2011-11-17T21:12:00.001-05:00

DoesGod cause suffering?

When tragedy happens, we often ask “Why?” “Her number came up,” someone might say, as ifeverything is predestined. Or, “He was punished for his sins,” as if we aren’tall sinners. Or, “God needed her more that we did,” which is sometimes said tochildren. But doesn’t that lay a guilt trip on a child who might think, “Ishould have loved her more”?

Maybe most common among Christians is “God must havehad a reason for this to happen.” But does God really make it a decision to causeus suffering? Is God, our loving Father, like an abusive parent?

All these explanations might be offered in an attempt to understand andconsole, but they are inadequate. And they don’t reflect the biblical pictureof who God is or how God works.

When people suffer as a result of their own terriblechoices – a drug addict or a robber -- it’s sad, but less troubling. We see acause and effect relationship between their bad actions and the disastrousconsequences. But when someone sufferswho didn’t do anything to cause the tragedy, we struggle for answers. I’ve beenwith families who have experienced tremendous loss, and so often wished I hadmore answers.

But here is what I’ve learned. We live in a fallenworld permeated by evil and suffering. Great tragedy often visits innocent people. That’s one of the lessons ofthe book of Job. Innocent people die asnations wage war. Babies die of malnutrition because of unjust economicsystems. Fallen nature erupts in natural disasters. Qualified doctors, airlinepilots, and bus drivers make fatal mistakes.

God doesn’t in any sense cause these things to happen.God doesn’t cause our suffering, but he can redeem our suffering. God hurtswhen we hurt, just as Jesus wept at Lazarus’s death and his sisters’ grief. God walks with us in our suffering. “Eventhough I walk through the valley of death, You are with me,” proclaims thePsalmist.

If we let him, God can cause good to come from tragedy. I don’t say this easily. In all things Godworks for the good of those who love him, writes the Apostle Paul (Rom 8:28).The primary good that God can bring to us in whatever happens is to make usmore Christ-like, “that we may be conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom8:29).

If we turn to God in times of tragedy, and keepturning to him, God can strengthen our faith, bring us a closer relationshipwith him and with those we love, enable us to inspire others and minister toothers with greater understanding, gain a deeper appreciation for life, andbring a reordering of our priorities. God hates the suffering and tragedy thatexist in our world, and he feels every pain and heartache with us. But he cangrow flowers out of the dirt of life. I’ve seen this many times.

When tragedy and suffering happen, we need to go beyond the “why”questions. They rarely get answered. The “why” questions may express our pain,confusion and frustration. But we need to get beyond them. I’ve prayed forgrace to live with unanswered questions. I believe the why questions will oneday be answered, but we need to put them on hold for now.

When Job experienced the loss of everything dear to him, his first actwas to worship God. In this moment of tragedy, Job had a choice to make: tocurse God or to worship God. When we experience tragedy we face the samedecision.

In the end, God blessed Job abundantly, restoring his prosperity. Ourblessing may not be the same as Job’s. In this life, we may or may not have restored what we’ve lost. There areno easy responses to those who suffer, no pious bromides.

But God’s promise is sure: “In all these things we are more thanconquerors through him who loved. For . . . neither death nor life,neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able toseparate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom.8:38-39).

Kirk Hanger, Pastor, New Hope Fellowship

Who Will Be Saved?

2011-10-08T21:48:00.000-04:00

[Note: Updated with responses to comments at the end.]

Are believers in Jesus Christ the only people who will be with God in heaven and have a place in God’s future when heaven and earth are united as one? Some Christians are convinced that’s the reality, perhaps with a few exceptions, such as “children below the age of accountability” and perhaps some of the people who have never heard of Jesus.

But can this be right? If only Christians are “saved,” wouldn’t it mean that after Hitler murdered and incinerated six million Jews in Nazi-controlled Europe that God then sent them to hell forever because they didn’t believe in Jesus? Everything we know about the God who is love tells us that such a view is outrageous and unbiblical.

Jesus is at work drawing people to himself throughout the world. The Gospel message about Jesus and the faith it engenders is the place where God has chosen to meet human beings in a saving and transforming way. (Although, as preached today that message is often distorted in content and is without much spiritual power.).

But Jesus is also at work outside of the proclamation of the Gospel. According to Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25 about the sheep and the goats, the world’s people will or won't enter God’s eternal Kingdom -- not on the basis of whether they believed in him -- but based on how they treated his “brethren" – Jesus' followers. Did they treat Jesus’ disciples with kindness or indifference? These men and women aren't themselves followers of Christ. But those who respond positively to Christ’s presence in his followers by acting toward them with kindness, though they haven’t themselves become disciples, will enter God’s Kingdom.

This theme goes back to Genesis, when God tells Abraham that he and his descendants will be a blessing to the nations, and that that "those who bless you I will bless and those who curse you I will curse" (Gen. 12:2-3). Jesus applies this to treatment of his followers, saying "those who receive a prophet will gain a prophet's reward," and "those who give a cup of cold water to one of these little ones, because he is a disciple of mine, will not lose his reward" (Matt. 10:40-42). Then in Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus makes it clear that the “blessing” and “reward” for responding with kindness to his disciples is eternal life in God’s kingdom.

In the Bible the followers of Jesus are understood as a small persecuted minority, the “first fruits” (James 1:18) of the coming kingdom of God, largely rejected in the world, but precious to God, and reflecting God’s love and grace in the world. Yet many others in the larger world will ultimately also enter that kingdom. Who will they be?

In John 5 Jesus says that those who believe in him "do not come under judgment, but have crossed over from death to life" (5:24). But for the rest, "all who are in their graves will hear his (Christ's) voice and come out -- those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned" (5:28-29). This is repeated in the vision of the "great white throne" judgment in Revelations. In John’s vision believers are resurrected to life first (20:4-6), but then in the general resurrection of all people, "the dead were judged according to what they had done" (20:12).

Similarly, the Apostle Paul writes of this ultimate judgment that "those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and eternal life" will receive eternal life, and those who "are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil" will receive wrath (Rom. 2:6-11).

None of this means that anyone’s future in God’s presence is based on "being a good person" ("only God is good" – Matt. 19:17), or on trying to keep a strict set of moral standards -- which only leads to self-righteousness. Rather, people decide that they want to be eternally in the presence of all that is good and true by responding to the presence of that goodness now, whether this is experienced in hearing the authentic Gospel message, in the opportunity to show kindness to a disciple of Jesus, or, without knowing that it’s Jesus, to any of the many ways that the love and grace of Jesus Christ – the Spirit of Christ -- permeate our world.

Anyone who is saved is only saved by Jesus Christ. There is no salvation in anyone or anything else. People who will be part of God’s future Kingdom will be there only because of God’s saving work in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, received by their grace-enabled response of “yes” to his love and grace, whether or not they realize it is Jesus they are responding to.

Tragically, this doesn’t mean that everyone will be with God in his eternal kingdom. Some people persistently turn away from what is good and true, from light and love, as this can be experienced and embraced in their lives. In this way they make it clear that they do not want to be with God, who is the fullness of that Good. While God continues to reach out, and seeks to win all people to himself (1 Timothy 2:3), in the end God accepts the choices that each person makes whether to be with him or not. Granting such freedom – the freedom to accept or reject him – is also the nature of love.

Marty Shupack, October 6, 2011

Response to Tim,Ellen and Anonymous Comments

Thankyou, Tim, Ellen and Anonymous, for your important questions and comments.

Yes,Scripture is extremely clear! Jesus is the only way to God. He is the Way, theTruth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by Jesus. Moses can’tsave anyone. Buddha can’t save anyone. And we can’t save ourselves. Only Jesussaves. Those who do not have Jesus do not have Life. Apart from Jesus’ deathfor the forgiveness of sins, bodily resurrection and Lordship, no one could besaved.

Butthe question is, can people ultimately be saved by Jesus without knowing thatit is him. Can “non-Christians” enter God’s eternal kingdom through Jesus?

C.S.Lewis, Dallas Willard and other prominent Christians believe that they can. Here’swhat C.S. Lewis writes about the salvation of non-Christians in Mere Christianity: “There are people whodo not accept the full Christian doctrine about Christ but who are so stronglyattracted by Him that they are His in a much deeper sense than they themselvesunderstand. There are people in other religions who are being led by God’ssecret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are inagreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it .. .” (pp. 176-177).

Regardingthe question of how people unknowingly experience Jesus, it’s not that everyoneencounters Jesus as a distinctive spiritual presence. Rather, it’s that he’sthere all the time! Jesus is the Word of God -- the Divine Logos (John 1), “throughwhom all things were made” (John 1:3), and “in him all things hold together”(Col. 1:17). He “gives all people lifeand breath and everything else” (Acts 17:25). He is “the true light who giveslight to every person,” (John 1:9). Jesus “fills the whole universe” (Eph. 4:10)and in him all people “live and move and have [their] being” (Acts 17: 28).

Thesepassages tell us that Jesus is present everywhere in the ordinary world. He is always reachingout to people in the depths of their heart and in the midst of their everydaylives. Each person’s response is deeplypersonal, so it is not possible to generalize about what a positive responsewill look like. Scripture does describe, however, the kind of life that Godcalls people to -- what it means by God’s grace to “persist in doing good” (Rom2:7; John 5:29).

Thosewho are learning to love in a way that puts others above themselves, to do whatis right even when it costs them, to acknowledge their own moral failures, totrust in a power of goodness greater than themselves -- rather than relying ontheir own moral rectitude or ability to make things turn out right -- even ifthey don’t have a name for that Reality, and barely understand it, areresponding to Jesus’ grace and love.

Theyare saying “yes” to God, even if they don’t realize that’s what they’re doing.This isn’t a matter of embracing an ethical system or a prescribed conduct toearn God’s favor. Rather, such conduct is the fruit of a grace-enabled responseto Christ.

Doesthis view amount to salvation by works? Rememberthat it’s not me, but Jesus himself who says that people who are not hisdisciples – are not his “brethren” -- will enter God’s kingdom because theytreated his disciples with kindness and “have done good” (Matt. 10:40-42;25:31-46; John 5:29). And both Jesus andPaul say that there are deeds which will be rewarded with eternal life (Matt.16:27;

Rom.

2:6-7). As Ellen notes, such deeds are the result – not the pre-condition -- ofChrist’s work in one’s heart.

Whenthe Apostle Paul writes about “works” that cannot save, he’s talking aboutattempts to claim one’s own righteousness by earning God’s favor. Such works certainly cannot save anyone. Onlyby responding positively to God’s grace can a person take hold of the salvationChrist has won for humankind by his death and resurrection.

That’swhat Jesus is saying about those who show kindness to his disciples or are “doinggood” in other ways. They aren’t trying to earn God’s favor, but are expressingin action a heart-felt grace-enabled response to “the true Light which giveslight to every person.” Without knowing it, they are embracing Christ himselfand evidencing by their actions the fruit of his work in their hearts!

Finally,Anonymous notes that Scripture connects rejecting the Gospel message witheternal condemnation (e.g. John 3:36). It seems to me that the biblical link betweenthe reception of the Gospel and eternal judgment is intrinsically linked to theintegrity and power of the Gospel in the biblical accounts.

WhenJesus called people to follow him, they experienced an encounter with thepresence and love of God with tremendous clarity and power. This wasreally an existential moment for them -- a decision about choosing life ordeath then and there. So if someone rejected Jesus when he walked the earth,they were indeed making a life-shattering decision to say "no" to allthat was right and good.

Likewise,the Gospel as preached by the New Testament apostles in the power of the HolySpirit – and by some Christians since then -- brought the immediate palpablepresence of God and his love. Their preaching was accompanied by miraculoussigns, and moved powerfully in the hearts of the hearers. Under these circumstances, rejecting theGospel message was an existential choice with eternal consequences.

Butsince that time, the preaching of the Gospel has often been something verydifferent. Too frequently the Gospel’s content is distorted, with little or noresemblance to the message of Jesus. Evenmore often our proclamation of it lacks significant Holy Spirit power and failsto convey the real presence and love of the crucified and resurrected Son ofGod.

Ontop of all this, there is the terrible reality that rulers, nations andordinary people claiming to be Christian have perpetrated terrible evilsthroughout history. And such things still happen today! This has created anincredible barrier for many people to truly hear the Gospel with fresh ears.

Asthe Gospel is often preached today, failing to accept it does not mean that oneis rejecting God's love and grace. Far from it. In such cases the biblicalconnection between the Gospel message and eternal judgment is attenuated, andeven broken.

Inthese circumstances, declining to believe in Jesus isn’t necessarily arejection of who Jesus really is. Such “unbelievers”are not the ones Jesus talks about when he speaks of those “who loved darknessinstead of the light” (John 3:19). Rather they are simply unable – through nofault of their own – to experience that Light in the Gospel message as we preach it. But that “Light which enlightens all people” willnot fail to come to them.

Amazingly,our sharing of the Good News of God’s love in Jesus Christ sometimes reallydoes penetrate hearts and transform lives. For which we must humbly offer praiseand thanksgiving to the Lord of all mercy and grace!

New Hope Fellowship of Alexandria Blog

Who Will Be Saved?