What the New Testament Teaches About Divine Healing

A few years ago, I was in a poor and developing nation in Africa. A prominent Christian was on a tour of Africa, preaching to thousands of people across the continent. His tour had brought him to the very city where I was staying in Sub-Saharan Africa. The event was massive. Tens of thousands of people swarmed to the huge field where the evangelist would be speaking. Hours before the event, loudspeakers were blaring deafening music. As the rally began, the speaker talked about healing. He spoke about prosperity. He spoke about a life free from trouble. He then claimed to be uttering words that had actual physical healing power.

Were his claims true? Were blind really able to see? Were the crippled really able to walk again? Were cancerous tumors removed? Were arthritic pains dissolved? Were congenital defects cured? As he declared, “I heal you now in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,” was he really healing people?

In the wake of a global charismatic movement, such claims should be carefully analyzed. As you are involved in a college evangelism and Internet student ministry, it is an important part of your understanding of God’s Word. What does the New Testament teach about divine healing?

God can heal.

There is no mistaking the fact that God can heal. Jesus, who is God, healed thousands of people—paralytics, demon possessed, lepers, and many others (Matthew 12:15, Luke 6:18; 7:21; John 5:9). God is powerful, and He can heal anyone whom he chooses. The New Testament repeatedly proves this fact.

God sometimes chooses to use human instruments to heal.

In the early days of the church, God used the apostles to heal. Peter and John used the healing of a lame man to preach to thousands of Jerusalemites (Acts 4:9). Other apostles healed as part of their preaching ministry (Acts 5:16; 8:7).

God does not heal every disease.

Even though God can heal every disease, He does not choose to do so. The very existence of sickness and disease today is proof of that. Although Jesus healed thousands throughout Syria and Palestine, it is not true that every single sick person was healed. Even Paul, whose own ministry of healing and miracles is undisputed, had a physical malady (2 Corinthians 12:7). God chose not to heal Paul’s physical problem, though Paul repeatedly prayed for Him to do so.

God heals through prayer.

God never changes (Hebrews 13:8), but sometimes His methods do. Confirmatory signs were necessary in the days of the apostles, but since we now have the complete canon of Scripture healing, tongues, and other signs and wonders are not absolutely necessary for ministry to take place. Despite this possibility, it is unwise to put God in a box and say that He no longer heals. The book of James actually commands Christians, “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16). God heals through prayer.

What a wonder that we depend upon a God who can heal! As I witnessed the massive crusade in Africa, it is possible that some were healed. However, we cannot place demands upon God that the New Testament does not justify. We need not require of God that He heal every disease. Nor should we expect that healing is the only sign of His divine favor. Rather, we can rejoice in Him and thank Him for his great power that He gifts to believers as He perfectly wills.

Learning to Live a Life for God

If you are a member of the U.S. Army, your life is committed to the cause of defending the United States of America and her allies. You spend months of your life training body and mind for the sake of becoming a better defender. You are obedient to the instructions of commanding officers in order to be organized and responsive in combat. You are prepared to give your life, if necessary, to maintain freedom.

In much the same way, a Christian is a soldier in the cause of advancing Christ’s kingdom. He or she is committed to giving everything to that cause. But what does this look like? How can Christians really live their lives for God? What does it take? What is expected?

Living a Life for God Means Learning the Bible.

You are not left without answers. The entire Christian belief system and lifestyle requirements are summed up in one book—the Bible. God’s Word is living and powerful (Hebrews 4:12). It has the power to change your life as you remain obedient and submissive to it. Don’t neglect the touchstone of faith—the Bible. It is God’s love letter to you. It is your source of answers. It is the solution to life’s complexities. The Bible is God’s Word. Living for God means learning that precious book.

Living a Life for God Means Total Life Commitment.

Do you know what it’s like to live life in total abandon to one central consuming cause? That’s the Christian life. A doctor is committed to saving lives and healing bodies. A lawyer is committed to winning cases and defending justice. An athlete is committed to winning games and breaking records. A Christian is committed to passionately knowing God and giving every part of his or her life to God.

Living life for God means that you surrender to God every area of your life. If you are a student, study for God. If you are a friend, be a friend for God. Live life for God in the details. In conversation, are you making God a part of what you talk about? If you spend time on the Internet, are you involved in Internet student evangelism or some other Internet student ministries? Is there some way that you are involved in college evangelism?

If God is part of your life at all, He must be all of your life. When God called His disciples, He wasn’t calling them on a part-time job or to volunteer service on the weekends. He was asking for complete life commitment. That’s why Peter and John totally forsook their secular occupation. That’s why Luke left a lucrative white-collar job to follow the Rabbi. That’s why each of the disciples followed Christ to the very end—even when it ended in martyrdom.

Living a Life for God Means Sharing This Life with Others.

True life for God is not a private event. Life for God is lived out loud, on full display to everyone who watches. As Jesus commanded before He left the earth, “go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Paul, one of the finest examples of someone who lived his life for God, was thrown in jail for his faith. Even there, he could say, “It has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” Nothing stopped him. Everyone knew. Do your friends know that you are a Christian? When people are around you for any amount of time, do they get the idea that you are living your life for God?

Life lived for God is not life lived in a toilsome bondage to a cruel taskmaster. Life lived for God is the only truly fulfilling way to live. (Matthew 11:29b-30: …for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.) God calls us and He equips us, investing us with joy, power, and true fulfillment to live in total abandon to the glorious cause! Meditate on the Word of God, surrender every detail of your life to the will of God, and live in such a way that your commitment is unmistakable, contagious, and glorifying to God.

Suffering, Persecution, and Animosity

Three things we are promised in a life fully devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, it should be put this way: Jesus never promises a life free from these things. Instead, in John 15:18-21 Jesus tells us that if the world hates us, we know that it hated Him before it hated us.

“If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know the One who sent me.”

That’s harsh stuff to hear. They slaughtered Jesus! Shamed Him, beat Him, spit on Him, and crucified Him on a cross–the worst execution the world has ever known. He did not die of blood loss or anything like that. The way cross-execution works is that it suffocates you! You hang on a cross, brutally beat and bleeding from many, many places, then they drive nails through your hands and feet, and watch as you slowly suffocate because your lungs are being crushed.

Ayyyy! They persecuted Jesus, so the world will persecute us. We in America do not suffer as brutal torment as Jesus did (far from it!) but there will come a day…Either way, for now–we Christians are looked down upon, slandered, this, that, and the other. Nothing compared to other places in the world even today–but we are persecuted in our own minor way.

Christianity does not promise a plush life of security and (Ah!) comfort. It promises eternal life–eternal life in heaven with God! It promises that though this life will be miserable, heaven is awaiting us. Nay! God is awaiting us! (How awesome is that?)

Jesus says in Matthew 11:25-30 (verse 28-30) “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

This seems contradictory, no? But Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 that “we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”

Why? Because God is mighty. We may suffer in this life, because we cling to God, but we are promised eternal life. Why is Jesus’ burden and yoke light, yet still we suffer? Because what Jesus asks of us is good in the sense that when our hearts are for God alone, and we are doing His work He gives us joy. Paul talks about us being afflicted, perplexed, and persecuted, yet through all–we are with God. He gives us strength. He is our reward.

This is a hard message. Oh, by the way! The world is going to hate you for being sold out for Christ. But hey, take hope in this, Christians: the God we serve is mightier, bigger, wiser, and transcendent of all we will ever face. He is God!

I do not promise you will always understand what is going on; I do not promise that you will always be happy about what is going on in your life; but I promise this: God is with you! God is always with you!

“Abide in Me and I will abide in you.” Remember that as we are with God, in His presence, obeying His commands, and loving Him, we are with Him and He with us. Our reward for this life of suffering and loss and pain and torment is not heaven, (though that is a great benefit!) it is the eternal presence of God, with Him, in his home: heaven. Our reward is God. Remember that.

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” ~ Joshua 1:9

Snap! Be encouraged, brothers and sisters. We will suffer, but we have an awesome God!

Are Miracles Only for Believers?

Have you every thought about God’s attributes? God is all-powerful. God is infinitely wise. God is all knowing. God is forever. God is holy. God is love. God is all-present. God is merciful. God is gracious. God is sovereign. God is faithful. God is just. God is good. In short, God is awesome. These are some of the glorious principles of Christianity.

This awesome God is capable of working miracles. A study of God and miracles and the principles of Christianity reveals that there have been three ages of concentrated miracles: the Exodus, the prophetic ministry of Elijah and Elisha, and Jesus’ life and inauguration of the church. But as we reviewed in the list of God’s attributes above, God is amazingly powerful. No one can say that miracles are not happening today. Why would God work miracles? For believers? For nonbelievers? Let’s dig into the biblical information on God and miracles and find out if miracles are for believers or nonbelievers.

Faith and Miracles During the Exodus

During the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, God worked a lot of miracles. Beginning with God changing Moses’ staff into a snake, to the falling of manna, to water from the rock, and to the parting of the Red Sea, God was busy performing miracles. Who were these miracles for? First of all, they were for Israel. That should be obvious. God also worked miracles to impress people who were definitely not believers. Exodus 9:14 tells us that God sent plagues and worked miracles in order to tell Pharaoh, definitely an nonbeliever, that Yahweh was God alone. Thus, God worked miracles for believing Israel and for nonbelieving Pharaoh.

God and Miracles During the Ministry of Elijah and Elisha

Many miracles occurred during the ministry of two special prophets in Israel’s history—Elijah and Elisha. In God’s power, they did things like multiply food, raise people from the dead, pray fire down from heaven, divide rivers, strike people with blindness, and heal dying people. Why? For believers? In many cases, yes. But consider the very first miracle of Elijah—praying down a drought upon the land (1 Kings 17:1). That miracle was definitely for the wicked King Ahab and for the sins of unbelieving Israelites. Even Elijah’s biggest miracle—that of praying down fire upon a sacrifice—was a grand display for the nation’s false prophet club (1 Kings 18). Again, we see that the main spectators of these miracles were people who were nonbelievers, God-haters, and false prophets.

Miracles During Jesus’ Ministry and the Early Church

The next stage of miracle-intensive activity that we read about is during the life of Jesus and during the early church. Miracles were happening all the time from the hand of Jesus and then through the ministry of Peter, Paul, and other apostles. Perhaps one of Jesus’ most notable miracles was raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11). The biggest fallout from this miracle came from Jesus’ most ardent enemies—the Pharisees. For the most part, the Pharisees, even though they were religious, did not believe in Jesus at all. They were nonbelievers, and Jesus worked miracles often to their extreme anger. At the very beginning of the church, the Day of Pentecost, the disciples came out from hiding and started speaking in tongues. With this miraculous gift of communicating to everyone in their own native tongue, the apostles preached to thousands of people. Again, in this situation, the miracles were for nonbelievers.

What is the Ultimate Reason that God Works Miracles?

Ultimately, He wants to bring glory to Himself. He may do that to spread His fame to believers, but He may put His character on display to nonbelievers, too. No, nonbelievers are not miracle workers, but as nonbelievers see God work miracles, they get a perspective of the greatness of God. Those attributes of God, those core principles of Christianity, are on display when nonbelievers witness God’s miraculous work.

Jesus’ Purpose

Jesus came to earth for one purpose: to glorify God by offering Himself as a sacrifice to reconcile God’s people to Himself. That is the only reason why Christ came to earth: so we could be in a relationship with Him and with the Father.

This is what we were created for: to glorify God. In the beginning we were in perfect relationship, but we dug a great trench by means of our sin, and Jesus died so that we could come back into a relationship with the Father, and be with Him forever.

John 3:16-17 says, “God loved us in this way, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

The passage goes on to talk about judgment and redemption Catch this missing part of most of our John 3:16 evangelism: “He who belives in Him is not judged, he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifesting as having been wrought in God.”

Picture this: the Lord of the Rings orcs, fleeing from the light of Gandalf’s staff. Or how the cover of darkness proceeds them because they do not want to come into the light. Like cockroaches fleeing from the beams of a flashlight or the burning light of a lamp. So are those who remain in the world. They hate the light. Why? Because it reveals truth, it reveals who they are, it reveals their sin and their selfishness. It reveals the vileness of the world.

But the passage goes deeper and darker than the images of lovers of darkness fleeing from the light. It talks about judgment. Those who hate the light will be judged, and those who love it will be given mercy.

Christians this is a dark image. Most of our world will hide from the light. Most of the world will be judged because they did not come to the Light that is Jesus. It’s what the Bible says.

So what’s the solution? Well, what was Jesus’ purpose? “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Christians, that was His purpose, if we desire to be conformed to His image, should that not be our purpose as well? Save the world, ladies and gentlemen, and do it through being faithful to Jesus commands–do it through going into the world and spreading the good news of Jesus’ sacrifice–do it through making disciples of all nations.

See what God is doing in our lives!

God is good–God is glorious, and I cannot begin to tell you of the things that have transpired here in Keystone: there are not words. But I will try:

For the last week we have been with a team of 14 men and women, and we have been learning about the power of prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit, among MANY other things. But again, words do not express the glory of God and the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit.

Tonight, after a dinner of venison and antelope, we went out into the rain and played ultimate football (ultimate frisbee + football). The rain hit as hard as we played our game. I retired early because I retrieved the ball from the creek (which, mind you, is ice cold), and I feared that I would get a fever. So I went inside, took a long shower, and worshiped God.

A while later, Derek called the guys into one of the girl’s dorm rooms, where one of our teammates, Sarah, had yet to recover her breath. She hacked, wheezed, sucked in air, coughed, and cried with pain. We gathered in the room and prayed for her healing–we gathered in the hallway, all 14 of us (some of which were still in the room) and continued to ask God to heal Sarah.

Her breathing calmed. It didn’t just calm–it steadied so that she could speak! God healed her, and brought her erratic breathing muscles peace, so that she could have breath!

While we were waiting for the paramedics to arrive, we sat in silence in the hallway, praying quietly and separately–and then we began to sing. We began to glorify God! It was so awesome! Not only did God heal Sarah, and calm her, but we began to worship Him in the midst of that struggle.

The paramedics arrived, assessed Sarah’s condition and took her to the hospital, so we went back into the room, and we began to pray. Standing in a circle, each holding his or her neighbors hand, we prayed together–all at once–for Sarah’s healing, and for God to have victory over Satan here and now, and for God to be glorified.

See, Satan trembles with fear when the Body of Christ comes together and begins to truly grow. He fears, but he is not a creature of inaction–so he began to attack. He brought the worst blizzard LJ had ever seen against him as he travelled back to Keystone, and he tried to squeeze the air from Sarah’s lungs, but God had victory! Satan brings his forces against us, and God defeated him through us.

Prayer turned to song. Again our mouths were quiet, and someone asked if anyone else felt led to sing–several of us had, so we began to worship God and glorify His name. One song became another and another and another. It was truly amazing, more than the words I write for you.

Song turned to simple worship. The name of Jesus Christ has power. It has the power to make demons flee and tremble. It is by His name and His sacrifice that we are all forgiven of the atrocities we have committed against God. His name carries such incredible power. So we began to speak it–not just the name Jesus Christ, but more. We began to speak all names that came to mind. In Pennsylvania, I took a picture of the names of Christ, so I whipped out my phone and began to read.

Simple worship turned back to song, and song to prayer. God is glorious. See what He has done in the lives of the fourteen of us? Just this ONE instance of His power. God healed Sarah, she should be back right now, in her room, probably showering or sleeping. God healed her–the Holy Spirit worked through us and healed her. And this is just one of many instances.

One man shared with us, saying that if he had known Sarah in any other context, he wouldn’t have cared–it would have hardly mattered to him. Just another thing happening in this fallen world, and he was right. In any context other than Keystone, in this group, learning these things, none of this would have been very worried, or so empowered by the Holy Spirit to ask for this healing. I didn’t even believe in present day healing until I came out here. BUT GOD IS REAL! and He can do ANYTHING for those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

I cannot begin to truly communicate to your the sheer wonder of what is happening amongst us. This is one thing that happened in the first week! We have three months! The Holy Spirit is moving in each of us. God is having victory through us and He is being glorified!

How to Establish a Personal Relationship with God

Some things in life are confusing. College, wonderful as it is, just doesn’t solve all of life’s complexities. In fact, if anything, it just makes you aware of how complex the world really is. Some things, however, are pretty simple. One such simple truth is how to establish a relationship with God. For some reason, though, people get confused about it. How can someone know the truth about God? What are the correct beliefs about God? How do I, a human being, have a relationship with God, the Sovereign creator? Thankfully, establishing a personal relationship with God is neither confusing, difficult, nor perplexing. It’s a good thing, too. Because building a personal relationship with God is the most important thing that you can do in life.

A Relationship Takes Time:  Spend Time with Him.
One of the reasons why a relationship with God is so simple is because it is a relationship. And, like other relationships, it involves time. Think of it like this. You see an attractive girl on campus. You want to get to know her; you want to build a relationship. There is no way you will build a relationship without actually first meeting her and then spending a lot of time with her. That’s what a relationship takes: first meet, then spend time. In the case of the attractive girl, you just hope that she’ll want to spend time with you. In the case of God, you must first meet Him in salvation. Then, you must spend time with Him. A relationship is going to take time. A relationship is not built on an afterthought, a Sunday morning church appearance, or even a desperate “Help me out, God!” prayer before an exam. A relationship takes time.

A Relationship is Built on Knowledge:  Get to Know Him.
Like any other relationship, you must gain knowledge of the other person. God has given us an entire book—a pretty long book—that is all about Himself. In the Bible, we have everything that God wants us to know about Him. Here is where we find the truth about God. Here is where we build our beliefs about God. The Bible is all about God, and we can get to know Him by reading and meditating upon His Word.

A Relationship is Built on Intimacy:  Be Open with Him.
A relationship is never a one-way street. You can do all the talking in the world, but if the other person never responds, you will not get to know that other person. It takes some back-and-forth. God reveals Himself to us in the Bible. We must commit ourselves to God in prayer. We should confess our sins. We should give our concerns, anxieties, and worries to God. God asks from us openness, intimacy, and complete disclosure. He is the one Person whom you can trust with every one of your concerns—and you should. He can take care of them.

A Relationship is Built on Love:  Love Him with Everything You Are.
The Bible tells us that the greatest command is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37). Therein is the essence of a true relationship: mutual love. God loves you. That is where the relationship had its beginning. Now, the relationship can flourish as you love God with everything you are.

A relationship with God isn’t a formulaic step-by-step process. There’s nothing mechanical or formal about it. Like any other relationship, it takes time, knowledge, disclosure and love. But unlike other human relationships, God never disappoints. Your relationship with God is the most precious, most rewarding, and most exciting relationship you can ever experience.

The Problem of Pain, Part 2: Pain’s Positive Role

“In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

While it seems as though a loving and just Father would do everything to prevent His children from enduring suffering, Jesus told His disciples during the Last Supper that they would have trouble. This is a message that has transcended the bounds of history through the pen of John, the disciple Jesus loved, and reached our eyes and ears. The message wouldn’t have made it this far if God didn’t want us to know and understand that we truly would endure trouble. But how can we take heart when tragedy strikes? Sometimes the grief simply seems insurmountable, and it causes us to doubt the love of God. Could it be that our doubt simply stems from a misunderstanding of God’s love and how He can use pain to make a difference in our lives?

The normal person would wonder, at this point, how pain can possibly be beneficial. When truly painful things happen, they are often completely beyond our control and miserably frustrating. It can sometimes be so bad that it causes us to feel as though life is no longer worth living. In the initial stages of grief over our pain, those of us who pray may ask God to either take away our affliction or take our lives. Those of us who don’t pray might languish for a long time before finding our solace in some earthly pleasure. This is a solace that, if we are honest with ourselves, is temporary because what we placed our hope in is temporary. As soon as this object is taken away, we are back to square one.

The apostle Paul is a wonderful example of this exact principle. This man had been through pain and frustration of a magnitude that many of us cannot imagine for the sake of the Gospel at the time he wrote 2 Corinthians. Not only that, but He had a “thorn in [his] flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment [him].” This man, like many of us, prayed that God would take away His affliction. And do you know what Christ said to Him? Christ, the loving and merciful Savior, said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Read 2 Corinthians 11:16-12:10 to get the full story.

God allowed this to happen to Paul in order to keep him from becoming conceited. God brought Paul to the point of complete dependency on Him so that Paul wouldn’t think that he could do any of his ministry on his own, because frankly he couldn’t. Paul was called by God to minister to the Gentiles and served as a catalyst for the spread of the Gospel all over the world. This was not easy, and Paul needed to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit in order to endure it!

You see, if we are to serve God and fulfill His purpose for our lives, we must depend on Him for every ounce of strength. Pain brings us to our knees in order that we may have humility and realize that we can’t do this on our own, in dependency on other people, or in dependency on other things. The benefit that pain has to offer us is the opportunity to fall into God’s open arms, crying “Abba, Father!” He is there to bring comfort in the midst of our distress, and He wants to! He wants to have a relationship with you, and He is jealous for you. Let Him have your life, and you will never see your pain the same way again. You will have a loving and all-knowing Father to lead and guide you every step of the way. He holds the past, the present, and the future, and even if your pain feels as though it is needless, realize that He is big enough to use any circumstances, whether they are painful or not.

Awesome

What do you think of when you hear that word?

Awesome. Cool. Sick. Fun. Sweet. God. Song. Emotion. Whatever.

Now I ask you, what is awe? What composes the word ‘awesome’?

To remain academically honest, I looked up awesome. Here are some synonyms: amazing, appalling, breathtaking, ghostly, grand, hairy, imposing, majestic, solemn, uncanny, alarming, and astonishing.

Next I looked up simply awe, since my first answer was not satisfactory. This is what I got: an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God.

~(Thank You Dictionary.com)~

An overwhelming feeling of reverence, fear and admiration.

I present to you that our culture has taken the word awesome and degraded it. Do we ever recognize God’s awesomeness? Are we ever overwhelmed by his immense power? Are we ever overwhelmed with fear when we just begin to imagine what we deserve from such a powerful God? Are we ever truly in awe of His unyielding love?

God is an amazingly powerful God – He spoke the world into existence; and He’s omnipotent – all powerful. God is powerful. That speaks for itself. His power is so immense that He flooded the entire earth, it is so immense that He stopped time – held the sun in the sky – just so that the Israelites might have victory. He is so powerful, that when the Philistines so much as had the ark in their possession, disease broke out; so powerful, so holy, that the seventy Israelites that looked inside the ark when it came back died where they stood. So powerful, that he decimated Sodom and Gomorrah for their immorality. God is powerful; that much is clear.

Now think of what God could do with that power if He were not merciful, if He were to unleash His wrath on all of his deserving creation. All have fallen short of God’s glory, all have sinned, and all deserve death, deserve his wrath. That means that You and I are both at the mercy of that awesomely powerful God. We deserve His wrath, we deserve the worst kind of pain we could imagine, and worse. Just think of what happened to Christ. Okay, He suffered horrible things on earth. But that was nothing compared to God’s wrath. That was the wrath of Man. Imagine God’s wrath who is infinitely more powerful than we are. Imagine that and be filled with fear.

Finally, think of God’s love. His power is awesome, His wrath is awesome, but we yet live – why? It’s because God loves us. John 3:16 is a well quoted verse. It basically says that God sent His only Son to die by our hands, so that we may be with Him. God sent His Son, to suffer His awesome wrath, just so that we could be together with Him. Is that not awe inspiring love? So it’s not only the love that keeps us from suffering His wrath, but love beyond that; so that we can go to heaven and be with Him. Is that not amazing? Is that not awesome?

The Problem of Pain: Part 1

Although Christianity involves a God who is loving, merciful, kind, and compassionate, many choose to question His love and, in turn, His existence. There are 991,000 individuals in America who claim to be agnostic,[1] meaning they believe in the possibility of the existence of a god or gods, but they are not certain of this existence. What is it that blocks their certainty? This is the question that many evangelical Christians may ask as they make an effort to share their faith with those around them, as Jesus commanded us to do in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20).

I submit that the main impediment for many agnostics is the problem of pain. Sometimes we, as human beings who are small and easily thrown by the winds and waves of life, simply have to ask the question, “Why?” “Why do I endure needless suffering day by day?” “Why did my loved one pass away so suddenly and unexpectedly?” “How many times and for how long do I have sit here and grieve loss and have my life interrupted by unnecessary pain that does nothing but impede my growth?” Aside from personal struggles, we may also ask, “Why would a god who is loving and merciful allow the pain and suffering that happens in the world today? After all, 15 million children die every year from starvation;[2] 600,000 to 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders annually;[3] not to mention the whole slew of natural disasters that continually takes place, inflicting massive amounts of death and injury on millions of innocent people. The mere existence of death in and of itself is cause for complaint. Wouldn’t an omnipotent God be able to prevent these things from happening? Wouldn’t a completely righteous God be just enough to do so?” These questions have the potential to lead one to the conclusion that either God isn’t really loving and merciful or He doesn’t exist altogether.

Because of the massive impact that these questions can have on a person’s faith, it is important for us to be sensitive to the importance of this issue. Some of us are strong like Job and can simply trust God’s sovereignty in any and every situation. That is a wonderful gift and an ability that should bring peace and joy to the lives of those who have it. But what of those who lack that ability? What becomes of their faith, and consequently, what becomes of them? It is important for those of us who are strong to not pass judgment on these people and to be empathetic and supportive of them in their time of pain and doubt. Sometimes they don’t need for us to accuse them of being faithless by questioning God, but they need us simply to love them and care for them to the best of our ability and by the strength and power of the Holy Spirit that is given to us. Then, when they are ready, we can embark on a beautiful journey with them of the discovery of God’s plan and purpose for their lives.

In the meantime, these people may want practical answers. Maybe you are enduring times of difficulty and pain and you are seeking answers to some of these questions for yourself. If so, know that you have no reason to be ashamed, but take heart in knowing that God will never leave you nor forsake you (Deut. 31:6) and he collects every single one of your tears in His own bottle and keeps them (Ps. 56:8). This God is a big God, bigger than all your pain and heartache. He cares for you, as is evidenced by the sacrifice of His son in order that your sins may be atoned for and you may have fellowship with Him (John 3:16). Be strong and take heart, and stay tuned for some more analyses of how pain could possibly play a positive role in your life and in the lives of others.

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[1] http://www.religioustolerance.org/agnostic.htm

[2] http://library.thinkquest.org/C002291/high/present/stats.htm

[3] http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/ncvrw/2005/pg5l.html

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