Why Does God Allow Pain and Suffering?.

Nate Schlomann

[0:05] Amen. [0:06] Amen. [0:06] We’ll go ahead and have a seat. [0:08] Good morning, Village. [0:09] Welcome again. [0:10] My name is Nate.

[0:11] I’m one of the pastors here, and we are really glad to see you here this morning. [0:15] We’re right in the middle of our Explore God series. [0:17] We’ve been taking seven weeks to answer biblically some of the big questions that people have [0:22] about Christianity. [0:23] And we started off with some foundational issues, talking about the purpose and meaning [0:28] of life.

[0:28] And then last week, Pastor Steve walked us through the ways that we can know that God [0:33] is real, that He’s there, that He’s revealed Himself to us through nature, through His [0:37] Word, and ultimately through Jesus. [0:39] And so this week, we find ourselves addressing another really big question that all of us [0:43] at one time or another are going to have, and that is, why does God allow pain and [0:48] suffering in the world?

[0:50] And I want to point it out here at the offset, that Steve is definitely up to something [0:54] here with the topics that he leaves me with when he is out of town. [0:56] If you were with us back in Romans when we were going verse by verse through the book [1:00] of Romans, he goes out of town, I’m left preaching on politics and government. [1:03] Now he goes out of town, and I’m left preaching on pain and suffering. [1:07] So I don’t know.

[1:07] I got to keep my eye on him for sure. [1:10] But it’s all good. [1:12] This is a big question. [1:14] Survey after survey after survey will tell you that one of the biggest reasons people [1:18] doubt God or lose their faith or struggle to have faith in God is because of this question [1:23] of why does God allow pain and suffering in the world?

[1:27] Philosophers will call this the problem of evil. [1:30] It’s really a pretty simple idea to get our minds around. [1:32] If we believe that God is all-powerful, that he is in control of everything, and that we [1:36] believe he is the ultimate complete good, why doesn’t he intervene to stop evil and [1:41] suffering in the world? [1:42] And so that’s the basic problem.

[1:44] Is it that God’s not all-powerful, and that’s a problem? [1:47] Or is it, or even worse, that God’s not all good? [1:50] Or a lot of people would come to the conclusion then. [1:52] Maybe that means there is no God at all. [1:55] The Bible does have a lot to say about the topic of suffering in the world. [1:59] So we’re going to do our best to look at that question in our time this morning, understanding

[2:03] that our time is limited. [2:05] The Bible says so much about suffering. [2:07] We could spend weeks and weeks and weeks on this topic and still not exhaust everything [2:11] it has to say. [2:12] We’re just going to paint some broad brushes this morning, look at some broad themes, but [2:17] I’m eager to dig into this with you.

[2:19] As we go though, right at the outset here, one thing we have to be really careful about [2:23] is that we avoid trite answers when it comes to suffering. [2:28] If you look at this topic much, look into what other teachers are saying about, even [2:32] Christian teachers are saying about the topic of pain and suffering and why God allows it. [2:36] A lot of people will come to the conclusion even that we really can’t have an answer [2:40] for why God allows pain and suffering.

[2:42] And I’ll be honest with you, I think that’s a little bit of a cop-out. [2:44] Scripture just has way too many texts on this topic. [2:48] Scripture talks way too much about God’s purposes for suffering. [2:52] The thing is they just aren’t simple or trite answers. [2:55] And there’s a difference between an answer and a comfort. [2:58] And sometimes those aren’t the same thing.

[3:01] Sometimes a hard answer might be true, but it’s not always comfort in a time of suffering. [3:05] And the truth is Scripture has both. [3:07] Scripture has great comfort and sometimes comforts aren’t necessarily answers to why. [3:12] But we need both and Scripture gives us both. [3:14] And so we’re going to spend some time looking at both this morning. [3:19] There’s a tension here that we’ve got to hold this morning because there’s a way to talk

[3:22] about pain and suffering that’s very kind of philosophical and ask some big picture [3:27] questions about God and how he interacts with the world. [3:30] And we need to do that. [3:32] But that’s not how you comfort those who are in the midst of suffering in their lives. [3:37] When someone’s going through a tragedy, you don’t sit down next to them and open up a [3:40] Christian philosophy book and say, well, look, here’s all the different various theories

[3:44] on why God allows suffering in the world. [3:45] That’s not how you comfort someone who’s suffering. [3:48] Don’t do that. [3:50] This isn’t an abstract thought, because I know there’s people in this room right now [3:54] who are going through suffering. [3:56] And so I want to be sensitive to that.

[3:58] But here’s the tension. [3:59] At the same time, if you’re not currently going through a period of suffering or trials, [4:05] it’s very good for your growth in Jesus to look at some of these big picture philosophical [4:10] ideas that scripture does teach about God’s purposes in the world. [4:14] That’s what you can do to lay a foundation for your life that will be secure and sustain [4:19] you through the hard times that are sure to come.

[4:21] So we need to spend some time doing that because those storms of life certainly are coming. [4:27] And looking at the big picture ideas of what God has to say about suffering, that can help [4:31] you build a solid foundation to keep your faith and to grow in your faith when those [4:36] trials do come. [4:38] But here’s the thing. [4:39] It does not work to try to build a foundation while it’s storming out.

[4:44] You try to do that. [4:45] The bricks aren’t going to set right. [4:46] The water’s coming in, turning everything to mud. [4:49] You can’t build a foundation while it’s storming. [4:52] You’re not going to do it then. [4:53] It’s not the right time.

[4:54] And so if you’re currently going through a storm in your life, I just want to ask you [4:58] to keep that in mind this morning. [5:00] There may be some things that we talk about that you just need to hold off on for a little [5:04] bit until it’s the right time for that. [5:06] And so give yourself permission to do that. [5:07] But God does have something to say whether you’re in the storm now or whether you’re

[5:11] preparing for it. [5:12] And so we’re going to do our best to look at both of those ideas this morning. [5:17] The truth is, more often than not, the question of why God allows pain and suffering in the [5:22] world, it really bothers us when it becomes personal. [5:24] Because we can kind of discuss the big picture things. [5:27] Why are there natural disasters?

[5:29] Why are there wars, genocide, disease, and on and on? [5:32] But most of those things are something that’s happening usually to someone else somewhere [5:37] else. [5:38] And where this really becomes a crisis of faith is usually when it’s personal. [5:42] It’s when we’re asking, why me? [5:44] Why us?

[5:45] You know, why him? [5:46] Why her? [5:47] Why now? [5:48] Why did it have to go this way? [5:50] And scripture isn’t going to work that way as far as those specific of an answer. [5:55] We’re not going to get specific answers to our specific circumstance of suffering.

[6:00] But it doesn’t mean that more general big picture answers aren’t helpful, because they [6:05] are, if they’re used to lay that foundation for you for when suffering does come. [6:10] But if you’re asking, why is this happening to me right now? [6:13] Then a general answer, no, that’s not probably going to bring you comfort. [6:17] But what can and does bring comfort is that God revealed himself to be a God who draws [6:21] close to us and is near to us in our suffering.

[6:25] And so that’s the first place that I want to start as we tackle this topic, is talking [6:29] about a God who is with us in suffering, because our God certainly is. [6:33] Our scripture is full of references to God’s comfort in our suffering. [6:37] The Psalms especially show a God who’s near and present and close to those who are in [6:42] pain. [6:43] And so God promises that he will be with us when we suffer and that he’s near us and

[6:47] that he understands. [6:48] And those promises of his are important. [6:50] Those speak to his character. [6:52] So by his own words, he doesn’t claim to be some far off God who’s not concerned with [6:57] our troubles. [6:57] He says he’s a God who’s there in our suffering.

[7:01] And there’s all kinds of texts if we had more time we could look at in relation to [7:05] that. [7:05] But what I want to focus on this morning is the single biggest way that we know God is [7:10] with us in our suffering. [7:11] Because God’s gone beyond just saying it. [7:14] He’s gone beyond just telling us about his character.

[7:16] He actually proved it and demonstrated it in Jesus. [7:20] The incarnation of Jesus has so much comfort to offer. [7:24] God the Son became a man to be with us, to experience what we experience, and ultimately [7:30] to suffer for us. [7:31] So even if we won’t be able to understand the why of every detail, the circumstance [7:37] of our suffering, we can take comfort knowing that what we’re going through, Jesus has

[7:41] gone through as well. [7:42] And there’s also many texts that speak to this. [7:44] We’re going to look at a few. [7:45] It’s definitely by nature of the topic we’re going to be jumping all over scripture this [7:49] morning. [7:50] So references are in your handout.

[7:51] It’ll be on the screen too. [7:52] But turn with me to Philippians 2, 5 through 8. [7:56] Apostle Paul says this,

[8:17] See, God chose to suffer with us. [8:24] Jesus got the Son. [8:25] He voluntarily became man. [8:27] He’s still fully God, also fully man. [8:29] That’s the incarnation. [8:31] And he suffered and he died for us.

[8:33] So Christianity presents a God who is near to us in a real and tangible way. [8:38] He’s demonstrating that. [8:40] And the comfort here is that God not only understands whatever we’re going through, [8:44] but said he’s been there. [8:45] He emptied himself voluntarily and suffered. [8:47] And when we ask the question of why would God allow suffering, even if we don’t get

[8:53] a specific answer and a specific circumstance, there’s comfort in knowing that God did [8:59] not withhold his own Son from suffering. [9:02] Scripture talks about this kind of comfort in several other places. [9:06] Here’s just one more example. [9:07] 2 Corinthians 1, 3 through 5. [9:11] Paul says this,

[9:34] See, God doesn’t just comfort us in some distant, impersonal way. [9:40] God’s comfort is based on the fact that Jesus suffered too. [9:43] And there are many other passages in Scripture that talk about this idea of sharing, sharing [9:48] in the suffering of Jesus. [9:49] And all this points to what God knows about how to comfort those who are in the midst [9:54] of suffering.

[9:55] And that’s that he knows that they need to know that they are seen and they are not [9:59] alone and they are not forgotten. [10:00] And our God does all of those things in a very personal way through Jesus and through [10:06] what we learn about him through Jesus. [10:09] Another way that God is with us in suffering, as we see that God is not only there, but [10:15] he’s also concerned with us in a very personal way.

[10:18] I want to look really quick at a story of how Jesus responds on the lives of people [10:23] around him to suffering. [10:24] This is John chapter 11, 32 through 35. [10:27] He’s just heard that his friend Lazarus has died. [10:30] And this is what happens. [10:32] It says, Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying

[10:37] to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [10:41] When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply [10:46] moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. [10:48] That’s the God of the universe, deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. [10:52] And he said, Where have you laid him? [10:55] They said to him, Lord, come and see.

[10:57] And Jesus wept. [11:00] God is not there for us in some cold kind of stoic above it all way that he’s there [11:05] for us. [11:05] He’s there for us. [11:07] When God tells us in Romans to weep with those who weep, he knows exactly what he’s talking [11:11] about because he did it in person.

[11:15] That’s just what Jesus did. [11:16] And then he would go on to suffer himself. [11:18] God’s near enough and close enough to care in a personal way. [11:22] So I’m discipling men in the church to grow and to become leaders in the church, especially [11:27] if they’re going to be group leaders and taking care of other people. [11:29] It’s almost inevitable that eventually they’re going to look at me and say something along

[11:34] these lines. [11:34] Nate, doesn’t it seem like there’s all kinds of suffering going on in the church now? [11:38] What’s the deal with that? [11:40] It happens like clockwork, almost always. [11:43] And I have to look at them and say, no, it’s always like this. [11:47] You just notice because you’re starting to get personal enough with people and involved

[11:51] in their lives enough to be concerned and care. [11:55] Well, that’s how our God is all the time through Jesus. [11:58] He is close enough to notice. [12:00] So you can take comfort in that. [12:03] When faced with suffering, there’s no way for us to avoid the question, why couldn’t [12:08] God have done this some other way?

[12:10] That question will come up and we might not have an explanation specifically for why this, [12:16] why now, but the cross, it does give us comfort that God understands and is near in our suffering. [12:22] Because in the cross, we see that God decided that His own suffering was the best way to [12:26] gather worshipers for His glory. [12:29] And the thoughts got to occur to us that if there was a better way, surely God would have [12:34] done it.

[12:34] But He didn’t. [12:35] He chose to have His son suffer and die on a cross. [12:39] And so, as we continue this morning, we’re going to look at more scriptures that show [12:43] other aspects of suffering and some kind of big picture, big purpose, reasons that God [12:48] does allow suffering in the world. [12:50] But as we do that, we need to remember that God doesn’t ask us to trust Him with suffering

[12:55] in a vacuum. [12:55] He doesn’t ask us to trust Him from far off. [12:58] He asks us to trust Him while His own son suffers and dies on a cross. [13:03] So God understands. [13:05] All right, He gets it. [13:06] Almost every other religion, their God just says, trust me.

[13:10] Okay, but our God, the true God, He says, trust me because I’m not asking you to go [13:14] through anything I haven’t been through myself. [13:17] I sent my own son to die for you. [13:20] And that difference makes all the difference in the world. [13:23] That’s what sustained Christianity for 2,000 years in the face of suffering. [13:28] It’s because of the cross that we can trust that God is good and that He has a reason

[13:32] for allowing suffering to happen in the world. [13:35] So with that kind of in our minds, I want to transition now to laying that foundation [13:40] that I talked about earlier. [13:42] That means that these ideas and truths that we’re going to look at, they’re not necessarily [13:45] all designed to be a comfort in the midst of suffering. [13:48] They’re designed to help you lay that firm foundation to be there for you when suffering

[13:52] does come. [13:54] And the scriptures, in fact, do have a lot to say about the purposes of God and how [14:00] He uses suffering in our lives. [14:01] And again, these aren’t meant to be trite little ideas that make the pain go away. [14:07] Understanding purpose is different than comfort, but laying that foundation of God’s purposes [14:11] does help us greatly in anything that’s to come.

[14:15] So I want us to see God has a purpose through our suffering. [14:18] God does have a purpose through our suffering. [14:21] And scripture lays out several possible purposes that God works through. [14:25] Doesn’t mean we’ll always know exactly which purpose is happening in our lives at any one [14:29] But the key is to understand that even if we don’t know what it is, we have reason [14:33] to trust the God who does and the God who’s put it there.

[14:37] And this idea of purpose is very, very important. [14:40] There’s a major difference in how you approach life depending on what you think the purpose [14:44] of life is. [14:45] And actually, really, as we talk about the problem of evil, the problem of pain and suffering [14:50] in the world, it’s an even bigger problem if you don’t believe in God. [14:53] And I think anyway, because if you don’t believe in God, then ultimately there’s no authority

[14:59] outside of yourself that you can look at for purpose. [15:02] And you have to define purpose yourself. [15:04] And at the end of the day, in that situation, most people’s purpose is to be happy, to [15:08] be comfortable, to live a good life, whatever that looks like. [15:12] And in that case, suffering is just meaningless pain. [15:15] If there’s no purpose outside of ourself, suffering is just random cruelty of nature

[15:19] to be avoided at all costs. [15:22] And even if you do believe in God, but if you believe in kind of a false God that’s [15:26] all about making you happy, making your life comfortable, that’s even a bigger problem [15:30] still. [15:31] Because that means that you’re doing something wrong to make God unhappy if you’re suffering [15:35] or you don’t have enough faith.

[15:37] Or at the end of the day, if that’s the kind of false God you believe in, that God’s just [15:40] about you making you happy, making your life good, then when suffering comes, your faith [15:45] goes like that. [15:47] So the Christian perspective on suffering really depends on the Christian perspective [15:52] on purpose. [15:53] And we talked about that a lot two weeks ago.

[15:56] The first sermon in this series, what is the purpose of life? [15:59] And we saw that it’s not about us. [16:01] We live for something bigger than ourselves. [16:03] We live to glorify God and enjoy him forever. [16:06] And we do that by living for the gospel. [16:08] It’s the good news that people can be reconciled to God through the death and resurrection

[16:12] of Jesus. [16:13] And that’s the purpose of life. [16:14] And it’s only if life has a big purpose beyond ourselves, outside of ourselves, set by someone [16:19] other than ourselves, set by God. [16:21] It’s only if that’s the case that suffering can have purpose. [16:25] Because if life is about worshiping God, if life is ultimately about glorifying God and

[16:30] spreading the gospel of Jesus, then suffering can’t take that away from us. [16:34] We can still do that in the midst of suffering. [16:37] So it doesn’t mean that that’s easy, though. [16:39] It doesn’t mean that that’s what we want. [16:42] It’s not fun to suffer. [16:44] These are those big picture truths that I was talking about earlier that are intended to

[16:47] be a comfort for when you’re in the midst of suffering. [16:49] If I’m sitting across the couch from you and you’re really going through something hard [16:53] in your life, I’m not going to put my arm around you and say, you know, the good news [16:57] is you can still fulfill your purpose in life. [16:59] Life’s not about you. [17:01] That’s not how you comfort sufferers.

[17:02] Don’t do that. [17:04] That’s not the time for that. [17:05] But if you’re not going through a time of suffering right now, this is the time. [17:09] You need to build this foundation of how God works in the world. [17:13] Scripture is just so clear on this issue that God does have purposes through suffering. [17:18] And let’s start in Romans 5 verses 3 through 5 and look at one passage that talks about that.

[17:26] It says, not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces [17:30] endurance and endurance produces character and character produces hope. [17:35] And hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts [17:40] through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. [17:44] So how is it possible, as Paul says at the beginning there, to rejoice in suffering? [17:49] You can only do that if you understand that life is about something bigger than you.

[17:53] Because then what suffering produces, if we can even get to a point where we can start [17:57] talking about that, what suffering produces, that’s the word that Scripture uses.

[18:03] It matters because it’s not just about you and you’re not just focused on how it’s affecting you. [18:07] The word of God says here that suffering produces endurance and character and that these things [18:12] give us hope. [18:13] But hope, hope in what? [18:15] Hope that God has that work in the world, saving and redeeming and making all things [18:20] right in the end.

[18:21] Suffering forces us to look outside of ourselves and see the bigger picture of what God’s doing. [18:27] I see a really similar idea in James, James 1, 2 through 4. [18:32] It says this, count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. [18:36] For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and steadfastness, [18:41] having its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. [18:47] It’s pretty remarkable what God’s word is saying there.

[18:49] It’s saying, and this isn’t necessarily an easy thing to hear, that one of the reasons [18:53] that God allows pain and suffering into our lives is because our faith grows when it’s [18:58] challenged. [18:59] And we know this idea instinctively, that we grow when we’re challenged. [19:04] It’s often in life we don’t ever grow in an area until we have to, until circumstances [19:08] force us to.

[19:09] This is the reason why new parents all of a sudden start reading parenting books. [19:13] They would never do that before. [19:15] This is the reason why students who are about to get their driver’s license are all of [19:19] a sudden really interested in spending time with mom and dad in the car, practicing driving. [19:23] It happens all the time. [19:24] You’ve got a big project at work, something you don’t know about, all of a sudden you’re

[19:26] reading books on it. [19:28] We grow when we’re challenged to grow. [19:31] And Scripture is saying that our faith works just that same way. [19:36] It’s a very common story for people who have gone through great suffering and kept their [19:40] faith in God to come out the other end saying just how much closer that they are to God now. [19:46] Suffering forces us to learn how to pray.

[19:49] We look more to God’s Word. [19:51] We repent and we deal with sin because we’re more sensitive to what really matters in life, [19:56] which is following Jesus. [19:57] And this is all part of God taking the suffering in a fallen and broken world and working through [20:03] it for his purposes to bring us closer to him. [20:06] Jesus talks about purposes for suffering in another encounter he had with a blind man.

[20:12] Look at John 9, verses 1 through 3. [20:16] He says, [20:16] As he passed by, he saw a blind man from birth, and his disciples asked him, [20:22] Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? [20:26] And Jesus answered, [20:27] It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed

[20:32] in him. [20:33] There’s a few things that we should notice here. [20:35] Pain and suffering are in this world because of the fall, because of sin, and because of [20:40] sin in general. [20:42] But specific pain and specific suffering, that might not be a result of specific sin. [20:46] That was just the case here.

[20:47] That’s exactly what his disciples ask. [20:49] Is this the case of any specific sin? [20:51] And Jesus says, no. [20:52] It’s just a part of a broken world. [20:55] But then he goes on though, beyond that, to actually give that suffering and why God allowed [21:01] that man’s life a purpose.

[21:02] He says that God’s going to get glory out of it. [21:04] There’s a bigger picture beyond the seeming randomness of it all that his disciples encountered [21:09] there. [21:11] And it’s good to know that our suffering is not about God’s wrath. [21:15] So do remember that. [21:17] The blind man did nothing to make himself blind.

[21:20] And this is how James and Paul, in those texts we read earlier, can find joy in their suffering. [21:25] They weren’t worried that God was punishing them for anything. [21:27] The cross of Jesus assures them of that. [21:31] The punishment had been paid. [21:32] Instead, they can look outside themselves and their pain and find out how God could [21:37] get glory and the gospel could be advanced through their circumstances.

[21:42] And that’s a whole different mindset towards suffering. [21:45] Let’s look at one last verse related to this idea. [21:48] That’s 2 Corinthians 1, 8-9. [21:51] It says this. [21:53] For we do not want you to be aware, brothers, unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced [21:58] in Asia, for we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself.

[22:04] Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death, but that was to make us rely not [22:08] on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. [22:11] I want us to see here that scripture does not portray suffering as something that is [22:16] easy or desirable or no big deal. [22:19] It’s a big deal. [22:21] These verses, Paul was going through more than he could handle.

[22:24] He felt like he had had it. [22:26] He thought he was going to die. [22:28] He was broken. [22:29] He didn’t see how he was going to make it through. [22:31] But that’s just when he found himself relying on God. [22:35] Suffering is not a test from God to see if we have strength because we don’t.

[22:40] Suffering is a consequence of a fallen and sinful world. [22:43] We need to make that clear. [22:45] That’s what suffering comes from, a fallen and sinful world. [22:49] Scripture is also clear that one of the reasons that God allows that suffering and doesn’t [22:53] just remove it as he could right away is because it forces his people to rely on him and seek [22:59] him and turn to him.

[23:00] And scripture just says that pretty plainly. [23:02] Suffering forces us to rely on God, which is where real truth and real life is found. [23:08] Those things are of eternal value, learning to rely only on God. [23:13] And so one of God’s purposes in suffering is that his people would put their ultimate [23:16] trust not in their current situation and what is currently happening to them, but [23:21] find their trust in God, the one who can raise the dead.

[23:25] As Paul says there at the end of that passage, and that’s not even a promise that everything [23:29] is going to be made right in this life. [23:31] Actually that idea of the one who can raise the dead, that’s a promise that everything [23:34] might not be made right in this life. [23:36] It might not be made right until the end, but it will be made right. [23:41] And so we’re just scratching the surface here with some of these ideas on different

[23:45] things that scripture has to say on the topic of the purposes of God and suffering. [23:49] But I want to make sure we have time to move on to one of the biggest teachings that Christianity [23:55] offers us in regards to suffering. [23:57] And that is that God does have an answer for our suffering. [24:01] This is really honestly one of the ideas that sets Christianity apart compared to other [24:07] religions, other philosophies of life.

[24:09] We’ll never be able to answer why God allows things to be this way and not another and [24:14] why God did it this way and not another way. [24:17] And we never claim to have a full explanation for every instance of pain and suffering, [24:22] though as we’ve seen, God does in his word show us some of his purposes that he uses [24:26] suffering for. [24:28] But we do, and this is big, we do claim to have the final answer for pain and suffering.

[24:33] We claim to know how all suffering and all pain and all death will finally end. [24:39] God has an answer for our suffering. [24:43] Suffering and pain entered the world when Adam and Eve sinned. [24:46] That was the fall. [24:47] Everything in the world has been broken since then. [24:49] Nature has been broken.

[24:50] Creation has been broken. [24:51] And again, this is another one of those things. [24:53] We had weeks and weeks and weeks to go through this. [24:55] This could be a whole sermon just on this, just looking at texts that talk about how [24:59] sin and pain and suffering all entered the world. [25:02] But that’s why there’s death in the world.

[25:04] That’s why there’s natural disasters, birth defects, and of course that’s why human beings [25:09] hurt each other all the time. [25:10] We’ve all been scarred by the effects of the fall in somewhere or another. [25:16] And so what you have to understand is when we ask the question, why does God allow pain [25:22] and suffering in the world, what we’re really asking is when is God going to deal with [25:27] the rebellion against him?

[25:29] Because the world that God created was good and there was no pain and suffering until [25:34] it rebelled. [25:34] And this is a matter of justice. [25:36] When is God going to make everything right? [25:38] And when is he going to stop the results of sin in the world? [25:43] The story of Scripture is God’s story of redemption through Jesus, of how he is indeed working

[25:48] to make everything right. [25:50] And God does have an answer for how he’s going to do that and how he’s going to end pain [25:54] and suffering. [25:55] Look with me at 2 Peter 3, verses 8 through 9. [26:01] Peter says this,

[26:30] So one of the biggest problems that we end up having with God’s control and his sovereignty [26:36] over the world has to do with his timing. [26:38] We want to see everything made right, right now, right here, right when we’re feeling [26:42] it. [26:43] And we haven’t been promised that. [26:44] What’s more, we don’t actually want that because part of the reason God allows pain and suffering

[26:49] to continue in this world, and this was just in this text we saw in Peter, and part of [26:54] the reason he hasn’t dealt with it yet, once and for all, is because of his patience and [26:58] mercy in dealing with sin, dealing with our sin so that more people can come to repentance. [27:04] That’s what God says. [27:05] I haven’t dealt with it yet because I am patient to deal with it because more people need [27:10] to repent and come to me in faith.

[27:13] See, ending pain and suffering once and for all means dealing once and for all with sin. [27:19] That means justice. [27:21] And where all that wrong in the world is made right and sin is punished eternally, and God’s [27:26] going to bring ultimate and final justice to the world and end pain and suffering once [27:30] and for all. [27:30] He is going to do it, but God is patient in that because his story of redemption through

[27:35] Jesus is still unfolding.

[27:38] His promises are sure. [27:39] God does have an answer for pain and suffering. [27:42] He will end it. [27:44] And it’s not an issue of why God hasn’t dealt with pain and suffering. [27:47] It’s a matter of why he hasn’t done it sooner when we thought that he should. [27:51] See, the cross, and we saw this earlier, the cross means that God is for you.

[27:55] It means that God is near you. [27:56] It means that God is with you in your suffering. [27:59] The resurrection. [28:01] The resurrection means that God does have an answer for suffering. [28:05] And everything will be made right in the end. [28:08] Eternity with God changes our perspective on suffering.

[28:11] The hope of the gospel is eternal. [28:14] So God is simply not as obsessed with time as we are. [28:19] And here’s the thing, he’s right about that. [28:22] What’s so amazing about the gospel is that there on the cross and in the resurrection, [28:26] God actually broke into human history. [28:29] And he said, yes, I am dealing with brokenness.

[28:32] I am dealing with pain. [28:34] I am dealing with suffering. [28:35] In fact, it’s such a sure thing now that as far as I’m concerned, it’s finished. [28:40] So God says eternity is set and pain and suffering will be dealt with forever. [28:46] You just have to be patient until we get there in my timing. [28:50] That’s God’s ultimate answer for pain and suffering.

[28:52] Look with me in Revelation 21 for a picture that we’re given of what this is going to look like.

[29:01] Revelation 21 verse 1. [29:03] It says, Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, [29:06] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more. [29:11] And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, [29:15] prepared as a bride, adorned with her husband. [29:17] And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

[29:22] He will dwell with them and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. [29:27] He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. [29:31] Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. [29:37] And he was seated on the throne and said, Behold, I am making all things new. [29:43] And also he said, Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. [29:48] So the greatness of God, the greatness of God is not simply that evil is going to be punished,

[29:54] which it will be, but it’s that the results of evil are going to be undone. [30:00] Pain and suffering are the results of evil. [30:03] So this is the hope of the resurrection. [30:06] And God sees our suffering in all of its complexities and much of our suffering is not fair. [30:11] As we think of fairness, but in the end, what is really fair when we all deserve death, [30:17] but we serve a God who gives life and is going to give life and all the pain will be undone for

[30:22] those who repent and put their faith in him. And this is the hope of the new heavens and the new [30:28] earth and all things are going to be made new. And not only has sin been punished, justly, the effects [30:34] of sin have been undone forever. That’s what we see in that passage. Everything that was wrong [30:39] is made right. The suffering reversed and no more. Death didn’t happen. [30:44] The pain that shouldn’t have been there isn’t there. This is the hope that we have [30:48] in Jesus. And that’s hope is not a trivial hope. It’s real hope. It’s not some kind of,

[30:54] yeah, yeah, that sounds great, but what do you have for me today? [30:57] Everything that we’ve talked about, the hope of eternity says that today isn’t what really matters. [31:03] Today doesn’t matter in light of eternity. Our hope is in forever. And that’s why the trite notion [31:09] that Christianity can be about making this life better and making this life make sense and worth [31:15] better, that’s offensive. Because the whole point is that our hope isn’t in this life, [31:20] because this life isn’t how things are supposed to be. And the reason that this life matters is

[31:26] because we’re living now for the day to come when God’s going to make all things new. The whole point [31:31] of living for the mission of Jesus and talking about sacrificing and taking up Jesus’s cross [31:37] and following him, dying to our dreams and our desires for what he wants, the whole point of that [31:41] is that God’s dreams and God’s desires and God’s purposes are eternal. They’re not going to pass [31:47] away. And so that’s why that’s worth living for. It’s not until you’re confronted with pain and [31:54] suffering that you realize how important our hope in eternal life really is. And I think maybe that’s

[32:00] one of the big things that God is up to. You see, without God, the only answer to pain and suffering [32:07] is to numb yourself, to detach, to avoid feeling it. And there are lots of philosophies and religions [32:13] that teach just that in regards to pain and suffering. The key is to learn not to really [32:18] love anything, not to feel anything. Spiritual detachment from this world, because this world [32:23] is a place where sin still is everywhere and pain and suffering is real. But Christianity teaches [32:30] just the opposite. Christianity teaches us not to love less, but to love God more, or not to

[32:37] detach ourselves from the pain and hurt of this present world. We’re to be present in suffering, [32:42] we’re to be close, we’re to draw near, just like Jesus did. But we do have an eternal perspective [32:48] that this, what we see, isn’t all there is. This is passing away. And the real world, the real world, [32:55] we’ve talked about that several times the last few weeks, the real world is the kingdom of God [32:59] to come. That’s where our hope is set, because there, one day soon, God will end pain and suffering [33:05] forever. And he says it’s as sure as if it’s already happened. So as the band comes up,

[33:12] let me pray for us real quick. Father, we thank you for your hope. God, I do want to pray for [33:18] anyone in here right now who is suffering right now. God, we just pray that you are, [33:25] we know you’re the God of comfort, and we pray that you would comfort them. [33:28] For everyone in here, God, suffering is coming. And we just ask you to help us lay this firm [33:35] foundation of your truth, understanding your purposes, but trusting the God who broke into [33:41] history on the cross and in the resurrection and said, you’re going to make everything right. We

[33:45] thank you for that hope, Father, and help us to live more every day in light of the hope to come. [33:52] So we thank you for that. In Jesus’ name, amen. Well, right now, at this point in the service, [33:57] we’re going to move into a time of communion. We do this every week at Village Church. It’s a way [34:01] to reflect on who Jesus is and what he has done for us. The bread represents Christ’s body broken [34:08] for us. The cup is Christ’s life coming into us. And if you are a believer here this morning, [34:13] these tables are open to you. Reflect on the hope that you know that we have. It is the only hope

[34:18] that really, at the end of the day, sustains us and is worth living for. So when you’re ready, [34:23] go ahead and come.