The issue of human sufferings has been debated for millennia and will continue so till Christ returns to set up the kingdom of God on earth. As long as life exists on earth, sufferings in whatever form looks set to continue and will get increasingly worse as this church age draws to a close. The problem of sin is real, but most have no clue what sin or sins are involved that cause all the tragedies, with many incidents befalling on innocent lives. However tragic these sufferings were and are, a time is coming when all the sufferings will be history, and that is the good news the world is ignorant about.
Everyday, newswire is flooded with events of disaster and seemingly hopelessness of one kind after another. Diseases, natural disasters like volcanic eruption, tsunami, flooding, drought, poverty, conflicts and wars within and without borders are happening at double quick time all over the world. The governments and power that be are powerless to address these problems, and will never be able to do so. The big question in the minds of most believers is why isn't God doing something, if He is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient as the Bible claims Him to be so.
While it is true that sin can bring sufferings, it is not the only cause of it. In fact, many innocent people suffer tremendously in this life and died without knowing why. But all the sufferings in this world is not in vain and certainly not without God's knowledge. God is not intervening to prevent it from happening because suffering is part of God's Master Plan for mankind to develop character of Christ-likeness. In Galatians 5:22, longsuffering - which is to suffer long - is mentioned as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. One of the reasons Christ suffered was so that He could learn obedience to God the Father (Hebrews 5:8).
I remembered as a kid watching the workers from my dad's hardware shop hammering out a piece of molten red hot iron into the desired shape they intended to form. My dad told me that the more times the malleable red hot iron is cooled in cold water after each shaping, the harder the tool implement will turn out to be. Such lessons on character formation and development had left an indelible mark on me. Little did I know then, that whatever I had seen and experienced as a child have great implications and applications for Christian living later on in my life!
Those who are called in this church age will suffer trials and tribulations in order to qualify as sons of God to rule and reign with Christ in His coming kingdom (Acts:14:22; 2 Tim 2: 12). All others who are not called in this church age suffer as a consequences of sin of this fallen world whom Satan is currently in control (2 Cor 4:4). Sometimes, good people faced tragedy or disaster simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. They may have done nothing sinful or evil to cause their death.
The Good News of the Gospel of the kingdom of God is that when Christ returns to establish the kingdom of God on earth, there will be peace and prosperity on all the earth. War and suffering will be history and all peoples on earth will learn the ways of God (Isaiah 2; 2-4). Even the animal kingdom will be reconciled to one another (Isa 11: 6-8), for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (v9). But till then, things will get worse before it gets better as the world marches towards the Great Tribulation with cataclysmic events of sufferings such as it had never seen or experienced!
The world has to undergo sufferings so that mortal humans will learn the lessons of sins and disobedience to God's holy laws. Those who eventually learned and accept God's ways in exchange for lasting character will be born again into spirit being of immortality in the world to come and into eternity. They have great work ahead to develop the whole of the universe! All these are part of God's Master Plan for man in this present mortal life to be made perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:10). Those who are not called in this present church age will have the opportunity to learn the whole truth come the millennial age.
Everyday, newswire is flooded with events of disaster and seemingly hopelessness of one kind after another. Diseases, natural disasters like volcanic eruption, tsunami, flooding, drought, poverty, conflicts and wars within and without borders are happening at double quick time all over the world. The governments and power that be are powerless to address these problems, and will never be able to do so. The big question in the minds of most believers is why isn't God doing something, if He is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient as the Bible claims Him to be so.
While it is true that sin can bring sufferings, it is not the only cause of it. In fact, many innocent people suffer tremendously in this life and died without knowing why. But all the sufferings in this world is not in vain and certainly not without God's knowledge. God is not intervening to prevent it from happening because suffering is part of God's Master Plan for mankind to develop character of Christ-likeness. In Galatians 5:22, longsuffering - which is to suffer long - is mentioned as one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. One of the reasons Christ suffered was so that He could learn obedience to God the Father (Hebrews 5:8).
I remembered as a kid watching the workers from my dad's hardware shop hammering out a piece of molten red hot iron into the desired shape they intended to form. My dad told me that the more times the malleable red hot iron is cooled in cold water after each shaping, the harder the tool implement will turn out to be. Such lessons on character formation and development had left an indelible mark on me. Little did I know then, that whatever I had seen and experienced as a child have great implications and applications for Christian living later on in my life!
Those who are called in this church age will suffer trials and tribulations in order to qualify as sons of God to rule and reign with Christ in His coming kingdom (Acts:14:22; 2 Tim 2: 12). All others who are not called in this church age suffer as a consequences of sin of this fallen world whom Satan is currently in control (2 Cor 4:4). Sometimes, good people faced tragedy or disaster simply because they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. They may have done nothing sinful or evil to cause their death.
The Good News of the Gospel of the kingdom of God is that when Christ returns to establish the kingdom of God on earth, there will be peace and prosperity on all the earth. War and suffering will be history and all peoples on earth will learn the ways of God (Isaiah 2; 2-4). Even the animal kingdom will be reconciled to one another (Isa 11: 6-8), for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea (v9). But till then, things will get worse before it gets better as the world marches towards the Great Tribulation with cataclysmic events of sufferings such as it had never seen or experienced!
The world has to undergo sufferings so that mortal humans will learn the lessons of sins and disobedience to God's holy laws. Those who eventually learned and accept God's ways in exchange for lasting character will be born again into spirit being of immortality in the world to come and into eternity. They have great work ahead to develop the whole of the universe! All these are part of God's Master Plan for man in this present mortal life to be made perfect through sufferings (Hebrews 2:10). Those who are not called in this present church age will have the opportunity to learn the whole truth come the millennial age.
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