2018.07.18 - Apologetics - If God Exists Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

9:55 PM

1 Peter 3:15But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: 16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

C.S. Lewis - "It is critically important to examine the assumptions within a question"

What are the assumptions here?

• Why . . .
• That there is a reasonand things do not just happen, cause and effect 
• This would exclude randomness as some want to believe that there is no reason for things . . .

• Bad Things . . .
• That there are bad things
• Which means there must be good things

§  Which means there must be a line between good and bad

·      There must be a standard of right and wrong

·      Someone must decide what that standard is

• Good People . . .
• That there are good people who deserve good things and not bad things to happen to them and that the opposite would hold true as well, who then sets that standard of "good" if not God

§  Matthew 19:16And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none goodbut one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.KJV

·      NT:18 agathos (ag-ath-os'); a primary word; "good" (in any sense, often as noun): 

KJV - benefit, good (-s, things), well. Compare NT:2570.

What part does pain have in life? The story from Ravi CIPA (cannot feel pain) the story of how the mother of the daughter prayed each night that her daughter could feel pain.  The daughter was born with a genetic defect that did not allow her to feel any type of pain at all . . .can you imagine going through life without pain in any way.  What if your appendix burst? What if there was a sharp object in your eye? It could go on and on. Pain alerts us that something is wrong, not right.  

Pain warns us that something is wrong - the reason we feel pain is because we acknowledge Gods laws that things are being done that should not be done.  If there were no moral standard by which to judge right and wrong then "wrong" would be defined by what standard??? A rapist was doing what was right in his own eyes. Cannibals.  Pedophiles. Bank robbers.  Tax evaders. People who speed. Porn addicts.   Who makes the call if not God?  What is the standard of morality by which we will live? 

Judges 17:6In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.

KJV

John 16:33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.KJV

God is not the Creator of evil - evils exists where God is not allowed to be God, where He pushed out and not honored.  What God has created is GOOD . . .Genesis 1:31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.KJV 

·      Love dictates choice - God loves us so He gives us a choice. We serve God because we CHOOSE to, not because He forces us to, we have free will and therefore have the ability to NOT serve him, which means were are not like Him, which means we actually PROMOTE sin and suffering with our very own actions.

·      Just like we as parents know that there are times when our children may feel pain and suffer, we will allow them to be born because we love them - then we allow them to ride bikes knowing they could easily fall off and become hurt.  

·      How many of us as parents see our kids making mistakes and want them to choose differently but we allow them to live then we are there when the consequences of their bad decisions come to light . . .

Genesis 4:7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sinlieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.KJV

• God did not say if you do well all will be perfect - we live in an imperfect world
• Sin - Frist time used in OT 
• OT:2403 chatta'ah (khat-taw-aw'); or chatta'th (khat-tawth'); from OT:2398; an offence(sometimes habitual sinfulness), and its penalty, occasion, sacrifice, or expiation; also (concretely) an offender: KJV - punishment (of sin), purifying (-fication for sin), sin (-ner, offering).

Baby slapped at birth would consider it bad but that pain assists the first breath