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Where is God #3
The Big Picture Show
He was very wealthy and successful, the equivalent of a Bill Gates or a Donald Trump today. Lots of children, too; ten, in fact. And they all came from one wife (that’s as far as the resemblance to Trump goes). He was also known for his piety and faithfulness to the Lord.
Then, almost overnight, all his wealth was gone--destroyed. It was as if every investment he had went bust, every property he possessed became worthless, and every business he owned collapsed.
But, you say, at least he still had his large family. No! Overnight all his children were killed--all of them. His tragedy reminds me of the pictures that flooded our television screens and Internet browsers in the wake of last year’s South Asia tsunami. Everything wiped out in an instant and loved ones torn from the grasp of survivors.
But at least he had his health left, you say. No! His body suddenly erupted in sores and boils “from the soul of his foot to his crown” (Job 2:7) Of course, many of you recognize this as the story of Job, which is found in the Old Testament. It’s considered the premier account of human pain and suffering, which is what we are looking at this week, particularly the hard question of, Why, if God is so loving, do we go through so much pain and trauma here?
If you remember, yesterday we saw that love, to be love, had to be freely given; that even God couldn’t force us to love Him, because the moment love is forced it’s no longer love. We saw a great example of that freedom in the story of Adam and Eve; though perfect beings in a perfect environment, they had the freedom to choose right or wrong; they had to have that freedom in order to have the potential to be moral and loving beings. Unfortunately, they abused that freedom--and here we are, living in a world of suffering, pain and death as a result.
But why did God allow us to rebel? If God is all-loving and all-knowing, then He must have known that humans would abuse the freedom that they had been given. And yet, He created us anyway? Why would He do that?
The book of Job, I believe, is the starting point to find the answer.
The calamities that befell Job didn’t happen in a vacuum. There’s a context to them, a larger context that forms the background for of all our lives as well.
The book starts out with the Job we presented in the beginning: rich, prosperous, faithful, happy. He was living in his own personal Eden.
But then the scene shifts; we’re taken to a part of creation that Job didn’t see, a part that--were it not revealed in the Bible--we wouldn’t see either.
Here’s what the Scripture shows: “One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the LORD, ‘From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’ Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’ Satan replied. ‘Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? . . . But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face’ " (Job 1:6-10).
What a transition! We went from the idyllic life of Job to turmoil and strife somewhere else in the cosmos. We see Satan, an evil supernatural being. Where did this detestable entity come from?
Here’s what the Bible says about his origin: “You were the anointed cherub . . . You were perfect in your ways from the day that you were created, until iniquity was found in you” (Eze 28:14, 15).
Wait a minute! Doesn’t this sound familiar? A being created perfect who goes wrong? Didn’t we see that yesterday, with Adam and Eve? Of course. And we see here again freedom. God created this anointed cherub, called elsewhere Lucifer, a perfect being, and that perfection included moral freedom. Thus we see that this idea of freedom isn’t just limited to earth; it’s a principle of God’s creation everywhere. And, clearly, it was violated somewhere else besides the earth too. The Bible says that there was “war in heaven” (Rev 12:7), and that this war has come down to the earth (Rev 12:9).
This is what we see in Job, actually. All is peaceful on earth; then there’s a battle in heaven—of course this is a battle that took place even before the creation of our earth. But as a direct result there’s turmoil on earth
What happened? Satan challenged God—before other angels—saying that Job was faithful only because God was good to him. In a sense, Satan was attacking God Himself. You’re not so wonderful. Job obeys you only because you’ve blessed him. If those blessing were removed, he’d turn against you.
God then says, OK, let’s see. Next thing we know is that poor Job, who once had everything, faces at once a barrage of things that we all, one way or another, face ourselves. We are all, in our own way, like Job, aren’t we? I think so.
What’s going on here? What does Satan making accusation against God in heaven before these others angels mean to us here? What does it have to do with our pain, our suffering, the disasters that rock our planet?
Friend, here’s the bottom-line, the crucial point, and what I believe is the basic message from God to us through the story of Job, and that is--you are not alone in the universe. The issues regarding sin, pain, suffering are not limited to you here. Sin, according to the Bible, began in heaven; Satan challenged God, in heaven, before other beings in the creation, even though the issues are being worked out here, on earth, with the universe watching. Paul said that “we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels” (1Co 4:9). In another place he said that through what happens here on earth, “the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms” (Eph 3:10).
In other words, friend, the book of Job shows that we are literally part of a whole cosmic scheme, a whole scenario that goes far beyond our little world, however central a role this world plays in it. According to the Bible, the issues go beyond us; they go to the character of God, “to the manifold wisdom of God” Himself--for sin, rebellion, suffering, all these things are directly related to the nature and the character of God.
The good news, however, is that, as the book of Job shows, and as the Bible shows in other places, it all works out for the good in the end. Yes--Job had a good ending! And God promises us a good ending as well, once all these cosmic issues and questions are resolved. After all, considering who God is, how else could it end?
After all, if God is all-knowing, then He must have known beforehand that some of the beings He created free would rebel against Him and bring in pain and suffering as a result. But God created them anyway, even knowing beforehand the suffering that would follow. Yet, because He is all-loving, too, He must have done it knowing that in the end He would make it all right, that in the end He would bring it all to a greater good.
So, friend, what have we covered.
We’ve seen that God had no choice: if He wanted being who could love He had to create them free, even though He knew that could lead to a rebellious world where He couldn’t protect His children from their own hatreds, or from the disasters that a world run amok would produce. But always remember this: because God is all-loving, He’s going to bring out a greater good in the end—when He puts all things right.
But you know, friend, this still leaves one question, perhaps the most crucial one of all: Whatever the grand moral issues involved in this struggle between God and Satan, how fair is it that God is safely ensconced somewhere in heaven while the issues are being worked out with our blood, sweat and tears here, as with poor Job? Whatever the grand cosmic issues, whatever the greater good that will ultimately arise, how fair is it that God sits in heaven while these issues are being played out in our wretched existence here?
Good questions, honest questions, don’t you think? I do. And I know of only one thing that can answer them.
The cross.
And we’ll look at that tomorrow. But until then, friend, don’t forget, no matter how hard it seems now, no matter the tragedies, from personal pain to tsunamis, God promises us a good ending, if we will but trust our lives to Him. Don’t hesitate. If you feel conviction, move on that conviction. God is there, waiting for you with loving arms. But in the end, only you can choose to step into them
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