Note: I have previously posted two articles addressing the problem of pain and suffering. They were prefaces to this and two additional articles (See, “Apologetics,” for previous articles) I will be posting in days to come. These are the articles I mentioned in my first post on this subject, the articles our senior pastor asked me to write for our church newsletter.
The world is broken. This is a fundamental fact that we as Christians need to understand, particularly at this time in history. We live in an age of unbelief, and even though there is abundant evidence for belief in God, many do not believe and even those who do often find themselves doubting.
Perhaps the thing that causes us to doubt the most is the pain and suffering we see in the world. A few weeks ago we were shocked and saddened by the news of the death of a young Christian mother and two of her children in an auto accident. This was a tragic reminder of the brokenness of this world and of the fact that its brokenness sometimes touches even those of us who have put our faith in Christ.
So, why, if there is a God of love, does He allow such things to happen? If we do not understand the brokenness of this world we will never be able to answer that question. The Bible teaches that when Adam sinned, the perfect world that God had created for us to live in was ruined. It was as though Adam was a channel through which sin and death entered the entire cosmos. Creation was ruined. And the world, though it retains some of its created beauty, is an entirely different environment than the one originally created for us.
The Bible says that we, and all of creation with us, groan under the awfulness of the curse that we have brought upon the world through our sin. This groaning can be seen when we are touched by the brokenness of the world, when we find ourselves cursing the circumstances we find ourselves in, and when we find ourselves longing for a world without such things.
C.S. Lewis said this about the frustration we often feel as we live in this broken world: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” And so we were. We were made for another world.
You should also understand that God does not like the brokenness of this world anymore than we do. He did not create us to live in a broken world and when we are impacted by its brokenness he grieves with us. But someone might ask, if this is true why doesn’t he do something about it? The answer to this question is threefold: He has, He is and He will.
So, if he has done something about it, what has He done? The first thing we notice when we look to the Bible for answers is that God has mitigated the world’s brokenness so that even though broken the world is not completely ruined. It is not as bad as it could be, and it’s not as bad as the sinful human race deserves (See, “Apologetics,” for previous atricles and a defense of this statement).
Yes bad things happen in this world, but good things happen too. After the fall the earth produced thorns and thistles. Now man must make his living by the sweat of his brow. But in spite of the thorns and thistles we can make a living, and the earth produces good food in spite of the weeds. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. And even the wicked enjoy many good things. It would seem that God is kind even to enemies.
God has also established and ordained three institutions to mitigate the brokenness of the world: The Family, Human Government and the Church. These institutions have all been impacted themselves by the brokenness of the world. As a result they often fail to function as God intended. Nevertheless these flawed institutions function well enough to mitigate some of the brokenness of this world and most of us have enjoyed their beneficial effect.
God has also shown his love and kindness by postponing the judgment of this world. The Bible tells us that someday “the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burnt up.” But right before the Bible makes this statement it says that God puts up with the brokenness of this world – mitigating its brokenness – and that He has postponed the day of judgment because He “does not desire that any perish, but that all come to repentance.”
So you see, God has done something about the brokenness of this world. He has done, and is doing other things too. We’ll talk these things in a future post.
