Suffering: Could God have created a place where there was no suffering? Part 4

This is Part 4 of 4 parts answering the question, “Could God have created a place where there was no suffering?” in the larger question, “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” This concludes this chapter.

God Has a Higher Purpose in Suffering

But by allowing suffering God has a greater good in mind! He is able to show that even in the worst of situations He is able to take the difficult sufferings of life and “synergize them together” for His purposes, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”(Rom 8:28 NKJ) In the same way as many of the heroes of faith never saw the promise made to them in their time, we may not see the good worked out in life, but the promise would be given to them in eternity. For example, Abraham never saw the city God promised him,

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Suffering: Could God have created a place where there was no suffering? Part 3

This is Part 3 of 4 parts answering the question, “Could God have created a place where there was no suffering?” in the larger question, “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” Part 4 will be posted tomorrow.

God Did Create a Place Where There Was No Suffering

Could God have created a place where there was no suffering? The answer is a simple, “Yes, He did.” We know that the world was made perfect, because six times, after each day of creation, God said “it was good.”  (Gen. 1:4,10,12,18,21,25) And as God looked at all He had created at the end of the sixth day, He said that “it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31). God rested on the seventh day (Gen. 2:2; Ex. 20:10). Stephen Bramer highlighted,

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Suffering: Could God have created a place where there was no suffering? Part 2

This is Part 2 of 4 parts answering the question, “Could God have created a place where there was no suffering?” in the larger question, “How can a loving God allow suffering?”  Parts 3-4 will be posted in the following days.

God Desired to Receive Love from Man

God also desired to receive love from man.  To test his love, God gave him only one command in the Garden of Eden, “Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” That was a very simple choice to show his loyal love to God, but Adam failed the test by eating of the forbidden fruit.

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Suffering: Could God have created a place where there was no suffering? Part 1

This is Part 1 of 4 parts answering the question, “Could God have created a place where there was no suffering?” in the larger question, “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” Parts 2-4 will be posted in the following days.

Now that we’ve examined many different ways that people suffer and looked at man’s way of dealing with suffering, we’ve begun to look at reasons why it exists. We’ve asked the question, again, of how and why a loving God would allow suffering and briefly looked at His character. Yet, we should also ask the question, “Could God have created a place where there is no suffering?” And, we should ask, “If He is God, all-powerful, all-knowing and loving, why didn’t He just create a world where there would be no suffering?” Those are two different questions. They seem alike, but they are very different.

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Suffering: Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows? Part 5

This is Part 5 of 5 parts answering the question, “Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows?” of the larger question, “Why does a loving God allow suffering?”

God’s Judgment on Satan

When Satan thought those things in his heart, God cast him out of heaven and the most likely place is what Scripture says. Isaiah recorded,

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Suffering: Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows? Part 4

This is Part 4 of 5 parts answering the question, “Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows?” in the larger question, “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” Part 5 will be posted tomorrow.

Satan was Created Perfect, But He Sinned

But then Satan sinned. He was perfect (that is without sin or rebellion), until he sinned, “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you.” (Ezek. 28:15) What was the iniquity? the book of Isaiah has the answer.

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Suffering: Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows? Part 3

This is Part 3 of 5 parts answering the question, “Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows?” the larger question, “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” Parts 4 and 5 will be posted in the next two days.

Suffering Began Because of Satan

When God created the earth in Genesis 1 and 2, everything – man, animals and plants – was very good according to Him (Gen. 1:31). But where and how did this one animal, the serpent, who deceived Eve and instigated the fall, get into the Garden? Stephen Bramer wrote,

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Suffering: Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows? Part 2

This is Part 2 of 5 parts answering the question, “Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows?” in the larger question, “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” Parts 3 through 5 will be posted on succeeding days.

The Beginning Began Before Man (cont.)

God asked them if they were around when He created the earth? Were they part of the architects or builders of the foundation? The answers were a resounding, “No!” And then God added verse seven, “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” The term “morning stars” (plural) is found only once in all of Scripture. The term “morning star” (singular) is only found three times. In two of the passages it refers to Jesus Christ (2 Pet. 1:19; Rev. 22:16) and in one other passage it is used as a reward for the believer in the church age who overcomes and keeps the Lord’s work until the end (Rev. 2:28). The term “morning stars” is set in parallelism with “sons of God.”

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Suffering: Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows? Part 1

This is Part 1 of 5 parts answering the question, “Who is the one who started the suffering that God allows?” in the large question “Why does a loving God allow suffering?” Parts 2 through 5 will be posted in the next four days.

Whenever you deal with a situation, it’s often best to go back to the beginning to understand it. For example, if you want to understand why there are so many references to God carved into public buildings at our Nation’s Capitol, you don’t interview people on the street to find the answer. You go back to documents and paintings that were made at the time of the beginning of the United States of America. Any objective historian will see document after document written by our founding fathers who had the deepest respect for God and the Bible. That is why there are so many pictures in the United States Capital building of patriots who are holding a Bible, involved in prayer and even conducting a baptism. That is why our nation was richly blessed as a beacon of hope to the world in the first two hundred years, because God was at the center of this nation’s history.

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Suffering: How great is the suffering that God allows? Part 3

This is Part 3 of 3 parts answering the question, “How great is the suffering that God allows?” in the larger question, “Why does a loving God allow suffering?”

Jesus’ Death On the Cross was the Ultimate Example of Suffering

By the time Jesus was on the cross, He had already suffered in many ways. He had endured six illegal civil and religious trials during the (sleepless) night before. He then went through the brutal persecution and torture from the Roman soldiers. They beat a crown of thorns into His skull (Mark 15: 16-22). They thrashed His body with a cat-o-nine-tails (which was a leather whip with many pieces of metal and bone woven into the leather straps). After mocking Him with a purple robe and bowing down to Him, he carried His cross part of the way to Golgotha, before He collapsed from exhaustion. But He never opened His mouth through this (Is. 53:7).

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