God Should Have To Pay

As irrational as it may sound, countless people sit in judgment of God, Himself. The reason is they blame Him for all the pain and suffering in the world. Of course, when one says to them, “God is love. He is not the cause of pain and suffering,” they quickly respond with, “He could stop it. If He is such a loving God, why does He allow it in the first place.” It’s a similar question to the one which the devil asked Eve, “Did God really say?” In this case, the enemy whispers in their ear, “Is God really good? Look at all the terrible things going on in the world.”

Of course, several of them suffered great loss, or experienced severe trauma.  They are angry, and feel He should be made to pay for it all. What they fail to realize is when Jesus died on the Cross, He not only bore our sins, He paid for that pain and suffering. In fact, He experienced the greatest pain and suffering of all, for all. Justice was served; in fact, the Bible puts it this way: “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3:18).

Isaiah 53:4-6 Surely, He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all (read entire chapter).

His Suffering Reveals His True Nature

Perhaps, you have had some of these thoughts floating around in your mind. Let’s think more deeply about these questions. Here’s something blatantly simple: if God truly wanted humanity to experience pain and suffering, no one would ever smile, let alone laugh. They never could, because they could never experience pleasure, nor have a sense of humor. He wouldn’t allow us to have it as a coping mechanism, nor any other. Words like, enjoyment, and fun would never be found in our vocabulary. They wouldn’t mean a thing to us.

Jesus suffered so we wouldn’t have to suffer for all eternity. We’re not home yet; but when we are, there will be no more such things. This points out at least a couple of things. First, He gave us the choice to eternally suffer or not, which is predicated on receiving Jesus, or rejecting Him. Our decision! Even on this side of eternity, much of our pain and suffering is the result of our decisions, choices and behavior -and that does state the obvious. Of course, many of those who play the victim card, don’t see it that way. That would mean personal responsibility.

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

God gave us His Word, which is filled with His wisdom, and enables us to avoid all kinds of hardship. He has given us many warnings in order to keep us from driving ourselves of a cliff. If He truly wanted us to suffer, why would He do that? Many ignore His warnings, and then blame Him for the results.

 His suffering reveals His true nature, which is love. Jesus did not have to do anything for us, much less endure the Cross.

Who Are We To Judge?

When thinking rationally, wouldn’t we simply ask, “Who are we to judge God?” Perhaps as believers, we haven’t been bold enough to judge Him as those of the world, but. . . “I would never judge God!” Have you ever been critical of Him? Have you ever accused Him of being unfair? Have you ever been disappointed with God?

When people decide their way is better than the Lord’s, they’re saying His way is inferior to theirs. When they prefer to make their own decisions without Him, they are saying He makes poor decisions. How can anyone say Jesus is their Lord; yet, decide to be the captain of his or her own soul? God will never withhold anything good from us, but what He considers good and what we consider good, may be two different things.

There is a plethora of contrasts, points of argument and so on. Perhaps, the best judgment to make is this: He is God and we are not.

Romans 9:19-21 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use (NASB)?

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