We have made the slides you see on the screen during the message available to you here. Click the blue boxes to take notes. When you are finished taking notes, click “Email” at the bottom to send yourself a copy. If you prefer to take notes on paper, print this page before the service. Click here to go to our website.
Evil, Pain, & Suffering
If God is real, especially if He’s loving, why would He allow so much evil, pain, and suffering?
Big Question: How do we deal with evil, pain, and suffering in this life?
Atheism — Evil, pain, and suffering are just proof that God doesn’t exist.
From an atheist perspective, not only is there no hope of a better end to the story; there is no ultimate story. There is nothing but blind, pitiless indifference. —Rebecca McLaughlin
New Age — Instead of “God doesn’t exist”, evil and suffering don’t exist. The negative events or moral evils are not real, they are an illusion that we need to escape.
Hinduism — Karma. An impersonal force of justice that operates like the laws of physics, causing good or bad things to happen based on whether a person has been good or bad in this life and in past lives. The only way to escape the cycle of suffering is to live a good enough life that Karma pays you back for your good, not your evil, and if you live good enough long enough, you will reach enlightenment and be free from all suffering.
Buddhism — Life itself is suffering, and the only means of escape is to break the ties of attachment that bind us to life, including all our desires, until we reach a state of Nirvana where a person’s desires and suffering are gone.
Islam — Suffering is the result of sin in the world. It teaches the endurance of suffering with hope and faith in Allah (god). The faithful are not counseled to resist suffering, or to ask why. Instead, they accept it as God’s will and live through it with faith that God never asks more of them than they can endure.
The Christian God came to earth to deliberately put himself on the hook of human suffering. In Jesus Christ, God experienced the greatest depths of pain. Therefore, though Christianity does not provide the reason for each experience of pain, it provides deep resources for actually facing suffering with hope and courage rather than bitterness and despair. —Timothy Keller
Main Scripture: Lamentations 3:20-24
I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. 21 Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: 22a The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. —Lamentations 3:20-22
How do we deal with evil, pain, and suffering in this life?
1.) We remember God’s love
This is real love–not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. —1 John 4:10
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. —Romans 5:8
How do we deal with evil, pain, and suffering in this life?
1.) We remember God’s love
2.) We rest in God’s presence
Great is his faithfulness; —Lamentations 3:23a
And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. —Matthew 28:20b
Jesus holds us close as we lament. He weeps with us as we weep. He knows the end of the story, when he will wipe every tear from our eyes. But this does not stop him from cleaving to us in our pain. In fact, pain is a place of special intimacy with him. We see this in our own lives. We can laugh with anyone. But we cry with those closest to us; and the bond is strongest when their suffering connects with ours. —Rebecca McClaughlin
How do we deal with evil, pain, and suffering in this life?
1.) We remember God’s love
2.) We rest in God’s presence
3.) We rely on God’s strength
his mercies begin afresh each morning. —Lamentations 3:23b
Since he himself (Jesus) has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested. —Hebrews 2:18
So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. —Hebrews 4:16
How do we deal with evil, pain, and suffering in this life?
1.) We remember God’s love
2.) We rest in God’s presence
3.) We rely on God’s strength
4.) We recount our hope in God
I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. 21 Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: 22 The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. 24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” —Lamentations 3:20-24
If you have surrendered your life to Jesus today, we’d like to celebrate that with you and help you with some next steps. Please text Life to 63566.
Reference Books:
✦ The Problem of God by Mark Clark
✦ Christianity for People Who Aren’t Christians by James Emery White
✦ Confronting Christianity by Rebecca McLaughlin
✦ Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
✦ The Reason for God by Timothy Keller