Ep.1277: Will the World’s Pain and Suffering Ever End?
Biblically answering the hard questions about humanity's brokenness
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CHAPTERS
Theme Scripture: Revelation 21:4
In all of recorded history since Adam, there has never been a time when humanity did not know pain, sorrow, trauma and death. Never. These things are so ingrained into the fabric of our lives that the very idea of not knowing pain and suffering is a pipe dream. And death? It’s a given. Everybody has death touch those around them, as we all eventually will be swallowed up by it. If we try and have someone imagine a world without these things, the thought is often met with the classic response, “That would be great, but it sounds too good to be true!” Why do we bring up this hope that sounds like a fairy tale happy ending? We bring it up because the Bible explains it through many prophecies. We bring it up because we believe it is the true conclusion of the stated plan of God.
It's easy to blame God
Because pain and suffering are hard things to deal with, it can become easy to blame God for our experiences with them. If God loved us, He would never allow these things to happen! I wouldn’t let my children go through such things, so why does God let us go through them? These are but two of the many reactions people have to God in the face if the difficulties of life. You can’t blame people for feeling this way, as a logical, God-based explanation for our current social circumstances is hard to find.
Does He really care?
Along with these kinds of reactions, there are a list of questions people typically wonder about when trying to make sense of God in the context of our current troubles. “Does God really care about the massive suffering that humanity experiences?” is probably near the top of the list. This fundamental question demands a simple yes or no answer. If we were to answer yes, and we absolutely believe that to be true, then another question immediately follows, “If God does care, then what possible benefit could there be from the thousands of years of human suffering we have endured?” Answering this question is by necessity a much more detailed endeavor, as it requires reasoning through several levels of proof. Here again, we believe that there is a sound, scriptural and logical conclusion that can be drawn.
These two questions are a gateway to several other pertinent life questions dealing with God and the existence of things like fear, crime and violence. Check out our April 17, 2023 podcast, “Will the World’s Pain and Suffering Ever End?” for more. We directly approach these and other questions about God and humanity. Our objective is simple. To the best of our ability, we want to be able to square the loving character of God with the sin, pain, suffering and death of our present world. The good news is that there are sound and inspirational scriptural answers that provide hope and opportunity for every human being who has ever lived. God DOES have a plan! Join us as we unfold its solutions!
I like how you answered that question 🙏