by Roland Wrinkle
IF THERE WERE NO SUFFERING, THERE WOULD BE NO BIBLE, NO CHRIST, NO CHRISTIANS, NO EASTER, NO CHRISTMAS, NO CHURCH, NO SECOND COMING, NO RENEWED AND RESTORED CREATION Somehow, and for some reason, that just doesn’t sound like a good thing to me.
The genesis of suffering is in Genesis, i.e., it comes from us:
GEN 1: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good [i.e., no suffering]
GEN 3: “Because you [i.e., us] have done this…”
“To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe [suffering]:
To Adam he said, through painful [suffering] toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
And the Lord God said, “Humans have now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. They must not be allowed to reach out their hands and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” [Death comes into the world]
SO, HUMAN BEINGS CAUSED AND CONTINUE TO CAUSE, SUFFERING AND DEATH. IT IS THE PRICE PAID FOR THE FREE WILL NECESSARY FOR THE RECIPROCAL LOVE BETWEEN GOD AND HIS IMAGERS AND ALL OF CREATION. NO FREEWILL- NO SUFFERING; NO FREEWILL- NO LOVE… AND “GOD IS LOVE.”
But What About “Natural Evil” (earthquakes, floods, droughts, hurricanes)? Gen 3.17: “Cursed is the ground because of you (i.e., us). We caused all of creation to become cursed because all of creation is connected. “The stones [and woodwork] will cry out.” “All of creation is in birth PAINS.” The King of Nineveh in Jonah declared: “Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth.” There are a surfeit of verses linking human actions with all of creation. E.g. “For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Is 55.12 “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” Ps 105.6 “Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth!” Ps 96.1
THE GREAT REVERSAL: REV 21: “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain.
THEREFORE, IT SEEMS TO ME: If there were no suffering and death, then there would be no bible, no Christ (messiah) and no church.
This is no “answer.” But it provides a different perspective that can hopefully help us understand suffering as close as possible to the limit of our God-intended understanding. (the peace of God “transcends all understanding.” ) Carole Cogley is still adding to the discussion: “do not lean on your own understanding.” Prv 3.5-6. “For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.” Mark 4.22 “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” In fact the last book of the bible is entitled “The Unveiling” or the “Revealing.” “I will utter things that have been hidden since the foundation of the world.” Matt 13.35
MOREOVER, WHILE I CAN’T ANSWER WHY GOD ALLOWS SUFFERING, I AM CERTAIN THAT GOD REDEEMS EVERY LAST OUNCE OF OUR SORROWS: Joseph to his scheming, plotting brothers: “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.: Gen 50.20 The man born blind and healed by Jesus “so that the works of God might be displayed in him..” John 9 In John 11, Jesus delays three days to attend to the brother of his close friends Mary and Martha. When they complain (i.e., “Why is God allowing suffering?”), Jesus responds: “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
When Jesus returns, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain,” Without suffering…WHO CARES?