Over the next two or three months we are going to be looking at one of the most basic struggles people face in their Christian lives, as well as one of the commonest objections to the Christian God: If God is good, loving and all powerful, why does he allow such suffering in the world. This month we will look at how human suffering came into the world, then we will go on to look at what the Bible tell us about what God and suffering, as well as what He has provided to equip us to live in this world of sorrows.
The Origins of Suffering
The Bible tells us that when God created Adam and Eve He placed them in the Garden of Eden. The Hebrew word for "garden" is “gan”, "a plot of ground protected by a wall or a hedge.” God placed them in this paradise to protect them from all harm but He also placed both the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the midst of the garden. He did not create them as robots programmed to “love” Him and obey Him. He gave them a genuine option of living independently of Him, of rejecting His love and of not trusting Him. Now you may wonder why God didn’t put the tree of the knowledge of good and evil on top of a cliff, or somewhere even more inaccessible, if its fruit was so dangerous. However it was not the fruit itself that was dangerous, it was what it symbolised: the knowledge of good and evil. Obviously, God had already given Adam and Eve a knowledge of good and evil, because they knew that it would be good not to eat from that tree, and it would be evil to eat of it. The only “problem” about this was that this definition of good and evil was God’s definition. Even before the fall, Adam and Eve had to walk by faith and not by sight, trusting in their heavenly Father’s definition of good and evil and not trying to define it for themselves.
Think for a moment about the goodness and generosity of God. Adam and Eve were created with a natural inclination and desire only to do good, (unlike us) and had the willpower to never sin too (unlike us). Obeying God wasn’t a hardship, a drudge or an irksome duty. It was what they were created to do and it would be a joy to do it. And think of the liberty they had. They only had a couple of commands that they had to obey: ““Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” (Genesis 1:28) and “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17). Notice how God generously emphasised the freedom He was giving them, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden.” before giving one simple restriction. That meant that they had the right to eat of the tree of life any time they wanted to!
When Satan appeared in the form of a serpent to tempt them, he told them a lie and a half-truth: ““You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”” (Genesis 3:4–5). The lie was that they would not die and yet they did. However, the half truth that Satan exploited should have been obvious to Adam and Eve: If it is God who defined good and evil, then anyone who can define good and evil for themselves and others must also be a god. That meant that they would have to reject God’s definition of good and evil and make up their own definition for themselves. Of course, a half-truth is always a whole lie. The reality is that only our infinitely wise, all knowing God is competent to define good and evil. When we set ourselves up as a false god, we bring all the disappointments and suffering that false gods always bring to those that rely on them.
Adam was what theologians call a “covenant head”, just as Moses, David, the Hebrew kings were, and Jesus was too. In other words, they were not private individuals. They were representatives of groups of people. This is how the world continues to work. When Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany in 1939, he was representing the entire nation, not just the Conservatives who voted for him. He was representing everyone in Britain, including all the Labour and Liberal voters, all the pacifists, even all the fascists like Oswald Mosley, whether they liked it or not. Neville Chamberlain was an imperfect man, who was the imperfect choice of imperfect people. However, Adam was a perfect man, chosen by a perfect God to represent the whole of humanity. When he “went to war” with God, he brought everyone he was representing (i.e., the entire human race) into “warfare" with God.
As Paul puts it like this, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men… the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men... through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners,” (Romans 5:11–12, 18-19). Paul goes on to tell us about how this actually works out in the lives of individuals, “The mind of sinful man is death… the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” (Romans 8:6–8). That is the tragedy of the human condition. We cannot rescue ourselves. Paul goes on to tell us about the effects of the fall on the rest of creation: "For the creation was subjected to frustration… [it is in] bondage to decay… the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time… “ (Romans 8:20-22). In other words, there is something profoundly wrong with the world. Our experience exactly matches the way the Bible describes the world.
It is because we live in a world where people are constantly trying to define what is good and evil independently of God that we live in a world full suffering from the emotional pain produced by adultery, betrayal, gossip and bitterness. No wonder Paul start Romans with the shocking words, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness… ” (Romans 1:18). God would have to be cruel, indifferent and unjust not to be angry about the anguish this sort of selfish behaviour causes. Yet, on top if this emotional pain, we also have to live in the midst of physical pain caused by disease, old age and disasters. We live in a world crying out for redemption, but thankfully our Redeemer has come. More about Him next month...
Think for a moment about the goodness and generosity of God. Adam and Eve were created with a natural inclination and desire only to do good, (unlike us) and had the willpower to never sin too (unlike us). Obeying God wasn’t a hardship, a drudge or an irksome duty. It was what they were created to do and it would be a joy to do it. And think of the liberty they had. They only had a couple of commands that they had to obey: ““Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” (Genesis 1:28) and “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17). Notice how God generously emphasised the freedom He was giving them, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden.” before giving one simple restriction. That meant that they had the right to eat of the tree of life any time they wanted to!
When Satan appeared in the form of a serpent to tempt them, he told them a lie and a half-truth: ““You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”” (Genesis 3:4–5). The lie was that they would not die and yet they did. However, the half truth that Satan exploited should have been obvious to Adam and Eve: If it is God who defined good and evil, then anyone who can define good and evil for themselves and others must also be a god. That meant that they would have to reject God’s definition of good and evil and make up their own definition for themselves. Of course, a half-truth is always a whole lie. The reality is that only our infinitely wise, all knowing God is competent to define good and evil. When we set ourselves up as a false god, we bring all the disappointments and suffering that false gods always bring to those that rely on them.
Adam was what theologians call a “covenant head”, just as Moses, David, the Hebrew kings were, and Jesus was too. In other words, they were not private individuals. They were representatives of groups of people. This is how the world continues to work. When Neville Chamberlain declared war on Germany in 1939, he was representing the entire nation, not just the Conservatives who voted for him. He was representing everyone in Britain, including all the Labour and Liberal voters, all the pacifists, even all the fascists like Oswald Mosley, whether they liked it or not. Neville Chamberlain was an imperfect man, who was the imperfect choice of imperfect people. However, Adam was a perfect man, chosen by a perfect God to represent the whole of humanity. When he “went to war” with God, he brought everyone he was representing (i.e., the entire human race) into “warfare" with God.
As Paul puts it like this, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men… the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men... through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners,” (Romans 5:11–12, 18-19). Paul goes on to tell us about how this actually works out in the lives of individuals, “The mind of sinful man is death… the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.” (Romans 8:6–8). That is the tragedy of the human condition. We cannot rescue ourselves. Paul goes on to tell us about the effects of the fall on the rest of creation: "For the creation was subjected to frustration… [it is in] bondage to decay… the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time… “ (Romans 8:20-22). In other words, there is something profoundly wrong with the world. Our experience exactly matches the way the Bible describes the world.
It is because we live in a world where people are constantly trying to define what is good and evil independently of God that we live in a world full suffering from the emotional pain produced by adultery, betrayal, gossip and bitterness. No wonder Paul start Romans with the shocking words, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness… ” (Romans 1:18). God would have to be cruel, indifferent and unjust not to be angry about the anguish this sort of selfish behaviour causes. Yet, on top if this emotional pain, we also have to live in the midst of physical pain caused by disease, old age and disasters. We live in a world crying out for redemption, but thankfully our Redeemer has come. More about Him next month...
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