Why Do Innocent People Suffer? (2)
Wednesday February 26, 2014
WHY DO INNOCENT PEOPLE SUFFER? (2)
God never intended that we would know evil, let alone experience it. God created humans, placed them in a beautiful garden, gave them freedom to enjoy everything they found, with one exception – they were not to eat from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person. Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.” (Genesis 2:8-9, 15-17 NLT) God wanted humans who would freely choose to live in loving relationship with Him and with each other. In order for that to be a reality He had to give humans the ability to make free choices. God alone is all-knowing. Humans can know some things but their knowledge will always be limited. God wanted humans to trust His infinite knowledge so they wouldn’t make mistakes based on their own limited information. It’s a little like a parent telling a young child not to touch a hot stove with their finger. The parent is not being unkind. The parent is seeking to prevent injury and to protect the child from harm which the child doesn’t realize exists if they should touch the hot burner.
Unfortunately, the first humans Adam and Eve, were deceived by the evil one and they ate from the tree of “the knowledge of good and evil” and their understanding of evil things was opened. Lifestyles of brokenness resulted for them and all their descendants. Murder, violence, sexual assault, greed and so many other sinful behaviours began to be evident in human relationships. Wickedness has continued in mankind from that time to the present day.
Why do innocent human beings suffer? With their limited information, human beings often make bad choices which result in harm to themselves and others. Is God powerless to stop this evil and the suffering that results? Listen to how Jesus responded when told of disasters.
Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:1-5 NIV) Repent or you too will perish is the advice Jesus gave to the crowd.
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