Why we suffer

Why we suffer

To Ierusha

“When we are considering pain itself – the center of the whole tribulational system –we must be careful to attend to what we know and not what we imagine.” (From The problem of pain by C. S. Lewis) 

“If we trace effect back to cause and that cause back to another and so on back to through the long dim corridors of the past until you come to the primordial atom out of which things were made, you will find the one who made them – you will find God.

Behind all previous matter, all life and law, all space and all time, there is God. God gives the human life it’s only significance; there isn’t any other apart from Him. If you take the concept of God out of the human mind there is no other reason for being among the living.

Christianity has lost its dignity. And we’ll never get it back unless we know the dignified Holy God, who rides on the wings of the wind and makes the clouds His chariots.  

We have lost the concept of Majesty and the art of worship.” (From The attributes of God by A. W. Tozer)

(These are some of my thoughts and observations on suffering, God, and sin - of course, much more has been and could be said and written.)

            An attribute is what God is, not something God has. Therefore all He is He is 100%.

            Some Christians believe that God is 100% love but only 30% justice, 40% mercy and 60% omniscience. This idea not only damages the church itself but also damages our own relationship with God.

            In the Garden of Eden God gave Adam a command, he was forbidden from eating from the tree of the knowledge of the good and evil. Whoever disobeyed God’s command would die. Adam in his rebellion against God disobeyed His command. He broke the law. That was when God executed His justice. God is 100% Holy. He does not tolerate any kind of sin. We now suffer the consequences of Adam’s disobedience. We inherited Adam’s sin. The Bible says that in Adam we all sinned.

            Now you can ask yourself how you have committed any sin if you weren’t even born yet. The church has little understanding about what “in Adam” or “in Christ” mean. We can find an illustration of how it works in Hebrews 7.9-10. Abraham offered the tenth to Melchizedek and Levi also offered the tenth to Melchizedek in Abraham. Therefore Isaac and Jacob offered the tenth to Melchizedek in Abraham.  Levi was yet to be born by the time of the war of the kings (Hebrews 7.1-3)  but he was going to be Abraham’s descendent. As the “father of faith” Abraham represents his family and all its descendants. When he made his offering he did it for all his descendants as well.

            Likewise through one man’s disobedience – meaning Adam – all of us became sinners. Adam sinned and as his descendants so did we. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.

            Now in Christ it works the same way. Christ died in order for us to die with him. He died representing you and me. It was God himself who placed us is Christ. Dealing with sin through Jesus’s death, He dealt with sin of the entire human race. In His love God provided the only one way man could be justified. Jesus Christ is the way.     

            Adam’s sin against God introduced death into the world. Now we live in a world where many people live in rebellion against their own creator.

            One of the reasons why we suffer is disobedience against the authority of God. Exodus 20.12 says “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.” It is the first commandment that brings along a promise.

            A lot of people die young, even in their teens. I cannot judge and say they died for disobeying God’s commandment. We are strongly exhorted to not judge anyone; this is not up to us. But His commands remain and we still suffer the consequences of our disobedience.

            Another reason why we suffer is because of our selfishness. I personally think it is one of the most common reasons for suffering. Through suffering our character can be dealt with. Romans 5.3-5 says “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance character; and character hope…”

            In the book of Job we find that suffering is not a reason to lose faith. I think one of the reasons why Job got a great victory is the fact that he was aware that nothing belonged to him. He understood the word that says “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things”. Job also had an immense gratitude for everything that God trusted him to administer and to love.

            Our leaders taught us and some of them still do to this day, that God can give us everything; that God heals; that God solves; that God can provide money and He can also give us each wonderful husbands. That’s true. But they forget to teach us about our responsibilities as well.

            The bible says His people die from lack of knowledge. If God’s people die from lack of knowledge this shows us that it is our obligation to seek this knowledge and understanding.  If we suffer it is because we lack this knowledge.

            We also need wisdom in order to make decisions like where to live, what career to choose, friends, boyfriends, husband and so on.

            Jesus didn’t promise He would free the world from suffering. He promised to bring a Holy City, the New Jerusalem, for which we anxiously wait.

            “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21.4.

“I answer that suffering is not good in itself. What is good in any painful experience is, for the sufferer, his submission to the will of God, and for the spectators, the compassion aroused and the acts of mercy to which it leads.” (From The problem of pain by C. S. Lewis)

With love,

Jacira Kaplan,

Mama