I often get asked, If there is a God, or if God is real, then why is there so much evil and suffering in the world?  It is a good question.  It is logical to ask if God is all powerful and loves us then why do the innocent suffer?  Why does it seem that when catastrophe strikes it is indiscriminate in whom it claims, young, old, Christian, Atheist or Muslim,  rich or poor, white or black?  Why does it often seem that the wicked prosper greatly while the innocent and the good get taken advantage of?    Why would God allow this?

I heard a good point in a recent sermon I watched.  The pastor reminded us that in the beginning, a perfect God created a perfect world, with perfect people.  But when we look around us we see the opposite.  We see death and abuse and greed and fear.  So when you read the Bible you have to ask, “what happened?”

He gave the example that goes like this:  In the morning you wake and tidy your home.  You vacuum, do the dishes, wipe down every surface, do laundry and put the laundry away and when you are leaving your home, you glance back and see that everything is good.  Everything is in place and you have staged it with flowers so that it will be pleasantly welcoming when you return.  But after a long day at work, you return to find your front door broken, and your home is a mess.  There is graffiti on your walls and most of your belongings are destroyed or missing.  Your immediate thought would be “What happened?”

Jesus describes it best in Matthew 13:24-30.  “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.  So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?  He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?  But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.  Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

Notice how people are questioning the farmer.   A good farmer plants good seeds.   But the people ask, “did you not sow good seed in the field?”  Perhaps in their minds they are questioning whether the farmer is a good farmer or a bad farmer.   No good farmer would plant bad seed.

The focal point of the parable is the answer.  “He said unto them, An enemy has done this.”

In our world, we see much suffering and imperfection.   How could this have happened?  How could we have gone from a perfect creation with perfect people to this decay.   The answer is simple and speaks to the great controversy.  An enemy has done this.

Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

So in our world, we see both growing together, the bad and the good seed.  “ Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”

The enemy is seldom mentioned when discussing why there is so much suffering in the world.  God is blamed.  But a study of the great conflict that we are all part of is critical in understanding the forces that impact us daily and how this will end.  When will the harvest be?

The post Why Is There Evil in the World? first appeared on The Balanced Life: Bible Study and Christian Bible Discussion.

Prophecy Study 1
The World As We Know It

Recently in a discussion where I was sharing my faith with colleagues, I was asked, why is there so much evil, so much death and suffering in the world?  It seems that everywhere you look, there seems to be terrible things happening, natural disasters, personal suffering and lawlessness.

This is the world as we know it.  Sometimes life is a struggle, and in our struggles we witness around us violence, trickery, dishonor, hatred, disease and death, poverty and helplessness, greed and abuse.

The Bible tells us of a time when this was not the case, where the world was not as we know it.  Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.”  Genesis 1:29, “And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.”

Read Genesis 2.  How do we understand what the world was like right after creation.  Compare it to today.

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Genesis 3 starts with the serpent.  Who is the serpent? Read

Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

and

Revelation 20:2. “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.”

It seems that Satan was once in Heaven.

Read Luke 10:18. “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.”

How do the following verses help to give a better picture of what happened in heaven that led to Satan’s fall?

Revelation 12:7-12  “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.  And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

Isaiah 14:12-14  “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Ezekiel 28:13-18  “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.  Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.”

Selfishness seems to be the original sin.    It seems he Satan had an “I” problem.  Isaiah 14:13-14, “…I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

It also seems that heaven rejoiced once Satan was kicked out of heaven.  In contrast, there is a warning for the earth, Revelation 12:12. “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

We are affected here on earth.  From a perfect world, with perfect creation, God was able to commune face to face with a perfect people.  Today, sin has ravaged this planet and all that lives here.

What can you observe in our world today that tells you that something is not quite right?  Are there any indicators that show that mankind is running out of options to solve problems facing us?  And why?

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Interesting fact:  Headaches are typically caused by stress or tension (Although they can also be cause by other factors).  Just dealing with the stresses of life, humans consume annually approximately 35,000 metric tonnes of Aspirin, enough to make over 100 billion standard aspirin tablets every year.

The post Prophecy 1 – The World As We Know It first appeared on The Balanced Life: Bible Study and Christian Bible Discussion.