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Big questions (1)
For the next few days, let’s take a look at some of the big questions people ask about Christianity, and that we might even have asked ourselves. First: How can a loving God allow suffering? This is one of the hardest questions to answer, and we may never find the answer until we get to heaven and realise all God’s purposes. In the beginning God created Adam and Eve, and they lived in a perfect world free from suffering – it was heaven on earth. But God also gave humans free will. So when Adam was faced with a decision – to obey God or disobey Him – he was able to make a choice himself, without God’s input. He chose disobedience, and that decision brought sin, death and misery into the world. Free will is a gift, and if God stepped in and made all our decisions for us, we’d no longer have free will. But He’s not a dictator – He loves us and gives us the freedom to love or reject Him, to ask for His advice or go our own way. Adam’s choice means we now live in an imperfect, broken world, not the one God intended us to inhabit. But ‘we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found…at peace with him’ (2 Peter 3:13-14 NIV). When we accept Jesus as our Saviour, we have the assurance that we’ll go to heaven and live in a glorious earth made new without sin or suffering. But in the midst of the pain and suffering of our imperfect world, we can always draw close to our God and receive His comfort and strength.
What Now?
Today, take a few moments to thank God that we can honestly question things we don’t understand about Him and that He loves us so much that we can question Him without fearing punishment.
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