.
The fact that we call evil “evil” points to God.
If there is no God, evil becomes very hard to explain. Because on what basis do we call something truly evil? Moral Outrage?
Moral outrage assumes a moral standard above us. Christianity says God is good, holy, and just, and evil is whatever opposes His character and will.
A. God is never guilty of evil.
17 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.
There is no darkness, injustice, or cruelty in God. Whatever God allows, He remains holy, righteous, and good.
What makes it hard to comprehend is that we can’t always see how His goodness and our suffering fit together.
Because of that, we need more than our own ability to interpret painful circumstances. We need God to show us what He is like.
And if we want to know what God is like, we look at Jesus because God’s character is revealed in Him.
How did Jesus respond to evil?
He moved with compassion.
He touched lepers and healed them.
He welcomed sinners.
He wept at the tomb of Lazarus and then brought him back to life.
God’s character is revealed in His son, our ability to understand Him.
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B. God can govern evil and use it for good.
One of the clearest examples is Joseph.
Joseph was hated by his brothers, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery, taken down into Egypt, falsely accused, and forgotten in prison. But God raised Him up to the second in command in all of Egypt and used Him to save the world from famine inclusing his family.
Years later, Joseph looked back and could say
20 As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
Joseph could see looking back that God was working through what his brothers meant for evil.
The clearest example of this is the cross.
23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
Notice, Peter says two things at the same time.
Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.
And Jesus was crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
Both things are true at the same time.
God was sovereign over the cross, and wicked and evil men were guilty for the cross.
But through that real evil, God was accomplishing redemption.
The cross shows us that God can allow what is evil, judge it as evil, hold sinners responsible for it, and still accomplish what is good.
If God can take the worst evil ever committed and use it to save sinners, then He can be trusted with the suffering we do not understand.
So suffering does not make God evil. The cross shows us that God is holy, merciful, and sovereign over what we cannot understand.
But suffering still creates a battle in the mind. When life hurts, we are tempted to think wrongly about God, about ourselves, and about the world.
3.) Suffering must be viewed through a renewed mind.
3.) Suffering must be viewed through a renewed mind.
Look again at verse 2.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,…
A. Suffering pressures us to think wrongly about God.
The world teaches us to judge everything by what we can see and feel.
That kind of mindset takes the suffering in front of us and uses it to define the God above us.
If life hurts, God must not be good.
If prayer is not answered the way we hoped, God must not care.
If evil seemingly goes unanswered, God must not be in control.
If suffering continues, faith must not be reasonable.
That’s why the mind has to be renewed because our though process is tainted.
B. The renewed mind looks at suffering through what God has revealed.
The renewed mind begins with what God has revealed.
It knows God is good, and He made the world good.
Suffering exists because sin has broken the world.
It trusts God’s providence when He does not answer prayer the way we hoped.
It remembers God will judge every evil.
The renewed mind looks to Christ, who suffered, died, and rose again. Our faith rests on His victory over sin, suffering, and death.
Those truths keep suffering from becoming ultimate.
16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.
17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,
18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
Paul could say that because his mind had been shaped by eternity. He could look at affliction and call it momentary because he was looking at it compared to glory. He could view the wasting away of the body and still not lose heart because he knew the inner man was being renewed.
That is what renewed thinking does. It looks beyond what is painful now to what God has promised forever.
C. The renewed mind learns to trust the will of God.
Paul goes on to say that by this renewing of the mind we may discern what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God
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2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
There are painful things God allows that we would never have chosen. And yet Paul says the will of God is good and acceptable and perfect.
That does not mean every painful thing is good in itself.
Abuse is evil. Death is an enemy. Sin is sin. Grief is grief.
The Bible never asks us to call darkness light.
But God’s will is good because God is good.
His wisdom never fails.
His mercy is never absent.
His purposes are never cruel.
His final end for His people is glory.
The renewed mind learns to trust that even when God’s will is painful, it is never careless.
Even when His providence is mysterious, it is never meaningless.
Even when we cannot explain what He allowed, we can rest in what He has revealed.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Since we now know that God is not evil and that suffering exists in this world because of the presence of sin, how do we respond?
1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Paul’s appeal is simple. In view of the mercies of God, offer yourself to Him.
Your suffering, your pain, your grief, your unanswered questions, your wounded heart; bring it all to Him and lay it at His feet in worship.
That may be the hardest act of worship you ever offer.
To say, “Lord, I do not understand, but I trust You.”
To say, “Lord, I would not have chosen this, but I know You are good.”
To say, “Lord, I cannot fix this, but I belong to You.”
Some of us are carrying fresh and seemingly unbearable grief even today.
Romans 12 calls us to bring that pain to God. Lay it before the Lord and say, “In view of Your mercies, I offer myself to You.”
I know one day You will judge evil.
I know death does not have the final word.
I know there will be a resurrection.
I hurt now, but I know You will wipe away every tear.
This world is broken, but I rest in Your promise to make all things new.
Until then, I will stand on Your mercies.
Invitation
Invitation
Oh how our broken selves need Christ’s mercies in this broken world.
If you are here without Christ, bring Him your sin, your guilt, your questions, and your suffering. He is the crucified and risen Savior, and He can save your soul today.
Christian, bring Him the grief you do not know how to carry. Bring Him the diagnosis you fear. Bring Him the empty crib, the empty chair, the hospital room, the graveside, the ache that has no words.
Do not carry it alone. Lay it at His feet.
And say, “Lord, in view of Your mercies, I offer myself to You.”
I do not understand, but I trust You.
I cannot fix this, but I belong to You.
I hurt now, but I know You will wipe away every tear.
Until then, I will stand on Your mercies.
Prayer:
Prayer:
Father,
We come to You in view of Your mercies this world is broken by sin, and sp are we. We need Christ’s mercy.
For anyone here without Christ, open their eyes to see Jesus as the crucified and risen Savior. Call them to turn from sin and trust Him today.
For those carrying grief, sickness, fear, and pain, help them lay it at Your feet. Teach us to say, “Lord, I do not understand, but I trust You.”
Renew our minds by Your truth. Help us stand on Your mercies until the day You wipe away every tear and make all things new.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
