This question is the most painful one we can ask, it gets to the heart of who we are, how we feel, it unmasks our shattered hopes and dreams, our losses and grief. The great news is that the bible isn’t cold and clinical in its answer, we don’t find a chapter on suffering that dispassionately tells us ‘why?’ Instead we find the answer woven into the stories of God’s suffering people living in a suffering world, and most amazingly of all how it all leads to a suffering God redeeming a suffering world. As we walk through some of what the bible teaches on suffering, and this is by no means everything the bible says about it, we’re going to ask three questions: Why is there so much suffering? What has God done about it? And what difference does it make?
Why is there so much suffering in our world?
It’s a question everyone of us has to answer because all of us experiences suffering. It’s an inevitability of life. Why we think it is there will determine how we face it and live in and through it.
When you take something back to a shop the customer service advisor asks you what’s wrong with the product. What they’re actually trying to work out is; is it broken because of a manufacturing fault or because of misuse by the owner? You can take your iPad back if it is broken because the on button or speakers won’t work, but not if it’s broken because you decided to clean it by putting it through your dishwasher.
That question: ‘manufacturing fault or owner misuse?’ is a helpful one to ask when we think about suffering in the world. The book of Genesis opens by describing the universe God made. It’s beautiful and bountiful. God looks at it and declares that it’s “very good”. That doesn’t mean that if God were doing a survey, like we do rating our holiday destination, that God would give it 7/10. It doesn’t mean could be better. God looks at the world he’s made and sees a world that’s overflowing with provision, that’s marked by harmonious relationships, that’s without suffering, grief, arguments, miscommunication, pain, death. It’s a world where everything is in order, where there’s perfect balance, where each part is perfectly put together to bring joy. It’s a place of security, beauty, and plenty. Where humanity has joy filled relationship with one another, the world and with God.
That’s the world God made, that he declares very good. In part it explains why we feel it’s so wrong when we suffer. It’s why we feel so frustrated when our child comes home having been bullied, or we hear of the diagnosis of a friend, or stand at the bedside and then graveside of loved ones. We weren’t made for this, we were made to enjoy something much more and that longing lingers in each and every one of our hearts.
But that may be the world God created and we’d love to live in but it doesn’t describe the one we live in does it? And the Bible shows us how we got from there to here. In Genesis 3 we see that the pain and suffering in our world isn’t because of manufacturing error but because of owner misuse. God gives this amazing world into the care of men and women. He doesn’t just leave us to it but shares his wisdom on how to rule his world so we can enjoy it at its optimum, so that joy lasts as he intends, beautiful, bountiful and secure.
Imagine I buy a new car. That car comes with a manual, it tells me to keep the tyres inflated and regularly check them, top up the oil and coolant every month and put diesel in the fuel tank. Why are those instructions there? Is it because the manufacturer wants to restrict my enjoyment? Imagine I’m standing at a garage by the fuel pump. Now I know the manufacturer told me to put diesel in the car, but petrol is cheaper. ‘The manufacturer is just holding me back’, I think, ‘I want the freedom to choose which fuel I use, I want to decide right and wrong for myself.’ Whose fault is it when a few miles down the road the car breaks down? Mine.
God isn’t restrictive but loving. Yet when tempted to doubt God’s love and care humanity rejects God’s instructions on how to best enjoy his creation. Once the idea that God isn’t good and doesn’t love us but is simply holding us back takes root we’re free to ignore his word and decide for ourselves. The consequences of doubting God’s love and rejecting his word are all around us. The Bible calls that rejection of God’s love and his wisdom and relationship with him sin.
It’s sin that causes the suffering and pain we see around us. Sin causes anger, hatred, greed, violence, rape, famine, murder, terrorism and so on. Sin in our hearts accounts for much of the brokenness and suffering in the world.
But what about natural disasters? What about tsunami’s, earthquakes and the like? They show us that the world is broken, that it’s sin sick. When man rejected God it had consequences not just for us but for the world we live in, like a stone dropped in a puddle the ripples ripple out. One Bible writer describes the world as being in the pains of childbirth. The world is groaning because of the pain it feels because of sin. Telling us that there’s something wrong, that this isn’t paradise, it isn’t how it was meant to be. The universe still contains great beauty, giving us glimpses of what it was like in all its glory but it’s now just a shadow of what God intended it to be. But that pain isn’t pointless just like childbirth it’s leading us to something new.
Suffering and pain are a call to us, they highlight a problem; sin, a world out of relationship with God.
What has God done about it?
When you take something back to a shop the customer service advisor asks you what’s wrong with the product. What they’re actually trying to work out is; is it broken because of a manufacturing fault or because of misuse by the owner? You can take your iPad back if it is broken because the on button or speakers won’t work, but not if it’s broken because you decided to clean it by putting it through your dishwasher.
That question: ‘manufacturing fault or owner misuse?’ is a helpful one to ask when we think about suffering in the world. The book of Genesis opens by describing the universe God made. It’s beautiful and bountiful. God looks at it and declares that it’s “very good”. That doesn’t mean that if God were doing a survey, like we do rating our holiday destination, that God would give it 7/10. It doesn’t mean could be better. God looks at the world he’s made and sees a world that’s overflowing with provision, that’s marked by harmonious relationships, that’s without suffering, grief, arguments, miscommunication, pain, death. It’s a world where everything is in order, where there’s perfect balance, where each part is perfectly put together to bring joy. It’s a place of security, beauty, and plenty. Where humanity has joy filled relationship with one another, the world and with God.
That’s the world God made, that he declares very good. In part it explains why we feel it’s so wrong when we suffer. It’s why we feel so frustrated when our child comes home having been bullied, or we hear of the diagnosis of a friend, or stand at the bedside and then graveside of loved ones. We weren’t made for this, we were made to enjoy something much more and that longing lingers in each and every one of our hearts.
But that may be the world God created and we’d love to live in but it doesn’t describe the one we live in does it? And the Bible shows us how we got from there to here. In Genesis 3 we see that the pain and suffering in our world isn’t because of manufacturing error but because of owner misuse. God gives this amazing world into the care of men and women. He doesn’t just leave us to it but shares his wisdom on how to rule his world so we can enjoy it at its optimum, so that joy lasts as he intends, beautiful, bountiful and secure.
Imagine I buy a new car. That car comes with a manual, it tells me to keep the tyres inflated and regularly check them, top up the oil and coolant every month and put diesel in the fuel tank. Why are those instructions there? Is it because the manufacturer wants to restrict my enjoyment? Imagine I’m standing at a garage by the fuel pump. Now I know the manufacturer told me to put diesel in the car, but petrol is cheaper. ‘The manufacturer is just holding me back’, I think, ‘I want the freedom to choose which fuel I use, I want to decide right and wrong for myself.’ Whose fault is it when a few miles down the road the car breaks down? Mine.
God isn’t restrictive but loving. Yet when tempted to doubt God’s love and care humanity rejects God’s instructions on how to best enjoy his creation. Once the idea that God isn’t good and doesn’t love us but is simply holding us back takes root we’re free to ignore his word and decide for ourselves. The consequences of doubting God’s love and rejecting his word are all around us. The Bible calls that rejection of God’s love and his wisdom and relationship with him sin.
It’s sin that causes the suffering and pain we see around us. Sin causes anger, hatred, greed, violence, rape, famine, murder, terrorism and so on. Sin in our hearts accounts for much of the brokenness and suffering in the world.
But what about natural disasters? What about tsunami’s, earthquakes and the like? They show us that the world is broken, that it’s sin sick. When man rejected God it had consequences not just for us but for the world we live in, like a stone dropped in a puddle the ripples ripple out. One Bible writer describes the world as being in the pains of childbirth. The world is groaning because of the pain it feels because of sin. Telling us that there’s something wrong, that this isn’t paradise, it isn’t how it was meant to be. The universe still contains great beauty, giving us glimpses of what it was like in all its glory but it’s now just a shadow of what God intended it to be. But that pain isn’t pointless just like childbirth it’s leading us to something new.
Suffering and pain are a call to us, they highlight a problem; sin, a world out of relationship with God.
What has God done about it?
If God made a perfect world only to see it corrupted by sin what’s he done about it? There is a danger in looking at the world and thinking God is doing nothing and has done nothing. Even assuming that God doesn’t care and has just left us to it.
In John 11 we see something amazing. God isn’t indifferent, he’s not distant, here we see God alongside us suffering in the world. Jesus is God the Son made man, entering into the brokenness of the world, God experiencing pain and suffering just as we do. Here we see him at a friends funeral, surrounded by mourners, having just comforted the grieving sisters, he weeps(35). (38)Jesus approaches the tomb; “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.” That word “deeply moved” doesn’t do justice to how Jesus feels. The word actually means to bellow with anger. Jesus as he approaches his friends tomb isn’t overcome by uncontrollable grief but by irrepressible anger. What’s he angry at? The pain and suffering that death brings. He is angry at how sin and Satan have so twisted God’s good creation. Jesus, God the Son is furious at death and suffering, not God, because sin causes suffering. God hates sin and its effects more than we do.
But anger without action is useless isn’t it? What does Jesus do? As he approaches the tomb and calls them to take the stone away from the tomb Jesus is angry at death, outraged by sin and the devastation it causes, and at him who has the power of death. Jesus approaches Lazarus tomb as a champion going into battle. As he prays to his Father(41-42), as he calls (43)“Lazarus, come out!” Jesus is doing battle with sin and death and Satan. And in the seconds after his shout it’s not just the crowd of mourners who wait, it’s as if the whole of creation holds its breath as it waits to see what’ll happen. “The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth round his face.”
Jesus at that moment shows his power to overcome sin and suffering and death and him who is behind it all. Jesus shows us what life should be like. He calms an out of control creation that terrifies and threatens his disciples, he overcomes the evil forces that hold people captive, he restores the sick to health, he removes disabilities and he raises the dead. He gives us a glimpse of what life was like before we rejected God, what it would be like to live life under the rule of a good God enjoying his love and protection. And he promises us that one day he’ll return and that glimpse will become an eternal reality. Sin will be judged and done away with once and for all.
Yet despite that glimpse men reject him again. (46-50)What do they do with Jesus? They plot to kill him. At the cross God himself tastes suffering; beaten, rejected, slandered, spat upon, mocked, alone, reviled, abused, a victim of injustice, and finally killed in the most humiliating and degrading way possible. And yet through all this rebellion and rejection God is sovereignly still at work. Not at the mercy of men, but working even through their decision to reject and crucify to save.
But here’s the problem of the kingdom Jesus shows us. One day Jesus promises he will come again and bring a world without suffering, without pain, without selfishness, without abuse, without injustice, without hatred. He will renew the world so it is as it was in the beginning. And that means a world without sin. Imagine for a minute that you and I were dropped into a world like that as we are? Would it be loving and just of God to let us unchanged into that world? We’d ruin it wouldn’t we! Because the problem isn’t just out there it’s in here. If God starts judging sin eventually he has to get to me and to you, and we face exclusion from that world and judgement from God for the suffering we cause.
God hates sin and the suffering it causes and will recreate a world where there’s no sin only loving relationship with God and therefore no pain and suffering. But he can’t let us in as we are. And it’s not enough to try to be good and meet God’s standard, because the standard is perfection. So at the cross Jesus doesn’t just experience suffering he suffers for us. He willingly takes our punishment for our sin and rebellion, all the suffering and pain we’ve caused. And that’s not all. He gives us his perfect, sinless, rebellion less, record, so we can know God now and one day as God’s people enter God’s new creation.
The suffering and pain around us shows us the world and we aren’t as we were made to be. But the gospel tells us God has done everything necessary to forgive us, and make us his new people fit for a world with no suffering mourning, crying or pain, all just the side effects of being in a right relationship with God. And God is sovereign but gracious; he doesn’t deal with suffering and pain and its cause sin now because he’s patiently waiting, giving us a chance to turn to him, to trust Jesus for forgiveness and new life so we don’t face his judgement.
Will you take that chance?
What difference does that make?
In John 11 we see something amazing. God isn’t indifferent, he’s not distant, here we see God alongside us suffering in the world. Jesus is God the Son made man, entering into the brokenness of the world, God experiencing pain and suffering just as we do. Here we see him at a friends funeral, surrounded by mourners, having just comforted the grieving sisters, he weeps(35). (38)Jesus approaches the tomb; “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.” That word “deeply moved” doesn’t do justice to how Jesus feels. The word actually means to bellow with anger. Jesus as he approaches his friends tomb isn’t overcome by uncontrollable grief but by irrepressible anger. What’s he angry at? The pain and suffering that death brings. He is angry at how sin and Satan have so twisted God’s good creation. Jesus, God the Son is furious at death and suffering, not God, because sin causes suffering. God hates sin and its effects more than we do.
But anger without action is useless isn’t it? What does Jesus do? As he approaches the tomb and calls them to take the stone away from the tomb Jesus is angry at death, outraged by sin and the devastation it causes, and at him who has the power of death. Jesus approaches Lazarus tomb as a champion going into battle. As he prays to his Father(41-42), as he calls (43)“Lazarus, come out!” Jesus is doing battle with sin and death and Satan. And in the seconds after his shout it’s not just the crowd of mourners who wait, it’s as if the whole of creation holds its breath as it waits to see what’ll happen. “The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth round his face.”
Jesus at that moment shows his power to overcome sin and suffering and death and him who is behind it all. Jesus shows us what life should be like. He calms an out of control creation that terrifies and threatens his disciples, he overcomes the evil forces that hold people captive, he restores the sick to health, he removes disabilities and he raises the dead. He gives us a glimpse of what life was like before we rejected God, what it would be like to live life under the rule of a good God enjoying his love and protection. And he promises us that one day he’ll return and that glimpse will become an eternal reality. Sin will be judged and done away with once and for all.
Yet despite that glimpse men reject him again. (46-50)What do they do with Jesus? They plot to kill him. At the cross God himself tastes suffering; beaten, rejected, slandered, spat upon, mocked, alone, reviled, abused, a victim of injustice, and finally killed in the most humiliating and degrading way possible. And yet through all this rebellion and rejection God is sovereignly still at work. Not at the mercy of men, but working even through their decision to reject and crucify to save.
But here’s the problem of the kingdom Jesus shows us. One day Jesus promises he will come again and bring a world without suffering, without pain, without selfishness, without abuse, without injustice, without hatred. He will renew the world so it is as it was in the beginning. And that means a world without sin. Imagine for a minute that you and I were dropped into a world like that as we are? Would it be loving and just of God to let us unchanged into that world? We’d ruin it wouldn’t we! Because the problem isn’t just out there it’s in here. If God starts judging sin eventually he has to get to me and to you, and we face exclusion from that world and judgement from God for the suffering we cause.
God hates sin and the suffering it causes and will recreate a world where there’s no sin only loving relationship with God and therefore no pain and suffering. But he can’t let us in as we are. And it’s not enough to try to be good and meet God’s standard, because the standard is perfection. So at the cross Jesus doesn’t just experience suffering he suffers for us. He willingly takes our punishment for our sin and rebellion, all the suffering and pain we’ve caused. And that’s not all. He gives us his perfect, sinless, rebellion less, record, so we can know God now and one day as God’s people enter God’s new creation.
The suffering and pain around us shows us the world and we aren’t as we were made to be. But the gospel tells us God has done everything necessary to forgive us, and make us his new people fit for a world with no suffering mourning, crying or pain, all just the side effects of being in a right relationship with God. And God is sovereign but gracious; he doesn’t deal with suffering and pain and its cause sin now because he’s patiently waiting, giving us a chance to turn to him, to trust Jesus for forgiveness and new life so we don’t face his judgement.
Will you take that chance?
What difference does that make?
Following Jesus transforms the way we think of pain and suffering. It doesn’t answer all our questions. But it does help us put our suffering into the bigger picture. It tells me God is a good loving heavenly Father who is sovereign and nothing is outside of his care. It tells me the world is broken and not as it should be and God cares about that, he’s more angry at suffering and sin than I’ll ever be. And he hasn’t left us alone to face it, he came, he died to get us ready for the world we long for. Whenever we’re tempted to think ‘why?’ ‘God do you care?’ We look back to the cross and see how much God cared and the price he pays to win for us back to right relationship with him.
Following Jesus doesn’t make us immune from suffering, it doesn’t make us emotionless robots. If anything it makes the grief more real because we know exactly what was lost. We mourn sin and it’s effects, just like Jesus did. We will rage against suffering and pain, we will feel the pain and grieve the loss of loved ones deeply, we’ll be angry not at God but at sin and its twisting of God’s perfect world and our own hearts.
But we don’t grieve without hope. Because we fix our eyes on Jesus – God with us! God suffering for us! His promise through the Holy Spirit never to leave us. His winning for us a certain future; a world without sin. The gospel brings us hope in suffering and comfort in the loving care of our Father who will amazingly and in ways I can never know work even my suffering for good and glory. No moment of it will be wasted, even though we may never welcome it, and never does he leave us alone in it. And one day, by grace, he’ll end all suffering and pain and welcome those who trust him into the world we all want and that he longs for us to enjoy with him.
Following Jesus doesn’t make us immune from suffering, it doesn’t make us emotionless robots. If anything it makes the grief more real because we know exactly what was lost. We mourn sin and it’s effects, just like Jesus did. We will rage against suffering and pain, we will feel the pain and grieve the loss of loved ones deeply, we’ll be angry not at God but at sin and its twisting of God’s perfect world and our own hearts.
But we don’t grieve without hope. Because we fix our eyes on Jesus – God with us! God suffering for us! His promise through the Holy Spirit never to leave us. His winning for us a certain future; a world without sin. The gospel brings us hope in suffering and comfort in the loving care of our Father who will amazingly and in ways I can never know work even my suffering for good and glory. No moment of it will be wasted, even though we may never welcome it, and never does he leave us alone in it. And one day, by grace, he’ll end all suffering and pain and welcome those who trust him into the world we all want and that he longs for us to enjoy with him.
Do you see the difference that hope makes to our suffering? There’s a rugged realism to how followers of Jesus think of suffering, and a real recognition of the pain it causes. There’s repentance and rescue from sin and a return to relationship with the Father. And the promise that we are always loved, never alone and no situation is wasted and the hope that one day God himself will wipe every tear from our eyes and suffering will end.
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