There are many who consider that if God existed then surely He would do something about all the suffering in the world. Due to all the pain in the world they assume God does not exist. But God does exist and has initiated a plan that deals with suffering and it will not be long before He completes it.
The Bible predicts that a very dramatic change will occur one day when God will make this present creation redundant and make a new heaven and earth where there will be no more suffering.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea ... 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. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. [Rev 21:1&4-5]
Before God does this He is also going to replace mankind’s unjust and self-centred governments over this current world with a totally just government reigned over by Jesus Christ. When Jesus returns to reign over this world one of the first things He will do is remove everyone who has been behaving selfishly and unlovingly towards others and in doing so He will remove the cause of the vast majority of the suffering in this world.
(God) ... now commands all men every where to repent: Because he has appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained (Jesus); whereof he has given assurance unto all men, in that he has raised him from the dead. [Acts 17:31]
For the Son of man (Jesus) shall come in the glory of his Father (God) with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
[Matt 16:27]
But he that does wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons. [Col 3:25]
The Bible describes God as being pure love or in other words holy and that when He made man He made him to reflect His nature. However true love does not control others for its own selfish ends for that is abuse. So as man was given the ability to love this meant he was also given the freewill to give and receive it. This also means man has the ability to unlovingly reject and make ungodly demands that hurt others. For God to stop man causing suffering by abusing his fellow man then He would have to take away man's freewill which would turn us into robots but as God is holy He is unable to do that.
God calls us to repent of our unloving ways and if we do not God can ultimately only do one thing and that is to judge us. The ultimate act of judgement will be when Jesus returns and finally puts an end to all the unloving behaviour going on and separates those who have allowed God to forgive and change them and those who have not. Then those who abuse others will no longer be able to and suffering will be banished.
Of interest to us all will be the standard that God will use when deciding who to let into His earthly Kingdom. It is no secret it is the extremely famous Ten Commandments.
1) Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2) Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven (carved) image ...
3) Thou shalt not take the name of Yehovah thy God in vain ...
4) Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy ...
5) Honour thy father and thy mother ...
6) Thou shalt not kill.
7) Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8) Thou shalt not steal.
9) Thou shalt not bear false witness against (lie to) thy neighbour.
10) Thou shalt not covet (lust) ... [Exo 20:3-17]
Is the standard of your behaviour good enough? How many of the above commandments have you broken. Have you ever lied? If you say no you just have. Have you ever taken something that was not yours, whatever its value? Jesus said to be angry with someone for no good reason is the same as murder to God.
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgement: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgement. [Matt 5:21-22]
Jesus taught that to look lustfully at someone is to have committed the act in your heart.
But I say unto you, That whosoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. [Matt 5:28]
So lets face it, we have all failed to reach this standard. The scriptures tell us that the law, of which the Ten Commandments are a part, was given so that we can see that we have all failed to reach the standard needed for God’s perfect world. Having realised that, it becomes clear that we are all in desperate need of a saviour to forgive us, cleanse us, renew us and rescue us from the judgement to come. Praise God that He loves us so much that He has actually made it all very simple for us to receive. Our sins can be forgiven and our nature cleansed and renewed by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
To remove suffering from this world every one who is doing unloving things to others would need to be removed. This is actually going to happen! Jesus Christ is going to return to this world and reign and remove from it all those who are part of man’s selfish system that causes all the suffering. To be eligible to live in His kingdom only those who have acknowledged their need to be cleansed of their sinfulness and have allowed God to purify them will be allowed in.
The reason Jesus does not come back today is because tomorrow, just like today, thousands will turn in repentance to Him and be saved from the judgement their sins deserve. God passionately cares about everyone and He desires we get saved by faith in Jesus Christ so that we do no longer deserve to be cast into Hell. My expectation is that there will soon come the day when the whole earth will have heard the gospel and chosen either for or against Christ, then He will return.
If you have not trusted in Jesus to save you from the consequences of breaking the requirements to enter His kingdom then obviously you will not get in. So the reason Jesus does not return today and stop all suffering is because tomorrow thousands like you will choose Him and be saved from an eternity in hell to an incredible life lived with Him in the new heaven and earth.
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. [2 Pet 3:9]
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