If there is a God who IS love and is good, why all the pain and horror?
And...
Why are Christians so hateful?
The second question is easy. Hateful Christians are an oxymoron, like wet dry, or sharp dull. Purposeful, premeditated and prolonged acts of hate are indications of worldliness, not Christianity. It doesn't matter that the perpetrator says he or she believes in Christ, he or she is lying. Period. There is no nuance here. No gray area.
Faith in Christ, true faith in Christ, means that you become like Him increasingly each day you are alive and devoted to following Him. Sustained, premeditated hatred and/or unforgiveness is antithetical to a profession of faith. This is not to say that any Christian does this perfectly, but it does mean that if you are incapable of even the thought of forgiving the perceived wrongs done you, or you cannot conceive of loving your enemies, then the Spirit of Christ is not in you.
This is both taught and exemplified by Christ Himself.
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:43-48, NKJV).
“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14, 15, NKJV).
And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. (Luke 23:33, 34, NKJV).
But that first question, why all the pain and horror? - that is not so easy.
Even if you accept that this life we live is in a fallen world brought about by humanity's rebellion against a good Creator, you still hit the seemingly impenetrable twin brick walls of both God's sovereignty and God's omnipotence.
The first says He has the authority to do whatever He desires, and the second says He has the power.
Why then all the helpless suffering? If He could prevent the horrors of this life (and there are so many, from unspeakable brutality and oppression, to ruthless disease), then why doesn't He? If He can but won't, He's a monster. If He wants to but can't, He's not God.
But the questions go beyond even that. Why does He allow even the possibility of evil to exist?
If you've asked yourselves these or similar questions, you are in good company. Jesus asked these very things immediately prior to His horrendous execution on our behalf.
And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch.” He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. And He said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.” (Mark 14:33-36, NKJV).
Do not let familiarity allow you to regard this account lightly. Contemplate His words, especially His entreaty to Abba [Daddy]… all things are possible for You.
What loving father's heart has not broken when his beloved child cries out in pain and fear for protection and rescue? What father has not wished himself in the child's place to suffer instead whatever affliction the child is undergoing?
So why did the all-powerful Father allow His beloved and perfect Son to suffer on the Cross? Why was that the only way to redeem mankind?
Scripture teaches the answers and it entails understanding and believing the concepts of free will, justice, eternity and faith.
Man created in perfection but gifted with the solemn power of free will, chose to rebel (sin) against God. In doing so, he corrupted everything. Was that free will necessary? Yes, if the desired relationship between God and man was to be voluntary rather than compulsory.
Sin requires judgment. God would not be good if He allowed evil to go unpunished. Think about it. A society which did not punish wrong-doing would soon devolve into savagery and utter chaos. History (and current events) abound with such examples. And more - and worse - is coming.
This first man, Adam, was our representative. This is an important ordination by God, and while it condemns all who are in Adam (his descendants) to death, it is by that same ordination that all can be saved from death.
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned-- (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. (Romans 5:12-19, NKJV).
So justice demanded Adam's death, for the soul that sins must die.
Understand this, what God has made cannot be unmade. It endures forever. This makes at least some sense to our finite and limited human minds when we attempt to contemplate the perfection, infinity and eternality of Deity. And the act of Divine Creation itself takes much less faith in unfathomables than belief in the alternative naturalistic view of origins.
In mercy, beforehand, God also ordained that man, created in His image, unlike other created angelic beings, would have the opportunity for redemption. It would require an unthinkable price, the death of God Himself at the hands of his rebellious creatures. And this redemption could only be appropriated by faith.
[For] without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).
Thus, free will allowed for the existence of sin, justice requires its punishment, and faith in the substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ is the only offer of escape from that judgment.
Finally, there is another aspect of eternity that sheds light on these existential questions. The Apostle Paul, that master logician, writes:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (Romans 8:18-22, NKJV).
And in another place he writes:
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16-18, NKJV).
Do you see the exquisite beauty of the equation? Can you conceive of a more cogent and hopeful explanation for the sometimes hell that is this life?
Yes, there is suffering, but no one is truly innocent.
Yes, God allows the pain to continue, but only because there is a life to come - an eternal life - that will be spent either in His Presence, or apart from Him in torment. And one day, perhaps soon, Christ will return and make all things new.
Does the suffering of "innocents" appear just from our perspective? How can it? We do not know the end from the beginning, only Deity can know that.
But neither does eternal life in glory for those who believe appear just from our perspective.
Does it take faith to accept these things as truth? Of course! And thank God for that, because that is the very (and only thing) about our fallen nature that pleases God.
Do you have a better explanation for these fundamental questions? Because if there is no God, and He has not revealed Himself miraculously in His Word, then you are own your own in a universe that is cold and dark and without purpose.
Then, indeed, even if your life is lived in a century of ease and comfort, what "good" is it? What purpose did it serve, except to feed the endlessly ruthless cycle of birth, death and decay?
And if (God forbid) your insubstantial and ephemeral existence is lived in poverty, degradation, fear and torment, then what other conclusion can be reached then it would have been better never to have been born?
Look, live with your head in the sands of atheism or agnosticism if you want to...
“And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15, NKJV).
