Pastor Darryl Bentley
Midland SDA Church
August 28, 2010
Homiletical Idea: This world is filled with suffering. Many blame God while not realizing death came at the hand of our adversary the Devil. God must allow each person in this great conflict to make their choice for good or evil. In the end God’s character will be vindicated. In that end peace, joy, and love will reign supreme as we recognize that God allows suffering so that His power can be made perfect through our weaknesses.
Dream Interview
If you could sit down for a day with any famous person either now living or deceased and interview them who would you choose? Would it be a founder of our country? Would you want to peek inside the mind of mass murderers and try to understand their particular psychosis? Would you seek out a famous military leader or politician? Would it be a Bible character like Abraham or David? Who would you want to get to know better?
There is a long list of people that I would like to talk with. I would like to speak with Adolf Hitler. I cannot understand how one man could manifest so much hatred and anger. I would like to understand the chain of events that led his heart to turn to stone. How was he treated as a child? I believe that he was under satanic influence. I suppose I will have to wait and review the record of heaven during the first 1,000 years.
I would also like very much to talk with Astronaut Neil Armstrong. I would want to ask him how it felt to walk on the moon and what it was like to see the earth from that perspective. I want to know what it felt like to not just leave the country but to leave our world.
Of course there would also be a long line of Bible characters that I would like to interview. Can you imagine hearing Samson’s story first-hand or talking with Moses about walking through the Red Sea on dry ground. What about listening to Adam describe what the very first Sabbath on earth was like? The stories they could share would be exhilarating for sure.
At the very top of my list is to be able to speak directly with the Lord Jesus. I have so many questions that I want Him to answer. I want to know how the mind really works. I am fascinated by what little I know about the workings of the human mind, and I would love to hear Jesus tell me how it all really works; from memory management to hormone function and all other facets of the brain. I also want to know how He has always existed and about other created races on other worlds. There is a very long list of things that I want to know about. When I stop to think about it my mind begins to race so fast that I can hardly slow it down enough to even organize it all.
Walking By Sight
Many of you here today are probably also looking forward to learning at the feet of the great God of the universe. But sadly, not everyone on this planet will have the opportunity to pick the mind of Christ about all they desire to know. One reason for this is because they cannot trust Him now for what they can see so they certainly will not yield to Jesus and trust Him in what they cannot see.
One of the greatest questions in the world is that of theodicy. “What is theodicy?” you might ask. Theodicy is the theological term used to describe why God allows suffering to exist in the world. The existence of suffering is a major question in the minds of both Christians and non-believers. After every major tragedy people always ask, “How could a loving God allow something like this to happen?” Some even become atheistic in their thinking because they cannot reconcile this issue of suffering in the world with a loving God.
But we really need to look at what the real issues are surrounding this topic of suffering, pain, and death even among God’s people.
First things First
First we need to ask why suffering is in the world to begin with. This is best explained by understanding what causes suffering and heartache in the first place. Before sin entered into the picture of human existence there was no sickness or death. Contrary to the false teaching of evolution, man was created in the image of God. That image was a complete and perfect image that was untouched by the blight of sin. To say that man was created with a bent towards sickness and disease is to say that God Himself is not complete and perfect in all His ways (Rev 15:3). No, disease was not a part of creation it is a result of nearly 6,000 years of the effects of sin on a perfect creation.
God warned Adam and Eve that if they should choose to sin against Him by eating of the forbidden fruit then death would come in the wake of that choice. Satan tried to counter God’s claim in his lie that they would “not surely die.” Yet here we are on the brink of Christ’s second coming and our world is filled with death and dying as a result of Adam’s choice and Eve’s deception (Gen 3:17, 1 Tim 2:14).
God restated the point of sin leading to death through the writings of Paul in Romans. We are told very plainly that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life (Romans 6:23). And all of us apart from Christ are worthy of death because we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory (Romans 3:23). It becomes glaringly apparent that we cannot blame God for humanities state of sinful decrepitude. Each day on this earth has a two-fold purpose. It brings us closer to reaping the seeds of death sown by Adam while marching us closer to our glorious rescue at the hands of our creator God.
Played Out in Life
Essentially we could say the state of affairs in this world is largely a result of how sin has played itself out over the course of history, and sickness and disease are largely a result of our own choices. It truly amazes me how time and time again people seek to blame God for their choices. So many times I have heard people curse God because they reap the results of sin in their lives. It goes back to the age-old principle whereby whatever we sow; we reap the same (Gal 6:7).
I also realize that very bad things happen to the innocent ones among us. When we hear stories of children of less than a year of age having cancer we wonder what they did to deserve that. Surely they have not lived long enough to sow death in their fledgling life. We find one answer when we look to the 10 commandments in Exodus 20. The second commandment deals with idolatry and there God declared that we should not bow down to idols or worship them. If we do He will be forced to allow the transgression of our fathers to affect their children down through the 3rd and 4th generations. So we need to be careful of the legacy that we leave to our children. Will it be a savor of life unto life or death unto death (2 Cor 2:16)?
What about natural disasters that claim the lives of thousands? In Luke 21:25 we are told that sin will cause distress upon the earth as well. Sin is so contrary to God’s nature that even his inanimate creations repel sin.
Ultimately, I think we can conclude that all sickness and suffering in the world are in some way related to the effects of sin upon a spotless creation. Either our sin or the sins of our forbearers have heaped coals of suffering on us.
Not Immune to Suffering
I think it can help us put our own suffering into perspective if we look at how some of the most faithful of God’s children have also suffered. Turn with me to Hebrews 11. This is referred to as the faith hall of fame by many. But when you look through that hall of fame you discover that a lot of the people mentioned there endured suffering.
1. Abel was killed by his brother because of jealousy.
2. Noah preached for 120 years while being mocked every day of it.
3. Abraham had to endure the mental anguish of planning the sacrifice of his promised son.
4. Moses after putting up with all the complaining and apostasy of his people was himself denied access to the Promised Land.
5. Samson had his eyes gouged out.
6. David was denied being able to build God’s temple.
7. Others are not mentioned by name but the things they endured are. They were:
a. Tortured
b. Mocked
c. Scourged
d. Imprisoned
e. Stoned
f. Sawn into
g. Tempted
h. Slain with the sword
i. Wandered about in the humblest of clothes
j. Destitute or without any worldly possessions
k. Afflicted with disease
l. Tormented mentally
If Hebrews 11 bears witness to the faithful of God it surely also bears witness to the multitude of suffering that they endured while being faithful. It is my prayer that as we look at the suffering that God’s faithful endured that we will recognize that we are not immune to suffering. To follow Jesus means to endure suffering.
**Remainder of Manuscript Lost**