Answering the problem of suffering (part 2)

There can be a real link between suffering and love: willingness to suffer for the good of another is a measure of real love. The more suffering one is prepared to suffer for another is a way of indicating the greatness of love for them. Jesus taught this principle: “Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15.13). And he demonstrated his love when he called himself the “Good Shepherd” who “lays down his life for his sheep” (John 10.11, 15). That’s how much Jesus loves you – he gave his life to save you from hell!

On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus gave evidence of knowing how awful his suffering was going to be. That Roman death penalty was both horrible and excruciatingly painful. But Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane on that evening alludes to a deeper suffering he was to undergo. He asked that, if it were possible his Father would take away the “cup” from him. This expression is used in the Old Testament to describe the outpouring of God’s holy wrath on wicked sinners. Jesus was sinless: he did not deserve to die nor to suffer God’s punishment. But he had to drink the awful cup of the horror of Calvary: “The cup that the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?” he said (John 18.11). He thus fulfilled the Father’s plan of salvation to save us sinners as he surrendered to be crucified by the Roman soldiers. So, over and beyond the physical suffering, Jesus thus “bore our sins in his own body on the cross” (1 Peter 2.24). He “gave himself up for us… as a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5.2); “he died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3.18).

These passages and others tell us that Jesus (who was totally innocent) voluntarily took the place of sinners and suffered their eternal hell condensed into his infinite divine person for three hours on the cross; so when we turn from sin and commit in faith to Jesus, we can know God’s love for us personally. He “paid our debt”, so that we might go free. He did it because he loved us very, very much.

Perhaps you object to the idea of hell, as you consider the awful suffering that it represents. But think of this: first, it shows that our sins are indeed extremely serious in God’s sight and deserve terrible punishment. But second, the Son of God became a man so that he might endure in his person that very same terrible suffering. What he did is therefore the demonstration of the infinite love he has – even for hell-deserving sinners like you and me. So the awfulness of hell becomes a measure of Christ’s love for us! If we reject him still, after all he has done to save us from hell, we should realise what we deserve.

For those who repent and trust in him, Jesus promises eternal life, where, according to the Bible, “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain” (Revelation 21.4). Suffering will be forever over for those whom Christ has saved, when he comes back to judge the impenitent and set up the kingdom of God. Jesus teaches he will be the final judge, separating the sheep from the goats, and he ends by saying, “these (the lost) will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life” (Matthew 25.46).

Clive Every-Clayton

January 20, 2025 0

Answering the problem of suffering (part 1)

Many atheists think that the problem of suffering is sufficient to prove that a good God doesn’t exist. They are wrong again here, and I will tell you why.

Firstly, let’s think about a “good” God. Goodness is not only kindness and compassion, but also uprightness, justice, decency, holiness. The good God who exists is both loving, and holy. His wisdom leads him to regulate human conduct by his commandments which issue both from his holiness and from his love. This means that the holy human life, keeping God’s commandments, is actually the happiest; it is the best way for human beings to enjoy life and find fulfilment. It follows that sinful behaviour is not the way of true happiness.

Secondly, God has put his creatures in a context where they are answerable to him for the way they behave. He is discontent with human disobedience and sin but in his kindness, he warns people (by their conscience as well as by his Word) that their evil deeds will be sanctioned. This is an inescapable element of our reality. God did not create us all so we could harm people and wreak havoc with his creation with impunity. He is and ever will be the ultimate Master of all his creation and the judge of all his creatures. This is an element of the Christian position that is seldom raised in dealing with the atheist’s objection concerning the problem of pain and suffering, but it is essential to the biblical answer.

Thirdly, punishment is not nice. By its very nature it must hurt, or it is no penalty at all. The ultimate punishment for unrepentant sinners is eternal hell, and this is depicted as terrible suffering. Indeed, it is so awful that biblical prophets, apostles, and the Lord Jesus himself warn everyone most earnestly to turn from the way of wickedness and find the full and free forgiveness that God in his grace offers them, through the work and promises of Jesus. The fact that forgiveness and acceptance and eternal life is graciously offered by our Saviour shows that God is no monster – he is glad to forgive and welcome the sinner who repents and turns to him. But the Christian cannot escape the difficulty by saying that all will go to heaven in the end: what the believer can say is that God will judge rightly. The biblical expression, “God will render to each one according to his deeds” enshrines the principle of exact justice: no one will be punished more (or less) that they deserve, according to the light they received and their actual behaviour.

Now no warning that God might give about this eternal suffering would make any impact – nor could even be understood – if there was no such thing as suffering in this life. God therefore allowed suffering to be a part of our experience, so that we can correctly understand what eternal suffering would be like, in order to avoid it. He has chosen not to make our present suffering correspond exactly to our misdeeds; if he did, we would rightly complain that he is forcing us to be good. He desires that our obedience should be disinterested as far as our present circumstances are concerned. He even warns his children that they will suffer for being good in an evil world. He encourages them to be holy not for the gain they will get, but to give pleasure to their Master. Many of Jesus’ apostles suffered for their faith, and the holiest person ever – Jesus – suffered worst of all!

Clive Every-Clayton

January 20, 2025 0

But why does God…?

We want answers to numerous questions which begin with these words, because we question God’s apparent way of doing things. Why he allows suffering, for example, why he permits evil, and wars, and genocides, and torture… Why does God let little children suffer from the breakdown of their family security? And on and on.

Vast questions! In reply, notice first of all, two things. First, the accusing tone in the question. It’s as if we want to find fault with God, rather than really wanting to listen to the answer. We have already pre-judged him. To our way of thinking, he is a bad God; he’s not doing a good job – as if we would do better!

Secondly, the question seeks a rational explanation. Now let’s just think a moment why that is so. It’s because we are reasonable, thinking persons who require answers that satisfy the demands of our rational minds. And we expect there should be some reason why God does what he does. That expectation comes from the fact that we are endowed with intelligence that thinks logically. That, in turn, is actually the case because we are created in the likeness of a wise, super-intelligent, rational God.

The brilliance of God’s understanding can be seen in the amazing fine-tuning of the physical constants in the universe which are indispensable for life on our planet. Who but God could have put those extremely accurate unchangeable factors and measurements in place from the very moment when his big explosive power set off the start of all creation – so that one day his human creatures could live, think, develop agriculture, and study science?

You wouldn’t be asking the “But why does God…” question if you were merely complicated matter thrown up by abstract fate in a chance universe!

So the very fact that we ask such questions and want authentic answers is tacit testimony to God’s necessary existence! And so it is also perfectly legitimate to ask these questions, and to wonder about God’s way of doing things.

The problem is that you may well find that God’s answers are not to your taste. Why might that be? Because you think you know better than God! So as you ask your questions, please maintain an openness to hear answers which have a wisdom above your own.

Questions about human suffering are perplexing, and are not easily answered in a short blog. To get onto God’s wavelength as it were, is no simple matter. His ways, the Bible indicates, “are inscrutable… For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counsellor?” (Romans 11.33-34). God tells us through his prophet Isaiah, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways… For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55.8-9).

If befits us to have some humility. If God had written back in Isaiah’s day what he knew about the creating and upholding of the universe and human life, no-one would have understood it for millennia! He knew all about cells and DNA and fossil fuels and the ozone layer and so on; he wanted us to use our intelligence to discover such things progressively. He saw that our need was for moral and spiritual realities to be understood, so that’s what he decided to reveal, for without such revelation, our human reason would never know such truths.

We are so ignorant! Yet we dare question God’s ways!

Clive Every-Clayton

October 30, 2023 0