Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation has been moaning together as in the pains of childbirth until now. [Jer 12:4, 11] |
Bible Question: When witnessing and someone says they can't serve a God who allows suffering on Earth, what is a good reply? Using Scripture, of course! |
Bible Answer: NMJEN, My first gut response to the question is that if your friend is unwilling to believe in a God that allows suffering he has a major problem. Because as we look at the world we certainly can not believe in any other God! The difficulty of your question is that the answer is quite literally the whole of scripture. The suffering in the world must be placed in its biblical context, that of a rebellious world under the wrath of a righteous and holy God. Right now, I would assume your friend sees God allowing suffering along the lines as if I were to go over and just have a little fun kicking a dog. It would be simply pure maliciousness with no good reason for it and he can't imagine God being like that. Your friend sees suffering disconnected from any reason or purpose. How then do we get underneath suffering? Again, that is very difficulty since we must look at it from many angles due to many types and reasons for suffering. 1. Suffering as the consequence of sin. God has chosen to give mankind certain freedom to rebel against him. This rebellion always has its on consequence built into it. Man's rebellion against God brings us abortion, war, rape, murder, and theft. This has to be understood scripturaly. This suffering, God's wrath burns hot against, yet we see scripture painting God as patient and long suffering, not wishing any to perish but all to come to repentence. That's somewhere in 2 Peter 3. So here we see God's loving mercy and patience being why he allows suffering. He's restraining his judgement upon it for the sake that some will repent and be saved. 2. Suffering from God's wrath. In restrained amounts (in other words he doesn't yet destroy the earth and mankind completely) God pours out wrath on the world in judgement of their sin and yet we still see him restraining the fullness of his wrath for now. Again this restraint is because he wishes for the world to repent and not perish. But he gives us bits of wrath to display the full wrath which is to come and from which we should flee to a savior in Christ Jesus. I think Revelation chapters 8-11 are meant to teach this along with other parts of scripture. 3. Suffering from persecution. There is particular suffering that comes from being united to Christ. Scripture affirms that the world will hate us because the world hates him. 4. Suffering as facilitating holiness. Heb 12 is one example of teaching that God particularly allows hardship in a believers life so as to train them in righteousness that we may grow to be holy. Through this we learn patience, obedience, trust and dependence on God the Father and much more. 5. Suffering we can't understand. The book of Job teaches us that we can not let our faith in God depend on us having all the answers concerning suffering in this life. So you see, we can not begin to answer this question in a simple way. Here are two resources you might wish to persue, both by the same author. With regards to getting your friend to start understanding the biblical world view in order that he might understand how suffering fits in: "The God Who Is" by D.A. Carson. I believe you can download from monergism.com a 14 sermon lecture on this. With regards to a much much more in depth discussion on what I've been saying in this post and a great book on suffering. "How, Long O Lord?" by D.A. Carson. Though as a disclaimer which Carson himself makes in the book. This book is not meant as a comfort for those who are currently going through a crises, but more to give a theological grasping of suffering that will serve us well later when we do endure it. I hope this helps. In Christ, Beja |
Up | View Branch | ID# 227495 | ||
Questions and/or Subjects for Rom 8:22 | Author | ||
|
flinkywood | ||
|
NMJEN | ||
|
Searcher56 | ||
|
Beja |