If you are in the habit of sharing your faith with unbelievers, you know this is a commonly asked question. I often feel this is another one of those questions somewhat designed to take the focus off the real issue—namely, “What should I do with the claims of Jesus Christ?”
With that said, however, let’s take a look at why a sovereign (and loving) God would allow so much suffering. The question itself seems to be pointing a finger at God as if He were in the wrong, and shouldn’t allow people to hurt. In fact, the actual blame must be directed elsewhere.
In the beginning, God’s design was much different than what we see today. On the sixth day of creation the Lord created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden. I know many liberal theologians take issue with this being a literal place, and some would have us to believe that Adam and Eve were not literal people. If that were true, however, why does God’s Word go to such great lengths to show us the exact lineage from Adam to Noah to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Judah to David and Solomon—and right on down to Jesus? But that’s another topic for another day.
My point is that Adam and Eve were real people who were given the opportunity to live in a real place. And the garden where they were placed was one where no suffering was necessary. But they were not created as robots. God only gave Adam one commandment: “The LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17).
When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, they opened the door for suffering to enter the world. Because God is holy, He must judge sin. He was completely just with Adam and Eve by allowing that suffering, because He had warned them beforehand: “You must not eat from the tree…[or] you will surely die.”
We who have followed Adam are born with a sin nature because of his sinfulness. Our first inclination may be to point at him as the culprit and say, “Well, it’s not fair that I should suffer, just because he chose to sin!” However, the Bible doesn’t let us off the hook so easily. In spite of the fact that each of us has inherited a sinful nature, God’s Word holds each of us accountable for our own actions. Here’s what the Apostle Paul had to say, “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’ Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God” (Ro. 3:10-12, 19, emphasis mine).
And Romans 5:12 says, “Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.” Notice how Paul ended this verse—“because all sinned.” It’s as if he were saying, “Yes, I know sin entered the world through Adam, but remember—we have ALL sinned.” And if we are honest, each of us must also admit we have deliberately disobeyed God many, many times.
Therefore, when we see suffering in the world, however tragic or illogical it may seem, God is not to blame. The Lord never desired it to be this way, but because of His holiness and justice, there were consequences that were set in motion when Adam and Eve chose to disobey Him.
Fortunately, the story doesn’t end there. Even though God had to allow consequences for disobedience, He has provided a way of escape—and ultimately full restoration to a life without suffering. Paul goes on to say in the same chapter, “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” (Ro. 5:15).
Yes, God allows suffering. Yet He remains a God of love. When we see tremendous suffering and may be tempted to doubt that eternal truth, remember this:
“You were dead in your transgressions and sins. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:1, 4-6).
There may be suffering in this world, but take heart! For, as believers in Christ, “Our citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20).