The absence of God's presence

The absence of God's presence is the essence of hell. ¹Hell is anywhere God's presence is not.

People live in ³rebellion to God every day. How? They do not acknowledge God as the Source of love and life (breath); the Creator and Sustainer of everything! 

Instead, they live as if God is irrelevant; that the blessings of life are their right to have and do with as they please, as if someone owed it to them; i.e., they are entitled to these blessings. And if they don't get what they believe they deserve, they become disillusioned, angry, or bitter. This is the approach to life many ²choose to take and live by daily.

And if they never come to the place where they acknowledge His relevance, value, and significance, they will continue on that same trajectory and path throughout their lives.

As a result, God will honor that choice throughout eternity as well. God doesn't send people to hell. They are already on that path unless and until they choose to put their trust in Him.

If the absence of God's presence is hell, then what is the fullness of God's presence? Bliss, paradise, a continual feast, i.e., heaven.

For a further discussion on why many are disillusioned with God, click here

For a discussion on the key to answered prayer, click here

For a discussion on whether hell is literal, click here. 

For a further discussion on how hell is a continuation of our current path, click here

For a discussion of whether we are rebels to God, click here.

For a discussion on whether God's wrath is reasonable, click here

For a discussion on how death and hell are totally defeated, click here 

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Footnotes:

¹this is not necessarily a specific location - though it may be. But it is a disposition or attitude of rebellious distrust (all distrust of God is rebellion to Him. It is asserting that God is a liar and not who He claims to be as all-loving, wise, powerful, and everywhere present). 

Objectively, God is everywhere present. Nothing functions or even exists without Him. But if we willfully turn away from God, then for us, God does not exist and is not present. God is not dead, but to us He is.

In the story of Lazarus and the rich man, notice the rich man did not regret his rejection of God, nor did he resent God for his being in his present state or desire to turn to Him even in his torment. He only wanted water to relieve his thirst - he only wanted a gift from God - not God Himself.

Is this not also true of humanity in general when we go through great pain? God is not our end, but the means to another end...relief. This is often the reason we pray. We don't want God; we only want comfort through the gifts (blessings) of God.

"...You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." - Jas 4:2b-3 ESV

Luke 16:23-26, 28, 30-31 ESV

"...and in Hades, being in torment, he (the previously rich man) lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish.

And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’

And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’”

²this choice is laid out in Rom 1:18-23 (emphasis added).

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness (i.e., which springs forth from rebellious distrust of God) suppress the truth. 

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God (He is irrelevant) or give thanks to him (their choice), but they became futile in their thinking (they thought they could make life work on their terms, not God's terms i.e. they thought they could be their own god, like Adam and Eve) and their foolish hearts were darkened. 

Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images (their choice) resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things." 

³The following passage lays out the nature of our rebellion. These are comments made to Job by Elihu in Job 35:6-16. The fourth and only "friend" of Job whom God did not rebuke, unlike the other 3, suggesting that his comments to Job were on point.

Elihu talking to Job:

"If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him (God)? And if your transgressions are multiplied (many), what do you do to him? If you are righteous, what do you give to him? Or what does he receive from your hand? (This is also quoted by Paul in Rom 11:35). Your wickedness concerns a man like yourself, and your righteousness a son of man - i.e., your bad or good deeds affect only men, not God.

Because of the multitude of oppressions, people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty (those stronger than us, who oppress us).

But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’ - i.e., there is no gratitude to God for all the gifts we receive or trust in God when we go through challenges. We don't want God. We only want relief from our pain by using all the gifts He gives and enjoy daily without giving Him thanks or acknowledging Him as the giver.

There they cry out, but he does not answer, because of the pride of evil men (who believe God is not there or is irrelevant, until we are suffering). Surely God does not hear an empty cry, nor does the Almighty regard it - Why? Because we don't really want God; we only want His blessings - the comfort and relief from pain His blessings bring us.

How much less when you say that you do not see him, that the case is before him, and you are waiting for him! - i.e. we demand He respond the way we think He should when we are in pain - but our complaining does not impress God or cause Him to respond. 

When we approach God this way, we will always be waiting for a response, because He will not respond to our arrogant demands. Only He is God, and best knows what we need, not us. Humility is more important then relief.

And now, because his anger does not punish, and he does not take much note of transgression - i.e., because God has not dropped the hammer on Job for his complaining and demands - Job opens his mouth in empty talk; he multiplies words without knowledge.”

To Job's credit, at the end he responded correctly...

Job 42:1-6

Then Job answered the Lord and said: 

“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.  ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes - (I change my view of you and my attitude towards you).”

death and hell defeated

When Scripture says Satan is defeated and Christ now holds the keys to death and hell, what does this mean? 

This is simply saying that death no longer holds the same meaning and effect it once did. Satan and death no longer have the final word regarding our eternal destination i.e. our eternal separation from God and loss of all the gifts of life we now enjoy. When we are in Christ, death now means we are ushered into his presence when we die and exit this veil of tears. This is why Paul said,

When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:“Death is swallowed up in victory.”  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1Co 15:54-57

This does not mean pain and suffering (or Satan) are eliminated in this life, or that death no longer exists (people die every day). It simply means if we are in Christ, death no longer signifies judgment and our ultimate separation from our Creator, nor do the accusations of Satan that we are worthless, guilty, and justly condemned. Why? Because our acceptance by God is based solely on Christ's efforts, not ours. 

Pain, suffering, and death have been conquered, neutered, defused, altered, and are even redeemed and used to bring life in this present world (i.e. to draw us closer to God, who is life). Ultimately, they will no longer be useful or necessary and will eventually be done away with altogether. 

If we are in Christ, they are no longer tools or instruments of destruction and eternal separation from God but are now used as a means of deliverance from our focus and preoccupation with self.

Death no longer means final and eternal death because the sting of death has been removed. Before Christ, the sting was that it ultimately led to condemnation and eternal separation from the Source of life, love, and all the blessings of creation. It no longer does for those who are in Christ. Now death is used as a means to life and ushers us into His presence in this life, with fullness of life awaiting us. 

" 'O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?' " The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  1Co 15:55-57

Christ fulfilled the demands of the law and our just condemnation for all the harm we caused others by ignoring it!

2Co 12:7  So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited (who do you think gave the thorn...it wasn't Satan himself. And note it is described as a gift, not a curse or punishment).

When the Bible says that Christ now holds the keys to death and hell, it does not mean he's eliminated these, but by his resurrection, he overcame them, and now he's redeeming and using the challenges for our ultimate good and his glory. All this is offered to us if we receive His gift of eternal life in, by, and through Christ! Only through Christ is this true. 

Broken yet fully loved

We are far more ¹broken than we are willing to admit but also far more loved than we can ever imagine or hope for - or are usually willing to believe.

Why do we struggle to believe that we are both broken and fully loved at the same time?

We fear if someone knew ²all our faults they would reject us and no longer love us. Why? Because admitting to or being seen with all our flaws usually results in rejection. 

We so greatly long to be fully and deeply loved, we fear ³losing it if we ever find it. We believe it's better to never be loved than to powerfully experience love and lose it.

The more we know we are loved - regardless of our flaws - the more we can admit ("own") them - not only to the one who loves us but to ourselves as well. 

Why does love free us? We are no longer concerned that admitting our brokenness will result in rejection. We know we are loved regardless of how broken we are. 

Love is the fuel of growth and change. Why?

Admitting our faults to ourselves and others is vital to our maturing. 

We can't and won't fix something if we don't think it's broken. And we can't admit our brokenness until we know we will not be rejected for it. Once we feel safe to admit our brokenness, we can be more honest with ourselves (and others) about our shortcomings.

We can admit our faults only to the extent we know we are loved despite them.

When we are loved in ⁴this way we desire to bring joy and honor to the only One who loves us this way. We delight in doing all we can to honor them. When this is for God, He in turn feels honored to be in a relationship with us.

For a discussion on loving yourself click here and here.

For a discussion on what it means to be broken click here. 

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¹We are not broken in the sense that we no longer have natural abilities, talents, or resources but in how we use these, i.e. do we use them to self-comfort instead of bringing comfort to others as we were *designed to?

Self-comforting is so common it is considered normal, not broken. We not only embrace it but applaud others who do this as well. "Loving ourselves" has become a cultural mantra in the West when it is actually the primary evidence and expression of brokenness. 

Our need to love ourselves is only because we have rejected God, the very source of love. How? Whenever we look to or go to something other than God for love, we are telling God we can do better at finding and experiencing love on our own than we can from Him, when in fact only God is the source of love, life, and all things. 

*We are in God's image, designed to be like God, which is to be other-focused - i.e. to give, not take. The more we give, the more we are like God, and the more we partake of and experience Him, i.e. experience love flowing to and through us to others.

We justify getting or taking because we think it will make us happy, more complete, and whole. Short-term it may, but the ultimate solution to our need for love is not taking it but receiving it from the Source, which enables us to pass it on to others. 

God is primarily what we need, but we refuse to receive what he offers, i.e. His infinite affections offered to us in and through His Son Jesus.

We reach the highest level of our design - God's likeness - when we give. But not to get but simply for the joy of seeing others receive life through us. And we can only give as God does when we are receiving love from the One who is the ultimate source of love, God himself. 

²This is what makes our family of origin so unique and significant. No one sees our flaws and strengths as much or as well as family. If we come from a loving family, this is where we feel safest... Or "more at home" to use a common expression. If we come from an unloving family, this is why for some thoughts of family are most painful. And also why we may fear letting others see us the way we truly are. 

³This approach believes you can't lose what you never had to begin with.

There is a saying that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all.

But what if you never love again? All you have is the painful memory of not having something (love) you still need and long for. Is this not the essence of hell itself? I'm not suggesting we avoid love for fear of never experiencing it again. I am saying no human can love us in the way we are designed for, i.e. perfectly and continuously loved, without interruption. Only God is perfect, perpetual, and endless love. 

⁴God alone consistently loves us in this way. He alone is perfect and infinite love.

Unbelief diminishs us

Because of our rebellious distrust of God and our subtle but passionate desire to make life work without him, we are no longer in a relationship with Him (as we were meant to be) or experiencing His infinite love (the necessary spiritual nourishment we were created and designed to have) with all the delight, bliss, and strength that comes from being connected to Him. As a result, we are stunted in our abilities and ¹never develop to our full God given potential. We are ¹far less than we were created to be. 

This is true not only spiritually and emotionally, but physically. As our health declines with age, we experience disease and eventually die. None of this was part of our original design. 

As well, our senses and abilities are only a fraction of what they were meant to be and we have the potential for (and will one day be if we are in Christ. In Christ, all of this will one day ultimately be reversed and eliminated).

If we are not restored to God, our diminishing abilities and the negative results will continue beyond our present existence and only increase. We will become even more fragmented, diminished and entrenched in the negative dispositions we now have and display, e.g. frustration, anger, fear, anxiety, depression, indifference to or even hatred of God, etc. will expand.

Without connection and union with the Source of love and life we are like spiritual and emotional black holes collapsing in on ourselves from the void left by God's absence. We will only increase in our sense of emptiness. This will become even more acute over time with no chance of relief.

In our current existence we at least experience occasional temporary relief through the use of the various gifts that God grants to us and we now have access to - both internal and external - but always with a constant search and hope for more (this drives all our actions when we are not connected and in union with God). 

In our next existence, without our Creator or access to His creation, we will be fully given over to our own devices and have no such experience or hope of love. We will have no access to the external gifts or the ability to exercise the internal ones, but only an perpetual longing and thirst for love - now masked by the use of God's gifts. This will be our hell.

So what is our problem? 

In this life, we try to build our sense of identity, meaning, purpose, and value through ²everything but God. He is not our focus, His creation is - with access to and use of all the gifts this life brings us. 

However, created things are finite. We were created for the infinite.

If we refuse God's offer (again our choice) to restore us back to Himself and our ³true identity, we will go into eternity continuing on this current trajectory. The difference is we won't have all the resources, blessings, and gifts we now enjoy and use to maintain our independence from God. 

Absent God, we attempt to use all things to maintain our sense of identity, meaning, value, and purpose, but also our indepence from God. We are like rebellious children using all the good things our parents give us to avoid the very ones who gave them to us i.e. our parents.

If we return to God and abandon our rebellious attempts to make life work without Him, we will be restored to the true purpose of our existence, and experience our greatest potential, fulfillment, and the delight He longs to give us (you) in Him. Will you return?

"The Spirit and the Bride say, 'Come.' And let the one who hears say, 'Come.' And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price." - Rev 22:17

Are we truly rebels against God? For more click here.

Does God love rebels? Click here and find out. 

For a further discussion on why hell is our choice click here.
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¹Not unlike a malnourished child genetically encoded to be a genius or an exceptional athlete who never developed to their full potential. As a result, they developed with less than average intelligence or become wheelchair-bound because they never received the proper nourishment they needed and were designed to have.

²We use all the good gifts of God - meant to show us his love - to maintain our independence from God. Not unlike a rebellious child using the good things his parent provides to betray his parents.

³His beloved image bearers who are designed to partake in the community of love between the Father, Son, and Spirit - and all the delight that comes with and in it - in the same way they do (because we are like Him).

Hell - the continuation of our current path

Though the topic of hell is a difficult one, it is also a very misunderstood one. While we bristle at the concept of an eternal hell, we cope with hell on earth whenever we experience pain. i.e. most of us don't ¹seek God for answers or help when we go through pain and suffering - hell on earth - we deal with it ²any way we can - as long as it doesn't require us to directly engage with, depend on, or trust in God.

Because of our pain, we assume God has ³abandoned us and is therefore unloving and untrustworthy. But this is only true if we don't take the time to explore and understand what Christ did and went through to restore us back to the Father.

Humanity, as a whole, avoids God like the plague. At best we consider Him a last resort whenever we encounter pain, instead of the primary solution he is. But even then, we are not truly interested in God, only in relief.

However, if not for the pain and suffering in this life, few (if any) of us would ever consider God, much less seek Him. 

While we accept and settle for hell on earth as a part of living in this life, we bulk at suffering continuing beyond this ⁴present existence. 

But suffering only continues because we ⁵continue in life with no genuine interest or pursuit of God.

The good news is God has provided an answer and solution to pain, suffering, and death. But we typically reject, ignore, and even mock God's offer when we hear it. We do not seek or call out to Him for the solution. Why? We are not interested in God, only in relief.

What is that solution? Christ!  The eternal Son of God took on human form like us, so He could enter and embrace this world of pain, sorrow, and suffering (caused by us through our abandoning God) and took our hell (that we helped create) onto himself - physically and emotionally allowing it to kill him. He did this so we might not have to, but eventually be freed from pain and death forever.

And we will be freed if we accept his offer. If we reject His offer, we are left with our current strategy of dealing with pain and death ²without God, i.e. looking to ourselves (and anything we can get our hands on to cope with our pain) instead of God. We want (wanted) to be on our own and left alone. As a result, we are! i.e. we get what we want(ed). Hell is simply the continuation beyond this present existence of the course we are already on - one without God - (unless and until we know Christ).

The difference between using the coping strategy we now use vs when we pass into eternity is we won't have access to the ⁴resources we now use (and abuse) to numb our pain (our private and personal hell). Nothing will be available to quench our longings and spiritual thirst in our next existence (think of a never-ending consolatory confinement). All we will have are memories of how we tried to cope (but never completely did) and a never-ending longing and thirst for the current blessings of life we now have but will never be able to have again.

God doesn't send anyone to hell. It is the path we choose, create, and are currently on. It is not because there is no offer or solution to pain and suffering. But we go out of our way to ignore, deny, or ⁶ridicule it (and Him). In short, by rejecting God's solution and offer, we continue on the path we are already on and send ourselves into eternity without God. We are tenaciously committed to being our own god, even if it means continuing in our pain. God honors our choice.

The reality is to be in the presence of God, in our state of rebellious unbelief, who we want nothing to do with in this life, and unreconciled with him would be a greater hell than continuing on without Him as we currently choose to.

For a further discussion of heaven and hell click here.

For a discussion of whether we are rebels to God click here.
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¹We may seek relief and call upon God for it but this is not seeking God but simply relief and God only as a means to it - i.e. We treat God as a genie in a bottle to grant our wishes. We are only interested in God as a means of relief and not in God himself.

²We might give a "hat tip" or "nod" to God when facing death, hoping He will notice and it will be enough to appease God after living our whole life avoiding Him - or even ridiculing Him and pursuing the pleasures of creation instead of Him, who is the Creator of all things.

³The reality is we abandoned God (and continue to). He has not abandoned us but in fact, came to us and sought (seeks) us out in our rebellion, doing all that was necessary to restore us.

⁴We use the gifts of God to address our pain, yet we never acknowledge (thank) God as the Creator and Giver of those gifts. We don't actually object to hell as much as to not having access to all the blessings of life we use to try and cope with it now. We want the gifts of life as long as we don't have to directly deal with the Giver (Creator) of the gifts.

And what are those gifts? Anything in creation available to us (or within us) that we used to numb or cope with our pain, be that recreation, substance abuse, abuse of sex, food, our God-given talents/abilities, respect, fame etc etc.... all good gifts from God used (i.e. misused) by us to maintain our independence from God.

⁵Our existence doesn't continue beyond this life, so we might be punished. We continue to exist because we are like God and are designed to be in an eternal relationship with our Creator. If we refuse his offer to reestablish that relationship now in this life, we simply continue on the same path we now choose. 

⁶Have you ever wondered why people only use the name of Christ in a disparaging manner but not the name of Mohammed, Buddha, Vishnu, or some other religious figure? (Do people who live in a Muslim society throw around the name of Mohammad like we do Christ's name in the west? No. Why? Out of respect to Mohammad). It's as if we intuitively understand on a subconscious and visceral level Christ is the way and truth, but since our default disposition is antagonistic to God, we disregard and disrespect His Son and all He did to restore us. Why? The death of Christ to restore us back to God implies we can never fix ourselves. This is an insult to our arrogance. 

Why does God allow evil

The age old question is if God is good why does He ¹allow evil and suffering to continue?

But in the most important and ultimate sense He doesn't (and didn't). One day the scales of justice will be completely balanced. 

But what about now? 

At the very outset of our turning away from God, He reached out to us with an immediate - though temporary - solution. 

He also promised and eventually ²provided the permanent and ultimate solution to evil - along with all its fallout - in the most amazing and unexpected way. A way available to anyone who receives it. Not necessarily the solution ³we would prefer but in a way that surfaces and exposes our core problem and why suffering remains - i.e. our distrust of the Creator. This is also the central truth the Book of Job seeks to reveal to us.

Christs suffering clearly indicates God is not indifferent to our pain nor has He abandoned us or lost control by allowing it to continue. Pain and suffering continue for good reason - but only for now. Our distrust of God must be ⁹fully exposed, with all its fallout, so we might recognize its true destructive nature and abandon it (the exact opposite of our abandoning God in Eden) and more fully enter into and participate in the glory of God - which is our greatest good and highest joy.

In short, God is using evil for good. If he wasn't, it would be ⁴removed. One day, when it has accomplished its intended purpose it will be. But not before then.  

So for now suffering remains for good reason and a good purpose. But we can only benefit fully from it when we trust God in this. The greater our trust the greater our gain i.e. evil is always used for good if and when we trust His good and loving intentions in allowing it to remain. If we do not trust Him, suffering will only embitter and eventually destroy us. 

This may not be what we want or like to hear but that is because we don't see what God fully sees and knows is ultimately for the greatest good - our greatest good. 

In this life, God uses what was meant (by the destroyer - satan) for our harm and destruction (i.e. evil) and turns it on its head. He "redeems" evil if you will, and uses it to ultimately advance us not destroy or harm us. But only if we trust Him and this process.

Pain and suffering are now a primary (maybe the primary) means of turning us back to God when we aren't pursuing Him or drawing those who are pursuing Him even closer.

Our agenda and wisdom don't match God's, whose wisdom and intent are perfect. Ours is not. Again our distrust of God is our biggest issue (not our pain) and He addressed it - and is addressing it - perfectly through all He allows us to go through.

If and when we choose to remain in rebellious unbelief and defiant distrust of God, suffering will overcome and embitter us (experiencing anger when we encounter pain is always a clue we do not trust Him and still may ultimately have a bone to pick with God. This is the real issue...not the "mystery" of why we suffer). 

Our biggest challenge is not suffering but remaining in our unbelief. This ultimately leads to our permanent ⁴separation from God (whereas our present separation, along with all the suffering it brings, is only temporary once we turn back to Him). But if and when we turn to Him we are told (and over time come to realize) that God uses suffering (evil) for the good of those who trust and love Him (if not in our immediate circumstances, in our ultimate existence in eternity). Otherwise, if we refuse to trust Him, pain will embitter and ultimately destroy us. It is the path to perpetual pain.

So in the most important and ultimate sense evil has been dismantled and can no longer destroy us in the way our adversary intended, as long as we trust our Creator. Why?

1. The day is coming - and has already been put into motion - when pain and death will be done away with completely. The resurrection of Christ is our proof. His resurrection was the first fruits of what is to come. Life ultimately wins over pain, suffering, and death. If we trust Him we too will ultimately rise one day and overcome death just as he did.

2. The presence of evil is (for now) a means to turn us back to God and draw us closer to Him.

3. The presence of evil provides a means and opportunity for us to advance spiritually. We actually gain when, ⁸by faith, we overcome evil and suffering - just as Christ did when He, on our behalf, overcame it. This is the exact opposite of what we are naturally inclined to believe and what our adversary intends. Because of our pain, we are given an opportunity to become more like Christ if we receive it by faith i.e. believe that God is accomplishing our ultimate good not harm, through our pain.

In the most significant and ultimate sense evil and suffering have not only been forever ⁵disarmed and more than defeated but are also being used for the very opposite of what we think i.e. good. He not only put into motion the eventual and complete removal of all pain one day but until that day arrives he "redeems" and uses it for the good of those who love and trust Him. 

How did God accomplish this?

When Christ became a man and fully embraced the harm, damage, and hurt (pain, evil) we cause each other - and let it kill him (instead of us) - He overcame death, evil, and suffering by 1st embracing it fully until it killed Him and then forever disarmed it when he ⁶came back to life. As a result, if we believe and accept all that Christ did, we too ⁷will overcome the pain, suffering, and death we bring (brought) into the world and raise to that very same life that Christ rose to - i.e. a life of bliss and glory with the Father of life, love, and all things. 

We are not only "victims" of pain but the perpetrators (cause) of pain. But Christ took care of all of it by submitting to it until it killed Him and then came back to life and declared victory over death and pain forever. 

Christ's ⁵resurrection changed how we look at and deal with pain and suffering. Evil and death did (does) not have the final word, life did (does) because of Christ! For this, He deserves (and will receive) our highest praise and gratitude forever and ever, amen!

Because of what Christ did on our behalf we can no longer question whether God is good. In and by Christ's incarnation, death, and resurrection God proved and established His goodness beyond question. In and through Christ good and evil met and good swallowed up evil and overcame it.

Christ fully embraced all aspects of our pain - physical, emotional, and spiritual - by His obedience unto death. Now He offers victory over death via His resurrection, so we don't have to die but be ultimately will be delivered from it. The offer of complete and ultimate freedom from pain is available to all who receive it. 

All of this was done for us, as well as for the rest of creation. Evil, pain, and death were (and are) not only permanently defeated - at the very moment Christ came back to life - it is now being used to reverse our separation from God practically. He first did this legally and continues to do this in our day-to-day walk - as we put our trust in Him. Because of Christ, the pain will eventually be eliminated altogether.

⁸Christ completely disarmed evil and dismantled its ultimate destructive effect - death - forever. Now he offers a life of infinite bliss to any who will accept His offer of restoration to Him and eventually complete freedom from pain and death forever.

Does this answer the question of why God allows evil to continue? Maybe not for many. But it can give us a helpful glimpse into the answer if we let it. 

For a further discussion of how God uses evil for our good click here...and here.

The greater the evil the greater the opportunity for healing/grace click here.

For a discussion on the key lesson from the book of Job click here.

For a further discussion on the value of paradox click here.

For a further discussion of how big is God exactly click here

For a discussion of how pain can help us see Christ's love click here

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¹God did not cause us to rebel or cause our brokenness or the pain and all the suffering in the world that followed. The world is broken because we (like Adam and Eve, our original ancestors) continue to choose to distrust God - i.e. God didn't break us or the rest of creation, we disconnected and broke (short-circuited) that connection when we turned away from God. 

If God provides us a warm house filled with light - and tells us we are safe if we remain inside - yet we step outside into the cold dark night, guess who moved? A hint...it wasn't God.

God loves and values our ability to choose to such a great extent that he gave us the choice and freedom to rebel and reject Him - because choice is a key part of us being like God and partaking of Him to the greatest extent possible - ⁹without our actually being God (which we can never be by virtue of being created). The consequences of our choice are far less significant to God than our ability to freely make them.

Some deny the existence of evil but that is only because of how evil is commonly defined. To get an accurate definition we must go to the source, the Bible itself. How does it define evil (and good)?

The following definitions are found in the original Hebrew. 

Emphasis my own:

Evil - H7451b  רַע - ra  (948c); from the same as H7455; evil, distress, misery, injury, calamity: — adversity (7), calamity (4), disaster (2), evil (94), harm (2), harmful (1), hurt (1), ruin (3), surely (1), trouble (2), unpleasant (1), wickedly (1), wickedness (1).

H7455  רע - rôa‛BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs') Definition:1) badness, evil 1a) badness, bad quality 1b) wilfulness 1c) evil, badness (ethical) 1d) sadness

Good - H2896b  טוֹב - tob  (375a); from H2895; a good thing, benefit, welfare: — enjoy *(1), good (66), good thing (3), good things (2), goodness (1), graciously (1), happiness (1), happy (1), pleasant (1), prosperity (8), richer (1), well (1), what is good (1), what is good (4).

H2895  טוֹב - tob (373b); a prim. root; to be pleasing or good: — any (1), did well (2), done well (1), fair (1), go well (1), good (1), good (5), high (1), merry (3), please (2), pleased *(2), pleases (4), pleases *(2), pleasing (1), well (8), well-off (1). 

We could sum these definitions up as follows:

Good - God himself and all the benefits, provision, and pleasure that come in knowing him and being in His loving presence, and being known and fully embraced by Him.

Evil - Injury or harm (e.g. death) that comes to us due to the absence of God (because of our turning away from Him in rebellious distrust) and all the good things he provides. 

Before man's rebellion, the Bible doesn't say they did not know good, it says they did not know good and evil i.e. good in contrast to or compared to evil. We can only fully understand and appreciate goodness when it is absent, just like we can only fully appreciate light and warmth when things are cold and dark.

Are we evil? For a discussion click here.

²The solution is only God can restore us, we can't restore (save) ourselves. And the way he does this requires us to trust Him and His provision. 

This was established at the very outset of mankind's rebellion when God provided Adam and Eve with animal skins to cover their shame, resulting in the death of another living creature (the consequences of our rebellion and God's warning of death). 

The ultimate provision was also promised at that time in the child (seed) of the women i.e. a living being after the image of man as well as God (i.e. the Son of God and man - Jesus) would be the ultimate sacrifice leading to the eventual end of all pain and destruction for any who trust in God's provision.

The sacrifice of a living being for the rebellion of another seems severe and barbaric but this only indicates our lack of understanding of the severe nature of that rebellion and the severe harm it causes. Our rebellion is destructive with very real and severe consequences. It causes harm, destruction, and death. God doesn't cause death (we do). He provided the solution for death i.e. the death of someone other than us who took the consequences for our destructive choices and their resulting conduct.

God warned the day we rebelled we would die. Death was simply the natural outcome of our disconnecting from life i.e. our Creator, who is the very cause and source of life, not death. The natural or organic (and reasonable) result of cutting ourselves off from the source of life is death. When God said the day we eat we would surely die was not a statement of judgment but the simple reality that to disconnect from life results in the opposite i.e. death.

Once we rebelled the damage had been done. The only option was for something else to die in our place for the consequences of our disconnecting from the Source of life if we were to be restored and avoid our own death. 

The harm and destruction caused by our rebellion matter and could not be ignored or pretended not to matter. Someone or something had to suffer the destructive consequences of our rebellious distrust of God if we were to escape those consequences ourselves. 

Sacrificing another for our benefit (so we wouldn't have to reap the consequences of our distrust) isn't barbaric it is an act of severe mercy. What is destructive, evil, and barbaric is our rebellion, not the sacrifice made to spare and rescue us from its consequences i.e. our distrust. The evil, pain, and suffering in the world are the consequence of our rebellion and a clear indication of how severe our rebellion is. 

³We'd prefer He simply removed evil altogether so we can go about our life uninterrupted as long as and only if it doesn't involve God i.e. require us to trust Him. We love and embrace the benefits of creation. We simply do not want to trust the Creator. Ironic when you think about it. How can we justly accept and love the good benefits that someone offers yet reject them?

We prefer being our own god, only without the consequences. We don't want God, we only want relief. We attempt to gain that by using the good gifts of creation without fully acknowledging the Creator - the loving Giver of those gifts. To use an old idiom and analogy, we want to have our cake and eat it too.

If God is good why does He allow evil, is the wrong question. Why? It is based on the following wrong assumptions.

1. God must be the ¹cause of evil (and is therefore evil himself).

2. He doesn't know what He is doing by allowing it to happen in the first place (and by giving us the ability to choose) or allowing it to continue (this assumes we are wiser than the Source of all knowledge and wisdom... a little arrogant on our part wouldn't you agree?).

3. We have no responsibility (or choice) for the ongoing evil, pain, and suffering in the world i.e. our rebellious distrust of God isn't the actual problem, God is i.e. evils existence is not our fault or problem to solve, it's His - or so we think. 

But He didn't provide the ultimate solution to our pain because He had to, but because He choose to i.e. out of love, not obligation.

These assumptions reveal the true condition of our heart i.e. an arrogant heart that does not trust or believe God is good, wise, and loving - as He claims (and proved through Christ) - in all he does or allows. We simply don't believe we need Him.

God is addressing evil but not in the way we prefer, expect, or demand. He's addressing evil not by removing it from our world (at least for now) but by removing it from our individual hearts - internally vs externally - one person and step at a time, so we will increasingly approach the world as we were originally designed to - full of love - His love. And this so the world might progressively be healed and become more whole again through us, to the glory of God, not just ours.

We play(ed) a primary role in the perpetuation of evil in the world so God intends for us to play a primary role in its resolution and elimination - to fix what we messed up by our distrust of God - who is all loving and worthy of total trust. Evil came into the world through us (our rebellious distrust) and God intends it to be addressed (resolved) in the same way i.e. us - by His indwelling and empowering love given to us by Christ and our total trust in this - His - perfect and infinite provision. 

The bottom line? A main reason evil exists is we, as Christ's followers have not done to others as we would have them do to us i.e. loved them sacrificially as Christ loved us. If we don't like the evil in the world, we don't need to look at or blame God, we need to look in the mirror.

However, God doesn't intend or expect us to do this (reverse evil) on our own i.e. in or by our own strength. Without God's love filling us, we couldn't if we wanted to. To love sacrificially requires being loved sacrificially.

What caused us to turn inward was our rejection of God's wise and loving direction (warning) and the subsequent loss of His love. This resulted in our no longer being in union with God which short-circuited our power to love others as we are designed to. As a result, our focus is on filling the void caused by God's absence, instead of on God and his infinite love. Our solution was and is now to pursue his creation for life and not the Creator. 

His absence (due to us rejecting Him, not Him rejecting us) resulted in us becoming takers instead of givers, hurting others instead of properly caring for them and the rest of creation. Only God and His love can heal the brokenness of the world but that is done in and through us by healing our brokenness first.

Of course, perfect restoration will not occur until Christ returns (though our legal standing has been fully restored). But the question remains... what role do we as followers of Christ play in ushering in that return. Maybe the primary role?

⁴and one day, when Christ returns and sets up His perfect - completed - rule (Kingdom) of love, it will be.

⁵God respects and honors our choice and will not force us to be with Him. To be in His presence against our will would be a greater hell than being separated from Him in eternity. 

⁶Through His resurrection, Jesus reclaimed all rule and authority over heaven and earth. The deceiver's (satan's) power is disarmed. He only has power over those who go along with him (a few willingly but many - maybe most - unknowingly).

⁷evil and the suffering that comes from it is a primary means of drawing us closer to God in this life. How? By revealing to us how our rebellious independence and distrust of God bring harm and destruction to others as well as ourselves. This dishonors God as well - in whose image we are created.

We are so inclined and quick to default to rebellious independence that suffering (the natural result of rebellion) becomes a necessary and useful tool to remind us of our true dependence on God for wisdom and guidance. Pain is the natural outcome of our rebellion, not unlike sticking our hand in the fire when we were told not to. Every time we do, we are reminded by the pain to remove our hands.

⁸By faith now but ultimately by experience in eternity.

Until we are permanently delivered from the presence of evil, pain, suffering, and death, how do we address it in this life? By faith. Unlike Adam and Eve (and us) - who sought (seek) to determine good and evil without God - Solomon sought God's direction in determining good and evil. This was the fruit of Solomon's humility and dependence on (trust in) God for wisdom. If we humble ourselves God will exalt us as well.

"Give your servant (Solomon) therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?” - 1 Kings 3:9 ESV

⁹We are as much like God as possible without actually being God and Christ it is as much like us as possible while still being God. He is the God-man and the only one who is 

and forever will be. To Him be glory and praise forever! He earned it.

Love is power

Love is power. To be more precise, it is God's love that empowers us to pursue and honor him.

So how exactly does this work?

We are created by and for God. For us to operate as we were designed to, we must be in perfect union with God, who is the source of love, life, and all things. Without being “plugged in,” we are only operating on ¹temporary borrowed power.

Because we are ²finite in our love, life, and all things, it is not possible for us to love with sacrificial infinite love on our own i.e. in our own strength. God ³alone is the source of endless love. Not us or anyone else. If we are to love with God's love, we must have God's love flowing to, in, and through us.

How does this occur? In and through Christ. It is because of Christ, God's love is freely and fully extended to us. If and when we choose to believe and receive it, it is poured out in us and out to others through us. But not without Christ. Without Christ, we are disconnected from God and therefore also from His perfect infinite love flowing to and though us. 

For a further discussion on being empowered from within, click here. 

For a further discussion on the strength needed for self-denial, click here. 

Additional comments in footnotes below.

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¹What do I mean by borrowed power? Everything we are, have and use to sustain ourselves emotionally and physically comes from God, whether we acknowledge this or not. Without God we have none of these. He gives us these things as an expression of his love for us. If we refuse to recognize - believe - this, we will go into eternity without all that we now have and are i.e. it's temporary and borrowed. If we do not recognize this we will eventually lose it. We will go into eternity with only the memory of the things that we had and were, but no longer have (we may still be who we are now with all our gifts and abilities but no way to utilize them to derive a sense of value through their use). This will be the essence of hell - an ongoing memory and constant reminder of what we use to have but no longer have use of. We will be in a perpetual state of unfulfilled longing and endless thirst with nothing to quench it. This is the natural outcome of enjoying the good gifts of God in creation now without rightfully acknowledging him as the Giver of these and all things. 

²Though within ourselves we are finite in giving love, we have the capacity to receive and participate in (i.e. experience) infinite love - only because God is infinite and created us like himself so we might partake of him. Because we can receive endless love, we can give it also. 

But apart from God, we do not have within ourselves infinite love to give to others i.e. only God is the source of love, not us. To give infinite love, we must first receive and partake of infinite love. And that is only within and from God. He alone is perfect, none stop love. He alone is the great I AM, the Alpha and Omega, the cause, means, and end (goal) for all things. Because we are finite we must be plugged into the infinite source to partake of infinite love and in turn pass it on to others. 

We are like the batteries in a cell phone or electric car.

They can hold power but are not the power source. Overtime they run down and must be recharged. But when fully charged, can accomplish amazing things. If not charged they are a paperweight at best. 

We were not designed to be the source of infinite love, only the recipient, container, and conduit of it i.e. vessels of God. But, if we are plugged into the source, we can be the means by which infinite love - God's love - flows through us to others. The ⁴more plugged in we are - through believing and receiving God's infinite love - the more His love flows to and through us, and the greater we advance His reign of love - kingdom - and become all we were designed to be.

³God is - and has been throughout all eternity past - an infinite, overflowing fountain of endless love within and among the Father and Son in, by, and through the Spirit. This was most clearly displayed in and through Christ.

⁴The more we believe and receive God's infinite love the greater our capacity to contain infinite love expands, i.e. unlike regular batteries, the size of our battery (our capacity) can grow with increased use, allowing us to receive and contain more love. God is always seeking to increase our capacity to receive and give love... to stretch and grow our faith. This is often best accomplished through pain and suffering. By these we become aware of our limits and need for infinite love. This is the essence of spiritual formation, aka sanctification.