The sickness and death of a loved one often causes those who are closest to them to doubt God. They may ask questions like:“Why does God allow suffering and death?” “How come awful things seem to happen to the best of people?” We cannot completely answer these questions, for we really do not know the answers. However, we can come to a better understanding of these questions, by going back to the beginning of time. God created a perfect world and placed Adam and Eve in a perfect Garden.
Suffering, death and the doubts that follow.
By: Joshua Busby
Adam and Eve were not robots. God gave them a free will, which gave them the power to choose between right and wrong. I read this phrase in an article somewhere, “God could have made us pre-programmed slaves who did everything he said and if he pulled a string, we would say I love you.” But that is not what God wanted. He wanted humanity to love and serve him with out of their free will choice.
In keeping to his plan to allow humanity a choice to love him and obey him, he gave Adam and Eve one commandment. He told them that they could eat, without restraint, of any tree in the Garden. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were forbidden. As we continue to read in the beginning chapters of Genesis, Satan came and tempted them to eat of the forbidden tree. Adam and Eve made the choice to disobey God and eat of the tree.There choice to rebel and disobey God brought sin into the world and a curse upon the earth and humanity from generation to generation. Sin brought: physical and spiritual death (which is eternity separated from God in Hell), sickness, disease, natural disaster and all of the wickedness we see in our world today. Our world is still feeling the affects of sin to day. We all will die, we all get colds, we all have frequent snow and rain storms. People still murder, lie cheat and steal.
As we read through the pages of the Bible and of history; God has always been reaching out to his fallen creation with his mercy, grace, and love. He saved eight people who would listen from the global destruction of the flood. He brought the Israelites out of the bondage of Egypt (where they were slaves) and he still saves sinners today through the death of his only begotten son on the cross two-thousand years ago. God has not left us to live alone for a few short years in this world of sin, sickness and disease, to then burn in Hell forever. He provided a way out, which is through faith in his son and what he did on the cross. We no longer have to burn in hell because of our sins; they are paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ. All we have to do is ask God for it.
Why doesn’t God just clean this world up or take us out of here to be with him? That’s a good question. I really do not know the answer myself. We are forgiven for our sins the moment we trust in Jesus, but we are still surrounded by the scars of sin in our world and in our lives. One day, and I believe it to be soon, God will create a new heaven and a new earth for believers to all enjoy. There will then be no more tears, sickness, death and disease. It will be a perfect world like God intended for it to be when he first created it. Satan’s power will be taken from him forever and he will be totally defeated and powerless.
I end with this taught from the Apostle Paul. Romans 8:18, “For I reckon ”consider” that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” We may get sick, we may suffer and we will all die in this world, but it’s not anything when compared to the glory that awaits all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ: a new body, a new heaven and a new Earth.
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