Question: How Can You Say God Is Love And Serve Him When He Allows So Much Death And Suffering?
Donald Bohanon: Let me get this right. God tells you not to steal but you steal. Not to lie but you lie. Not to bear false witness against your neighbor but you bear false witness against your neighbor. Not to commit adultery but you commit adultery. Not to slander others but you slander others. Not to murder but you murder.
Not to commit fornication but you commit fornication. Not to covet but you covet yours and the things of others. Not to engage in perverse sexual behavior but you engage in perverse sexual behavior, etc.
So, because you have now created an environment of violence, death, backstabbing, lying, confusion, treachery, sexual perversion, sorrow, suffering, theft, distrust, desperation, dishonesty, betrayal, disease, divorce, disloyalty, etc, etc, etc, because you have essentially rejected his instruction that’s full of love and wisdom…
He is now to blame? God is not allowing it to happen, you are. And God is not to blame, you are. Because you have rejected his counsel and direction which if followed from the heart would produce the desired results of peace and prosperity but you refuse to follow it. And God won’t step in to correct it because he knows if he did correct it you wouldn’t do what he commanded (once again) and you would be right back to square one in no time flat.
Suffering as a result of your own sins and rebellion while blaming him for it. God is not going to waste his time perpetually correcting the mistakes of men ( as it relates to obeying what’s commanded in his word) because he knows man will simply repeat those same mistakes and in so doing create the same sets of problems. And he would have to correct it over and over and over again.
And it would be like running in place and going nowhere. He will punish the rebellion but he expects you to correct it by obeying him. And he knows you wouldn’t be suffering as you are if you obeyed him from the outset. But you won’t. So God has appointed a time when he will establish his government over the whole earth. And men, women, and children, at that time, will be required to live by the ten commandments and the Bible. Sin and rebellion will be put to rest in one fell swoop.
This will produce the abundant physical and spiritual blessings man has long sought after but have eluded him. Because he has always rejected the very instruction that would have produced the very things that he desired. And that’s following God’s word, commandments, guidance, and direction.
One key to the effectiveness of that soon-coming rulership that will see sin and crime vanish rather quickly will be the fact that God, Christ, and the glorified saints, who will be ruling with Christ, will see and know everything. So when evil is carried out it will be punished immediately.
There will be no need for investigations, trials, juries, judges, or attorneys. This will have a major impact on crime and sin because everybody will know that if you commit a crime you wIll be punished immediately after committing it without a need for a trial because Christ and the glorified saints will know. It will probably be stopped before it even happens.
People will begin to realize you can’t get away with committing a crime or sin. As opposed to years of investigation to find the truth and punish crime in some cases under man’s present rule.
Not to mention the fact that the environment won’t be conducive to criminal behavior because normally criminal behavior is birthed as a result of hunger, poverty, necessity, desperation, and despair. There will be no lack of, need or want, under Christ’s rulership.
Quite frankly, to commit crime and sin, under those circumstances, would just make you evil, dumb, and stupid. And that type of behavior and attitude won’t be tolerated in the world to come. For the benefit of mankind as a whole- Ecclesiastes 8:11. Not to mention the fact that righteousness being so widespread will produce more righteousness.
Because it’s much easier to live righteously when everyone else is living righteously. As opposed to living in an environment where evil is more widespread which makes it harder to live righteously. A righteous environment produces righteousness. And a wicked environment produces wickedness.
Also, not to dismiss the fact that God’s spirit will be poured out on all flesh. In addition to one of if not the most important and powerful deterrents will be the fact that Satan is ripped off the throne of earth. Mankind will no longer be influenced by Satan but by God and Christ instead.
This is all going to be a major deterrent to crime and sin and will transform the spiritual, physical, mental, moral, and emotional landscape of humanity. Which will in turn transform humanity for the better in short order. Completely eliminating sin and rebellion in a rapid fashion.
To the benefit of the whole human race. These are just some deterrents but there will be others also. But this is why God is not intervening but instead allowing you to learn from your own mistakes, the pain and suffering rebelling against him and his way of life produces.
You won’t do what he says so he is letting you have at it, to learn the hard way. And when he does establish his government you won’t be able to argue against it because you have had 6000 years from the creation of man to do it your way but have failed miserably and are still failing as I write this. Man doesn’t have the answers that will produce lasting results and peace (his failures throughout history with the collapse of nations and empires one after the other over and over again have proven that) but God does.
Mans’s carnal corrupt spiritual nature is his problem. He is governed and led by Satan in many respects but in varying degrees. This means he is led by his lust, greed, pride, jealousy, anger, blind ambition, etc in varying degrees.
And because of this, he will never be successful at producing lasting results of peace and prosperity because peace and prosperity can’t co-exist with his destructive emotions and carnal nature. A carnal nature that can only be corrected by a spiritual solution. A spiritual solution that he has rejected from his creation. God is about to show you how it should be done. Take notes.