"Since your God is full of love and kindness, why does he allow sin, pain and suffering?" With more and more disasters, this question is the last question Christians want to be asked, and it is also the question people want to ask most.
"No Christian can give everyone a satisfactory answer or think it is a good answer." Mark Mittelberg, a Christian writer and defender, believes that sin can only be recognized and measured when it is against the standard of goodness, and people judge sin, pain and suffering because there is a higher moral standard in their consciousness, which goes beyond people's preferences and social laws.
"This innate sense of moral standards points to the existence of the giver (creator) of moral laws." He believes that sin is not created and caused by God, but the reason behind it is that people use the freedom given by God to abandon love and follow, but instead bring sin and evil into all the beauty created by God. God endures this evil with us. In order to save us and endure the suffering that no one wants to bear, God will judge this evil in the end.
Lee Strobel, a Christian apologist and writer, believes that there are usually two kinds of people who ask this question, one is people who are experiencing suffering and pain, and the other is people who think rationally. "Some people ask this question because they come from this situation, and they don't want a long and rational answer. They are just looking for someone who can treat him, love him, help take care of him and lend a helping hand like Jesus. " Stubb suggested that people should be sensitive to this. For people who think rationally, he said that people live in a world where evil spreads, and no one can understand everything before going to heaven.
What did God tell us about this problem? "First of all, God is not the creator of evil, pain and suffering. Where did those come from? " Stub said that God created human beings to experience the greatest love in the universe and gave them the free will to decide whether to love or not. However, human beings abuse their free will, reject God and stay away from God. As a result, evil enters the world and brings difficulties and pains. As for natural evils such as disasters, he said, "This is a world corroded by evil, and it is no longer like the time when God created it."
The following are my thoughts on this issue:
First of all, more and more disasters are inevitable.
The disciples once said to Jesus, "What are the signs of your coming and the end of the world?" Jesus answered and said to them, You should also hear about wars and rumors of wars, so don't be alarmed, because these things must happen, but the end is not yet here. The people will attack the people and the country will attack the country. There will be famine and earthquakes in many places. All this is the beginning of disaster (Matt. 24: 6-8). Revelation also describes 21 disasters before the arrival of the Lord.
Although we don't know when the world will end, one thing we know is that the end of the world is getting closer and closer. The word of the Lord must be fulfilled, and more and more disasters are inevitable: for example, in recent years, the number of earthquakes is on the rise.
Second, most disasters are caused by man-made crimes.
The artificial man was upright, but they found many clever plans (Ecclesiastes 7: 29). God gave people free will, but people chose not to obey, and chose to do evil instead of doing good. Human nature, inherent evil, is a biblical view, as Paul said in Romans 3: 9- 18: What about this? Are we better than them? Absolutely not! Because we have proved that both Jews and Greeks are under sin. 10 as it is written: "There is no righteous man, not even one; 1 1 There is nothing to understand, and no one seeks God; 12 all deviate from the right path and become useless together. There is no one who does good, not even one. 13 Their throats are open graves, they cheat with their tongues, their lips are full of poisonous snakes, 14 is full of curses and pains; 15 killed and bled, and his feet flew away. 16 the road he walked was cruel and tyrannical; 17 the road to peace, which they have never known; 18 They are not afraid of God. " Jews are God's chosen people, and they are especially loved. Greeks represent all foreigners except Jews. Paul said that it has been proved that both Jews and Greeks are under sin. Therefore, Paul concluded that all men have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 3: 23). As the saying goes, "There is a way in heaven, but there is no way in hell, so we have to drill".
Gen 1: 27-28 So God created man in his own image, but in his own image he created male and female. God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and rule it;": You must also manage the fish in the sea, the birds in the air and all the creatures on the ground. "God gives people the power to manage land, fish in the sea, birds in the air and all kinds of living animals on the ground, but people abuse their power, pollute the environment, destroy the ecology, and bring air pollution, water pollution and soil pollution ... Many disasters today seem to be natural disasters, but they are all man-made disasters.
God is kind. He wants people to be blessed, and he also blesses the world. Through the Bible, God showed people his thoughts. In Chapters 26 and 28 of the Book of Benefits, God tells people the conditions for being blessed and warns people that they will be punished if they don't obey. (Ezek. 33: 1 1) Say to them, As I live, says the Lord GOD, I don't like the death of the wicked, but I like the fact that the wicked turn away from their ways and live. Return, O house of Israel. Turn around! Why die if you leave evil ways? Helpless, no one listens to him. God is just, and he will reward everyone according to their actions (Romans. 2: 6).
From the history of the Israelites in the Bible, we can see that God constantly punished them with various disasters: drought, insect plague, famine, plague and war ... For example, it is recorded in Numbers that because the Israelites did not believe in God and tried God ten times in the wilderness, God made 600,000 troops from Egypt fall to the ground. It is recorded in the book that God destroyed seven families in the land of Canaan through the Israelites. The Book of Judges records that in the era of judges, the Israelites repeatedly committed crimes, so God punished them through the foreigners around them. "Under Kings" records that due to the crimes committed by Israel, God invaded Israel in the north from Assyria der untergang in 722 BC and destroyed Judea in the south from Babylon in 586 BC.
Third, disasters are sometimes blamed by the devil.
Most disasters are caused by human crimes, but not all of them are caused by human crimes. If the righteous job suffers, it is not because of his sin, but because of the accusation of the wicked. There was a man named Job in the land of Uz. This man is completely upright, fearing God and keeping away from evil. Therefore, he was greatly blessed by God: God surrounded him and his home with a fence, and everything he had was blessed by God; His wealth also increased on the ground (job 1: 10).
But the plaintiff was full of jealousy because God praised Job. Jn 1: 12 The Lord said to Satan, "Everything he has is in your hand, but don't stretch out your hand to hurt him." So Satan withdrew from the presence of the Lord. God sent Satan to test Job, and God used it to test Job's faith. So, in one day, Job lost all his possessions and ten children (Job 1: 13- 19). Job got up, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell on his face and bowed down, saying, "I came out of my mother's womb naked, and I will go back naked. Giving is the Lord, and accepting is the Lord; Praise the name of the Lord. In all these things, Job did not sin, nor did he regard God as stupid (Job 1: 20-22).
Because of Job's firm faith in God, he later suffered more pain: Satan retreated from the presence of the Lord and struck Job, leaving him with sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head (Job 2: 7). Job said to her (wife), "You talk like a foolish woman. Hey! Are we blessed from the hand of God, and aren't we in trouble? " In all these things, Job did not commit crimes with his mouth (Job 2: 10).
Job 42: 12- 17 When the Lord blessed Job, it was later than before. He has 14000 sheep, 6000 camels, 1000 pairs of cattle and 1000 donkeys. He also has seven sons and three daughters. ..... 16 After that, Job lived for another 140 years and saw his children and grandchildren until the fourth generation. 17 In this way, Job died of old age and was satisfied.
Fourth, disasters make people repent.
Judges are in power, and the country is in famine. In Bethlehem, Judah, a man went to Moab with his wife and two sons. Facing the famine, Elimelech took his own way and left the land blessed by God-Bethlehem, Judah, but suffered a "greater famine"-Elimelech died in another country soon, and then his two sons died one after another. Mahlon and killian also died, leaving Naomi no husband or son. So she got up with her two daughters-in-law to go back from the land of Moab, because she heard in Moab that the Lord had taken care of his people and given them food.
When Naomi was "full", she left God because of the immediate difficulties. When she was "empty", she remembered.
Luke 15: 1 1-20 Jesus also said, "A man has two sons. 12 The younger son said to his father, Father, please give me the property I deserve. His father left them an inheritance. 13 after a few days, the youngest son packed all his belongings and ran away. Where you indulge in debauchery and waste your wealth. He exhausted everything, but became poor because of the great famine in the local area. 15 so he went to that place to take refuge in a person; The man sent him to the field to feed the pigs. 16 he is eager to eat the pods that pigs eat, and no one gives them to him. 17 When he woke up, he said,' How many employees of my father are willing but unable, and I am starving here? 18 I will get up, go to my father and say to him, Dad! I have sinned against God and you. 19. From now on, I don't deserve to be called your son, so treat me as an employee! So he stood up and walked to his father. Seeing that he was still far away, my father was moved with compassion, ran over and hugged his neck and kissed him again and again.
When the prodigal son is rich, he will be dissolute outside and waste his money. Famine and poverty made the prodigal son miss his father's home and urged him to return there.
Today, God also brings us into God's home through all kinds of sufferings.
5. Disasters make people humble.
It is easy for people to be complacent when they are safe and secure, so God uses disasters to humble people and realize how limited their wisdom and ability are. John 4: 46-47 There was a minister whose son was sick in Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come to Galilee from Judea, he came to see him and begged him to go down and heal his son, because his son was dying. The minister's son was ill, so he went to the Lord for treatment. As a result, not only his son was healed by Jesus, but also he and his whole family believed (4: 53).
The more society develops, the more science progresses, and the more people are proud. During the Cultural Revolution, our slogan was "Man can conquer nature", but we struggled to find that man still couldn't conquer nature, so it was better to conform to it, so we proposed to build a harmonious society. The more science develops, the higher the means of human crime, and the more corrupt people's hearts, which cannot be solved by science. Look around us. Human nature is getting worse. Man is guilty on earth. They think about evil all the time: greed, hatred, fornication, gambling, evil, theft, deception, corruption, corruption and bribery ... Timothy. 3: 1-5 You should know that there will be a dangerous day in the last days. Because people at that time were selfish, greedy for money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemous, unfilial to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unkind, talkative, dishonest, violent, heartless, unscrupulous, arrogant, indulgent and respectful.
Many intellectuals in our country are proud of "I study science and am an atheist", but some senior intellectuals (doctors, XXX) came to the United States, saw that the United States is so developed but a country with faith, and began to think about whether there is a God, and the result of their thinking made them repent and accept God. In the face of disaster, science cannot solve it. After the earthquake, everyone knows that no one can predict it before the earthquake. We can conquer outer space, but we can't conquer the inner world.
Sixth, the attitude of Christians towards disasters.
Luke 13: 1-5 Just then, Jesus was told that Pilate had mixed the blood of Galilee with their sacrifices. Jesus said to them, "Do you think that these Galileans are more guilty than all Galileans, so they suffer these things? I'm telling you, it's not If you don't repent, you will all perish like this! In the past, Xiluoya Building collapsed, resulting in 18 deaths. Do you think those people are more guilty than all the people who live in Jerusalem? I'm telling you, it's not If you don't repent, you will all perish like this! "
What attitude should Christians take in the face of disasters?
1. Compassion instead of gloating: In the face of disasters, some people gloat, but Christians cannot. We should sympathize with those who have suffered disasters. People all over the world say that "if one side is in trouble, all sides will help", so we should also lend a helping hand and try our best to help the people in the disaster area.
2. Pray instead of standing by: Some Christians believe that repeated earthquakes in Sichuan are due to their sins. They worship false gods and idols and commit fornication ... In the time of Jesus, Pilate mixed the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices. People think that these Galileans are more guilty than all Galileans, so they suffer for it. But Jesus said, I tell you, no. If you don't repent, you will all perish like this! Today, we all need to repent. We need to offer prayers of repentance and blessing for the disaster-stricken areas, asking God to forgive their sins, cure their apostasy, turn away from his anger, pity and bless the people in the disaster-stricken areas.
When Sodom was destroyed, God told Abraham that Abraham prayed earnestly for Sodom for six times in a row: Gen 18: 23-32 Abraham came forward and said, "Are you going to destroy all good and evil?" If there were fifty righteous people in that city, would you still destroy that place? Don't you forgive the fifty righteous people in the city? Destroying the wicked and serving others with virtue is by no means what you do. Is it not fair to judge the Lord of all the earth? "If I find fifty righteous people in Sodoma, I will forgive all of them for their sake." Abraham said, "Although I am dust, I dare to speak to the Lord." If five of these fifty righteous people are missing, will you destroy the whole city because of these five? And he said, If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy the city. Abraham said to him again, what if forty were found there? "He said," I won't do it for forty. Abraham said, "Please don't be angry. Let me say," What if there are thirty there? "He said," If I find thirty there, I won't do it. Abraham said, "I dare to speak to the Lord. What if I find twenty there? And he said, "I will not destroy the city for the sake of these twenty." Abraham said, "Please don't be angry. I want to say it again. What if there are ten people there? And he said, I will not destroy the city for these ten men. "We should also follow Abraham's prayer.
3. Be alert and don't worry: 1 Peter 4: 7- 10 The end of all things is near, so you should be careful and self-controlled and watch and pray. The most important thing is to really love each other, because love can cover up many sins. Be kind to each other and don't complain. 10 Everyone should serve each other according to the gifts he has received and be good stewards of God's various gifts. When we see more and more disasters, we know that the coming of the Lord is near, so we should be cautious and self-controlled, be alert and pray, love each other, serve each other, be good stewards of God, and be praised by the Lord when we meet him.
May God bless China and have mercy on China!
Author: Yemima, I hope this article will be helpful to the landlord.