|
|
|
|
If God is Love, why does He allow suffering?
|
9/2/2009 11:03:01 AM
|
|
The God of Holiness vs. The God of Love:
As we consider the God's attribute of love, we must also consider His attribute of Holiness. In fact God would cease to be God if you removed any of His attributes! And there are many attributes included in the makeup of the "Godness" of God! We will not look at all of them in this thesis, but I will list some of them here to stimulate your curiosity, perchance to encourage you to seek out their meaning and interrelationships with the two we will address in detail: God Is Holy and God Is Love.
The attributes of God encompass both "Who God is": His Essence and "What God Does": His Character. As we look at the bible, the world and the church, we will see that God's Character, what He Does or Does Not Do, is based on Who He Is. We will look at each of these attributes in future post as God, in His grace, allows in the coming weeks:
- God Is Holy - I Peter 1:16
- God Is Love - 1 John 4:8,16
- God Is Good - Romans 2:4
- God Is True - John 3:33
- God Is Spirit - John 4:24
- God Is Living - 1 Thessalonians 1:9
- God Is Truthful - Titus 1:2
- God Is Just - Deuteronomy 32:4
- God Is Eternal - Psalm 90:2
- God Is Invisible - Colossians 1:15
- God Is Unchanging - Malachi 3:6
- God Is Omniscient (All-Knowing) - Psalm 147:4,5
- God Is Omnipotent (All-Powerful) - Matthew 19:26
- God Is Omnipresent (Everywhere at Once) - Jeremiah 23:23-24
God Is Holybecause it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. (I Peter 1:16)
For I am the LORD who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. (Leviticus 11:45)
Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. (Leviticus 19:2)
Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God. (Leviticus 20:7)
because it is written, Be holy, for I am holy. (I Peter 1:16)
The word "Holy" appears 546 time in the bible: 376 times in the OT & 170 in the NT. It is very important to God as He Is Holy! In fact, Holiness is God's primary attribute by which all other attributes MUST be evaluated. None of God's attributes contradict the others and His Holiness explains why that it so! But before we can talk about it, we must first define it. Webster defines Holy as: "Spiritually whole or sound; of unimpaired innocence and virtue; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly; pious; irreproachable; guiltless; acceptable to God." [1913 Webster].
When we look at Holiness in relationship to God, the key descriptors are: "innocence" (in respect to sin or evil), "free from sinful affections" (God is never tempted to do evil) and "righteous" (irreproachable; guiltless). God is completely upright and righteous. In fact, He Himself is the ONLY definition of holiness as He is also the Lawgiver & Judge! He is Holy because He is God, and He is God because He is Holy! The two are inseparably intertwined.
The ramifications of God's Holiness are related to every thing He says and does!. And His Holiness is eternal and unchanging throughout all time, task and words. His Holiness makes certain things sure in His relationships as well. For instance, He can not look upon sin. Sin is the opposite of holiness. Sin is anything short of holiness. If you take Holiness and add even one extremely small little white lie, the result is unholiness!
Holiness also affects His perfection in that if you take Holiness and add to it one extremely small neglect in action or oversight, holiness becomes unholy! By that I mean, if God failed to do a task that was appropriate for any given circumstance, He would be unholy. If He overlooked a single sin or imperfection He would be imperfect and hence, unholy. It is this very principle that requires Him to punish ALL sins (acts of unholiness)!
God's punishment is directly proportionate to His Holiness! God is Holy which is infinite goodness (100%), eternal in nature and unchangeable. therefore the punishment of sin MUST be infinitely bad (100%), eternal and unchanging. This punishment has to be completely separate from His Holiness and must last till the unholy target is perfect; a situation that is impossible to obtain, so the separation is eternal. Lastly, God is Holy and He can not impart any good thing to an unholy being. If he does, He is guilty by association and an accessory to the evil of that unholy person or being! Therefore this place of separation can have no "good" attributes or characteristics: (i.e. it must be an Eternal Punishment, HELL)!James 1:17Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
In these verses, James states that the source of "every good gift" is God. This is because nothing is "good" that is not perfect in Holiness. And since God alone, is Holy (aside from whom He has imparted holiness to), they originate from Him and Him alone! James also defines this God as "Father of lights", having "no variableness" nor having any "shadow of turning". These are key phrases that reemphasize the statement made above. God is a "Father" in that He passes His blessings to His creation; inheritance. The term "lights" is a present perfect tense of the "shining" of this goodness in many directions and at all times. Additionally, light is like holiness in that holiness can never be hidden; light reveals all and hides nothing to anyone.
James also uses the terms "no variableness" which indicates equality to all recipients. No favoritism in Holiness can exist. God is Holy to all alike! Nor can the Holiness of these gifts given be limited by times, seasons, or whims of God. They are constant in intensity and distribution over all eternity! Also, James emphasizes this with the terms having no "shadow of turning". God can not change His mind about being Holy, nor can He change the targets of His Holiness. If He gives Holy gifts, He is obligated to continue to give Holy gifts to that individual, throughout eternity. If He stops or drops one recipient to "turn" to another, He has failed to be Holy to the original recipient who requires these "gifts" for their very existence: i.e. For in him we live, and move, and have our being (Acts 17:28).
So how does this verse prove that there is a Hell from our side of the equation? Simply, if we choose not to respond to His provisions and self-sacrifice for our sins, we are choosing eternal separation from a God's Holiness. Hence, we can not partake of anything good! Can we have light, no so utter darkness! Can we have peace, no so torment! Can we have comfort at any time, no so eternal punishment! Can we have a good environment, no so Hell's fires burn hot! All these conditions are what is left when you remove "Every good gift" of His Holiness! Hell is the opposite of Heaven (God's Abode) by very definition and by neglect of any benefit of God!
Now, with that as our foundation, let us look at God's attribute of Love:
God Is Love "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (1 John 4:8)
"And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." (1 John 4:16)
"And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." (Romans 5:5)
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
Love is the outward expression of God's Holiness to His Creatures. Love is the result of Holiness to them that are Holy or them that could become holy if redeemed from there unholiness by payment for sin; the imparted Holiness of God. Love is Holiness in Action! For God to BE Holy He must Be Loving! Holiness requires rewarding Holiness by expressions of thoughtfulness, commitment, encouragement, benevolence and the imparting of "Every good gift"! God's Love constrains Him to not only "care" about His creation, but to "act"! He is compelled to be responsible for His creation but way beyond what we could understand with our human intellect, emotions or will. He Loves us so much that it is His Essence: God IS Love!
In addition, God loves us with a Perfect Love. His Love is complete, perfect, eternal, irrevocable, unchanging and all the other characteristics as explained in His Holiness above. Paul describes God's love as infinite in scope (not having any boundaries): "height, nor depth". It is infinite in strength (not having any deterrents): "angels, nor principalities, nor powers". It is infinite in life (not having any requirements): "neither death, nor life".
But God's love is inseparable from His Holiness; they are one and the same in that they are different manifestations of the same unique God! God's Love is Holy and God's Holiness is Loving! If God provided the same rewards through eternity to an unholy being as a holy being, God would being unloving to the holy being. What kind of love would it be to give a holy being an unholy brother? Regardless of this mixed metaphor's logic, God Is Holy & God is Love, you can't have one without the other!
Lastly and most importantly, God's Love is Self-Sacrificing! Perfect Love is a love that sets the object above the source! God's Love constrained Him to pay the cost of unholy man's unholiness (due to sin). This He did by sending His Son, Jesus (a Holy Sacrifice) to die and take on the punishment of sin! Jesus took on all our sins and the wrath of God on the cross and spent three days in hell! He paid the penalty which was death and eternal punishment, but he being God, was (and is) eternal Holiness! His eternal Holiness, sacrificed for just 6 hours on the cross, was an eternal sum paid for and eternal punishment owed! The value of a Holy God, is worth much more than the cost of every sin! And a Holy God Died, and Died Willingly and without any other reason then Perfect Self-Sacrificing Love!
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." (John 10:17-18)
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
If God is Love, why does He allow suffering?The question above is illogical and irrelevant as it does not acknowledge God for who he is: Holy & Loving! God is Love and He did the most for you and the others who "suffer" on this planet that He could possibly do: He Killed His Son for You!
Now if you ask why do people suffer? Well that IS a logical and rational question and the answer is quite simple yet profoundly deep: Because of sin! Sin is the very thing that separates mankind from a perfect harmonious existence. Sin is the result of man turning away from a Holy God and to an unholy idol. Whether that idol be Satan, sinful pleasure, pride or self will is irrelevant as the result is the same: damnation of the body, soul and spirit.
So why does God allow suffering? Because the alternative is to give us what we truly deserve: Death, followed by eternal suffering in Hell! That is what we deserve and that is what God's Holiness demands for us. But BECAUSE God is LOVE, He Allows SUFFERING! It is the most Loving thing He can do: delay our death as long as possible to allow us to respond to His sacrifice for our sins; the death of Jesus on the cross. If He stopped our suffering for any reason save our acceptance of Jesus' atoning death, he would be Unholy & Unloving. Your world is hanging on by a thread! You are dangling over an Eternity in Hell! The suffering you see hurts God more than you could ever imagine. It hurt Him so much that He Died because of it. That hurt is His heart breaking for the fate of mankind if they choose to reject His only possible recourse for their deliverance. Repent! The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand and Hell Waits with it's Mouth Wide Open for Those who Don't!
|
Summary
We are being
warned! God is showing us what His purpose for this
world entails. As we get closer and closer to the end,
the world has become more and more sinful! And
unfortunately, this condition will worsen till He
returns and redeems us from ourselves. Don't let sin,
self or Satan who has invaded our planet separate you
from the free gift of salvation that Jesus extends to
you in His invitation to be born-again:
For God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send
His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes
in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe
is condemned already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)
Are You Ready? If not get ready, "Repent
for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand"!
Click to Read:
Luke 13:3;
Ephesians 2:8-9;
Romans 10:8-13;
Acts2:38
|
| << Home |
Please consider donating to help defray my website cost.
Each gift receives dividends in Heaven! :D
Note: You will see the
EITALL logo for authenticity! :)
Thanks for donating to help get these
much needed messages to a lost and dying world!
|
|
|
|
|
| About Me |
|
Name: Paul Paradise
Location: Toccoa, GA
Ask Questions: Q & A
Contact Us: Enquiry form
Follow me on:
|
| Bible Prophecy |
|
|
| Bible Study Blogs |
|
|
| Blogger Question |
|
He is Coming Soon . . .
RU Ready?
|
| Twitter Widget |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
COMMENTS: