Why is there Death and Suffering?

Introduction

"Tsunami Kills Thousands", "Volcano Destroys Village", "Serial Killer Strikes Again". These and many other bad things in the world cause many people to wonder if God really exists; and if He does, why do these things happen?
While no person can totally understand everything that happens in this world, one can attempt an answer if you make God your focus and allow His Word to speak to you. Many have rejected Christianity because of they did not receive a satisfactory answer. Quite often, those attempting the answer had compromised views of the Creation account and thus could not consistently answer this question. This article I have written is only a very brief piece about the topic and there is much more that can be said and that I know I have omitted and will add when I have time.

What Does Scripture Say?

Gen 1:31  And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

If one does a plain reading of the creation account, we see that not only was each day's creation pronounced "good", the total creation was "very good". If one introduces vast ages somewhere in the creation account before Adam, one would have animals (dinosaurs etc.) and pre-adamic humans dying of disease, disaster or predation. Surely God would not pronounce terrible disease and suffering "good"? There would not be one flaw in all of God's creation, since He is perfect!

What Went Wrong?

When Adam deliberately disobeyed God (Eve was merely deceived) he set I motion a set of events that still have effects today.

Scripture:

Rom 5:12  Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

1Co 15:21  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

1Co 15:45  And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

We see from the last verse, that death is an enemy and is thus not part of God's original creation. Notice too:

• Adam was the first man.
• Sin came into the world through him (Adam)
• Death then came because of this sin

Not only did sin, suffering, calamity and death come upon mankind, but also upon ALL of creation:

Gen 1:28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

 

Man was made head over the animals, so they too suffer.

The Character of God

Before I continue, let me say a few brief words regarding the character of God.

God is Holy. While we cannot stand in His Holy presence and live, we can understand with some understanding what this holiness means. He is perfectly pure, complete and perfect in moral character. Anything that is not holy must then depart from His presence.

God is just and consistent.  God will always do the"right thing" according to his righteous and holy nature. He MUST act against all evil and punish evil. If He did not do so, then He would be tolerant of evil and would thus not be holy.

The Result

Gen 2:17  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

And when man rebelled:

Gen 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

So because of God's holy nature He had to act and judge the disobedience of His creation. The whole of creation (animals,the earth, stars, etc.) were brought under the curse of sin. We now live in a fallen world. We must remember that God does not cause evil - that would be inconsistent with His nature.

There is a lot more than could be said, but I will stop here. Just remember that God is in control of this entire world we live in. One day, ALL PEOPLE will get what they truly deserve - eternal punishment in hellfire if they did not repent of their evil deeds, or a blissful eternity with Jesus for those who were filled with sorrow for the evil deeds they committed and thus repented and turned to Christ.