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One of the questions often asked, sometimes as part of an attempt to disprove the existence of God is, "Why does God allow suffering?" The argument usually runs along this line: "If God is all loving and all powerful, how could he allow suffering to occur? If He really did exist, then He would do away with suffering, but since there is suffering, He does not exist."
The problem with this argument is that is makes several assumptions that are faulty: firstly that suffering is necessarily a bad thing; secondly that suffering serves no purpose and thirdly that there is no higher purpose than life on the Earth.
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Psalm 127:1
(1) Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain. The first part of this verse seems to contradict itself as it talks about the LORD building the house but then talking about people building the house. So who builds these houses in question? We understand that God needs to be behind whatever venture we engage in: Hebrews 3:4 (4) For every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. There are few, if any, questions more important than 'who is Jesus?' The world has a range of views of this important question, but they cannot all be true. The answer to the question will determine how we live our lives.
Some people claim Jesus to be a myth and not a historical character. Others believe him to be a great teacher or prophet, one of many who have walked the earth. Still others believe him to be a man and nothing else, in contrast to those who believe he is the Son of God. Even among those who claim him to be the Son of God there is disagreement about what that actually means. Today there are so many different churches, it can be rather confusing. There are churches calling themselves all kind of names and teaching a wide variety of doctrines. This is not what we read in the Bible. This not what Jesus wants.
The very first time we read the word 'church' in the Bible is in Matthew 16:18. Everyone, no matter what their personal beliefs are, accepts that there is a higher standard or authority in life, to which they can appeal. This is seen every time someone say "it's not fair". When a person utters these, or similar words he or she is either consciously or subconsciously acknowledging that there is an unwritten law which governs behaviour and to which we can appeal. When we identify something as cruel or unjust, we are saying that it does not match up with the idea of what is right.
A popular catchphrase is "follow your heart", this can be seen and heard as advice given not only in physical matters, but also in spiritual matters. In some circumstances, following one's heart is a perfectly acceptable practice. If a person was having trouble deciding between buying apples or bananas, the advice to follow one's heart is unlikely to have dire consequences. If, however, someone was to ask whether or not they should continue to take their life-preserving medicine, the consequences of 'following your heart' could be disastrous. By 'heart' people do not mean the blood pump in the middle of their chests, they refer to the mind or conscience.
The problem is that the conscience is something which can lead a person into error. It is possible to do something wrong but have a good conscience at the same time. The Apostle Paul is proof. Sometimes we look for answers to the wrong questions. If we start with a wrong question how can we get a right answer?
"Which church is best for me?" could be one such question. God's Plan of Salvation
In the New Testament we are told "all sin and fall short of God's Glory" (Romans 3:23). We are told that the "wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). This death is a spiritual death and means that we are separated from God (Isaiah 59:2) the giver of life (Acts 17:27, John 17:3). To avoid eternal separation from God we need to come to him through his Son Jesus (John 5:39-40) to fix this separation. The New Testament describes a plan which saves us from our sins. |
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