WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN?
God is love (1 John 4:8) Therefore many may wonder why He allows some many terrible things to happen? Why does He not put a stop to it? Let’s take a good look at this and seek to understand where the problem lies. (Please read this message in its entirety!)
There are several things we need to look at to understand this issue that many have with God. First, yes, God is sovereign. That means that no one tells God what to do. He is the one who makes the rules. In other words, no one can put restrictions on God. But He has put restrictions on Himself. He has bound Himself by His own Word. And He is not a man that He should lie. In other words, He will not break His word or His promises.
Psalm 89:34, TLB No, I will not break my covenant; I will not take back a single word I said.
Numbers 13:19 ESV God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
What are some of the things that God has said that He will not take back?
Genesis 1: 26, KJV And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Psalm 115:16, KJV The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
From the above Scriptures we see that God gave man dominion, the responsibility to care for the earth.
Genesis 1:28 ESV And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
And subdue it! What does that mean? One of the dictionary definitions is to bring under control, often by force or through persuasion, to reduce the intensity or strength of something, to cultivate land.
In other words, with this amazing and beautiful gift man was also given the task of keeping it that way. To not allow things to get out of hand or out of control. And he had been given the authority of God to do so. Sadly, man failed miserably in this assignment.
Isaiah 24:5,6 NIV, The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore, earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.
And this is brought out again in Isaiah 5:20 KJV which says,
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Romans 1:25 KJV says, who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
This may sound very strong. But this is the truth, and this is what God says about the matter. When we shall appear before Him one day we will not be able to blame Him for the world situation and all the misery in the world. We were given the responsibility to keep the earth, to tend it and to subdue whatever tried to get out of order. And we were given the authority to do so. But we failed through the fall.
And yet God loves us with a love that passes all understanding (Eph. 3:9) And He will eventually restore all things to its original state. His first concern is to restore man to fellowship with Himself. Sin separated man from God and death entered the world. Death does not mean that we cease to exist, but rather it means separation from God. Jesus spoke a lot about both heaven and hell. They are both real places, but 2 Timothy 2:4 KJV says, Who (God) will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
John 3:16 KJV says, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Eph 2:8-9 KJV says, for by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Why did Jesus have to come? Why couldn’t God just forgive us? Because God is not only love, but also just. There are always consequences to sin! Man, now needed a Savior because God, being just, could not just ignore sin. Judgment had to be executed. All judgement was placed on Jesus. He bore our sins for us so that we could be forgiven.
In Romans 10:9-10 ESV it says, because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10) For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. To receive this marvelous gift simply pray the following prayer:
Dear Jesus, I thank you for dying for me for my sins. Please forgive me for my sins. I believe that you are the Son of God and that you rose from the dead. I now receive you as my Lord and Savior. And please fill me with the Holy Spirit in Jesus Name Amen!
