Why does God’s creation include death and suffering?
by Dr. Tommy Mitchell    (From http://www.answersingenesis.org)

Why do bad things happen? Through the ages man has sought to reconcile his understanding of an all-powerful, loving God with the seemingly endless suffering around him. Is God responsible for man’s suffering? Is God cruel, capricious and vindictive, or is He too weak to prevent suffering? If God truly is sovereign, how can He let someone He loves suffer? A suffering world needs answers to these questions in order to accept God’s offer of salvation. God’s Word contains the answers.

A world of misery and death

Each day brings new tragedy. A small child is diagnosed with leukemia and undergoes extensive medical treatment only to die in his mother’s arms. A newlywed couple is killed by a drunk driver as they leave for their honeymoon. A faithful missionary family is attacked and killed by the very people they were ministering to. On September 11th thousands are killed in a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. How are these things possible if God really loves and cares for us? Is He a God of suffering?

 

Was God’s creation really “very good?”

Genesis 1:31 says that “God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” To have been very good, God’s creation must have been without blemish, defect, disease, suffering and death. There was no “survival of the fittest.” Animals did not prey on each other, and Adam and Eve did not kill any animals for food.

Both humans and animals were vegetarians at the time of creation. In Genesis 1:29–30 the Lord said, “Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat.” This passage shows clearly that in God’s very good creation there was no animal death and that God gave Adam, Eve and the animals only plants to eat. Man was not allowed to eat meat until after the Flood (Genesis 9:3).

 

The original creation was very good. According to Deuteronomy 32:4, “his work is perfect.” Obviously, things are not like this any longer.

Why do we die now?

If there was no animal or human death when God finished His creation and pronounced it very good, why do we die now? We see death all around us today. Something must have happened to change creation, and that something was sin.

God placed Adam and Eve in a perfect paradise, but even though God had given them this home, He was still in authority. In His authority, God gave Adam a rule: “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

The devil, who had just rebelled against God in Heaven, tempted Eve to eat the fruit God had forbidden, and both Adam and Eve ate it. Their actions resulted in the punishment that God had warned them about. God was just and righteously kept his promise that punishment would follow their disobedience. Death entered God’s creation.

Ashamed and afraid, Adam and Eve tried to escape the consequences of their sin themselves, but they could not. A blood sacrifice was necessary to cover their guilt before God. Hebrews 9:22 says that “almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission [of sin].” To illustrate the horrible consequences of sin, God killed an animal and made coats of skin to cover Adam and Eve. We are not told what type of animal was killed, but perhaps it was something like a lamb, to signify a picture of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who shed His own blood to cover our sins.

What does all this have to do with me?

If it was Adam’s decision to disobey God that brought sin into the world, why do we ALL have to suffer punishment?

If we are honest with ourselves, we will realize that Adam is a fair representative for all of us. If a perfect person in a perfect place decided to disobey God’s rules, none of us would have done better. Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” We all inherit Adam’s sin nature. We all sin, so we all deserve to die and suffer eternal punishment in hell. We must understand that not one of us is innocent before God. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Not one of us is worthy to stand before the Creator of the universe because we would each bring a sinful, rebellious nature into His presence.

In the beginning God completely sustained His creation without blemish. That’s why it was perfect. He held every atom together in a perfect state. He kept the planets in their orbits. He kept animals from tripping and breaking their necks. He did not allow people to suffer and die.

Deuteronomy 8:4 gives us a little glimpse of how things might have been in the original creation. “Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years.” God is omnipotent and perfectly capable of sustaining and protecting his creation.

 

God took pleasure in all of His creation (Revelation 4:11), but He loved people most of all. He allowed the created universe to deteriorate so we would see the consequences of our sin. If we did not see the consequences of our sin, we would never see that we need salvation from our sin, and we would never accept His offer of mercy for our sin. Most people easily recognize that there is a problem in the world. This can be used to show them that there is one who has overcome this problem of death and suffering—Jesus Christ.

 

Is there any hope?

Sadly, the consequences for our sin are much worse than life in a cursed universe. In addition to living our lives in a cursed creation, we must all die physically and then face a punishment much more horrible than anything we have ever known: the second death. Revelation 20:14–15 says that a lake of fire called the second death awaits all those whose names are not written in the book of life. This second death is the final punishment for our sin.

Even though we rebelled against Him and brought punishment on ourselves, God loves us and does not want us to spend eternity in hell. Our merciful Creator has provided us with a way to be reconciled to Him and to escape the terrible eternal punishment for our sin. This way of escape is through the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, who is God, came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life, and then died to pay the penalty for our sin. Romans 5:18 says that “as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.” God is righteous and just and rightly sentenced man to death so we received the punishment we deserve. However, God exercised grace because of His love for us and took that punishment upon Himself as the payment for our sin. In Christ, we can look forward to eternal life with Him in a perfect, pain-free place (Revelation 21:4).

God doesn’t have to prove His love to us by putting us in a perfect place where nothing painful can happen. He did that once, and Adam rebelled. He has proven His love by dying for us. Anyone willing to accept Christ can go to heaven. Compared to our future in heaven, the time we spend here in a cursed world is insignificant. God will complete His demonstration of love by placing those who accept His salvation in a perfect place forever.

Ephesians 2:8: For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.

Take heart though; Christ did not remain in the grave. He showed that He even has power over death and rose again on the third day. Because Christ clearly indicated his power over death, we can have a faith that through Christ we too will live and death will have no sting. In fact, the Bible says:

1 Corinthians 15:54–55: So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is thy sting?

The restoration of all things

The Bible describes death as the last enemy that will be destroyed (1 Corinthians 15:26). Revelation 21:4 says that “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.” Those who have accepted salvation can look forward to the time when the Lord will revoke the curse and restore the universe to the perfect state it had before man sinned (Revelation 22:3).

A correct view of history based on Scripture is illustrated here:

The Lord not only loves us enough to die for our sin, he also promises to fix the world that was ruined because of our sin by creating a new heavens and new earth (Revelation 21:1). And just as the first Adam brought death into the world, Christ, as the “last Adam,” brings renewed life into the world.

1 Corinthians 15:45: And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

What explanation does the world offer for suffering?

Those who reject the Creator must explain how the world came into existence without God.

Evolutionists and most other long agers believe that 14–15 billion years ago, a big bang caused the universe to begin from nothing. Galaxies, stars and planets formed as matter scattered across the universe cooled and coalesced. About five billion years ago, the earth itself began to form. The earth cooled for a billion years or so, water formed on the surface, and in this primordial ocean molecules somehow arranged themselves together to form the simplest one-celled life forms.

Due to environmental stresses and other forces, random mutations led to survival advantages for certain organisms. These organisms gradually changed into progressively more complex organisms. The strongest organisms were able to survive and reproduce, and the weaker organisms died off or were killed by the stronger creatures. This merciless process eventually produced ape-like creatures and man himself. Thus humans are the ultimate product of millions of years (so far!) of death.

Evolutionists use the fossil record as proof for their belief that creatures became more advanced over millions of years. They say the fossil record is a record of years of disease, struggle, and death. Evolutionist Carl Sagan said that “the secrets of evolution are time and death.” ¹

Evolution cannot explain its progression without millions of years of weaker organisms being overcome by stronger organisms.

Does this really matter?

The Bible says that death came as the result of man’s sin. Evolution says that death has always been a part of nature. Can both be true? Obviously not.

If the fossil record represents millions of years of earth history, there must have been millions of years of death, struggle and disease before man appeared. God said in Genesis that He made the first man on the sixth day. Therefore, if millions of years really happened, God lied in Genesis.

Theistic evolution attempts to merge the Genesis account and the concept of millions of years of evolution. Theistic evolution postulates millions of years of death before God at some point stepped into the process and created the Garden of Eden. As illustrated here, theistic evolution also requires God to call millions of years of death and suffering “very good.”

On the other hand, if the fossil record represents a catastrophic global Flood in which vast numbers of organisms were suddenly buried in chemical-rich water and sediment, the need to postulate millions of years of history goes away. God’s account of a perfect world ruined by sin and finally destroyed by such a judgment is consistent with the fossil evidence in the world. We can look forward to the restoration of a perfect world.

God’s promise of future restoration, “the restitution of all things” (Acts 3:12), would be nonsensical if evolution really happened. Only an original creation free from death makes God’s promise of restoration logical.

A perfect creation cannot be restored in the future if no perfect creation existed in the past.

Where do caring and mercy come from?

While the evolutionist cries out that a loving God is inconsistent with the world of cruelty we inhabit, he conveniently overlooks other things. For example, how does evolution explain mercy, charity and caring? If evolution is true, the driving force of nature is “survival of the fittest.” Those less able to compete are destined to die. Any attempt to rescue these “less competitive” people would be to work against the most fundamental force of nature. The existence of doctors, hospitals, charitable organizations and even police is contrary to evolution.

The evolutionist has no basis for moral judgments. If man is just the result of millions of years of evolution, our behavior is based on random chemical reactions. There is no ultimate moral code. All morality is relative. If a person needs money, why is it wrong to rob someone? According to evolution, the stronger person should succeed. Might makes right. So in the evolutionary view, suffering and death are a natural part of the world.

Those who have a worldview based on the Bible have a consistent basis for any act of kindness, charity or caring. We are commanded in Scripture to love our neighbors as ourselves, to perform acts of mercy, and to care for the widows and orphans. If we take evolution to its logical extent, we will conclude that these widows and orphans should die because they are a drain on the resources of nature.

What about individual suffering?

In John 9 Jesus addressed the issue of personal suffering. When His disciples assumed that a man’s blindness was the result of the man’s sin, “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him” (John 9:3). Jesus did not consider the man’s suffering to be wasted or capricious, because God would be glorified in the man’s life.

The book of Job tells the story of a righteous man who pleased God but nevertheless suffered the loss of his wealth, his ten children and his health. His friends were sure his sufferings represented judgment for some secret sins, but God denied this accusation. Many people have taken comfort simply in knowing that their personal tragedies did not necessarily represent personal judgments.

Jesus demonstrated that His love for us is not incompatible with personal suffering when Lazarus was sick and about to die. “When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus” (John 11:4–5). Jesus clearly loved Lazarus and his grieving family, but He was able to see a purpose to suffering that they could not see. Christ clearly revealed to them that He had power over death (by raising Lazarus from the dead), even prior to His crucifixion.

Jesus commented on the purpose of tragedy after the tower of Siloam collapsed, killing eighteen people. “Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4–5).

These examples show that it is not necessarily an individual’s sin that leads to suffering but that sin in general already has. God may allow suffering as a reminder that sin has consequences and perhaps for other purposes we did not fully investigate in this article, but the presence of suffering does not mean God does not love us. Quite the opposite—Christ came and suffered with us and took that punishment when He didn’t have to. In times of suffering, Christians honor the Lord by trusting Him and knowing that He loves them and has a purpose for their lives. The presence of suffering in the world should remind us all that we are sinners in a sin-cursed world and prompt us to tell others about the salvation available in Christ—after all, that would be the loving thing to do. We tell people the truth of how they too can be saved from this sin-cursed world and live eternally with a perfect and good God.

2 Corinthians 4:17–18 says, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”