Why Is There Death And Suffering?
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, June 7, 2025 (Donate)
We live in a broken world—marred with suffering, death,
broken relationships, disasters, wars, famines, and diseases. People often ask,
“will it ever end?”, “how did the world get like this?”, “why did God make the world
like this?”
These are great questions—did you know that the Bible answers
these questions? Let’s start with the last question first and work backwards.
Why Did God Make The World Like This?
The answer to this is simple—He didn’t. It’s a common
misconception that God made the world full of all this evil and terrible
suffering and death. God did not make it that way.
Instead, a perfect God of life made a perfect world at
creation. That is what we expect from a perfect God.
God miraculously created all things in 6 days and rested on
the seventh is not too hard for an all-powerful God. Consider upon the
completion of Creation Week God decaled all things “very Good”.
·
Then God saw everything that He had made, and
indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Genesis
1:31, NKJV
Because God is perfect, we expect His works to be perfect—including
the work of creation. Consider:
·
He is the Rock, His work is
perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without
injustice; Righteous and upright is He. Deuteronomy 32:4, NKJV
·
Every good thing bestowed and every perfect gift
is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no
variation, or shifting shadow. James 1:17, NKJV
So God didn’t make the world full of brokenness, pain, and
sorrow. That now brings us to the next question.
How Did The World Get Like This?
Our perfect creation was short lived. In only the 3rd
chapter in the Bible we read of the historical account that devasted
everything. Our mutual ancestors rebelled against God and committed High
Treason against God who create them.
Adam and Eve sinned against God defying His command not to
eat from a particular tree. They elevated their own thoughts and actions to supersede
what an all-powerful, just, and truthful, God has commanded them. Instead of
being holy and happy, they were now thrust into a world of sin (rebellion
against God in thought, word, or deed).
God, being perfectly just, had to punishment for their sin—the
punishment for sin was death (consider Genesis 2:17 and 3:19). Furthermore, the entire dominion of man had
now fallen with a curse—animals and the ground itself!
Because of man’s sin, death and suffering exist. It is the
due punishment for our sin against God.
Now you might be thinking—why am I being punished for something
Adam and Eve did? Get ready to have your mind blown—you were a part of that
rebellion (Romans 5:12 and Hebrews 7:9-10) and you continue to sin in your own
right (Romans 3:23). Adam lived 930 years and has one sin on record. You
and I have more sins in one day that we can count!
We all deserve death for our sin. God is a God of life and
death is like a parasite on good and life itself. God originally created the
world "very good" (Genesis 1:31), meaning there was no death,
disease, or suffering. Humans and animals were originally vegetarian (Genesis
1:29–30), and there was no predation, pain, suffering, violence, diseases, wars
and tornadoes or hurricanes.
The world changed due to sin and we are given a taste of
what life is like with God and His blessings.
The Origin Of Death And Suffering
Death, and the associated anguish and pain and suffering,
entered the world through the sin of Adam and Eve. When they disobeyed God by
eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17; 3:6),
they brought a curse upon all creation. This event, known as the Fall or
the Curse or the Corruption, introduced death, suffering,
disease, and decay into the world (Romans 5:12; Romans 8:20–22). From that
point forward, all of creation was subjected to corruption.
Take note that this view directly contradicts the false
religious idea that millions of years of animal death and suffering existed
before humans. Accepting long ages (as in evolutionary (atheistic) or old-earth
syncretized with Christianity models) undermines the Gospel, because it puts death
before sin. Death before sin is a huge theological problem for any old
earth worldview that tries to mix the secular religious story of origins with
the Bible.
If death came before sin, then death cannot be the penalty
for sin but part of God’s “very good” and “perfect” creation, which undermines
the whole reason Christ came to die! Christ died to take the infinite and
eternal punishment for our sin—because Christ, who is the infinite and eternal God,
was the one in a position to take the these eternal and infinite consequence
for our sinful treason!
Human And Animal Death (e.g., Genesis 1:29-30)
Human death is both physical and spiritual. Adam’s sin
brought physical death (the body returning to dust) and spiritual death
(separation from God—unless we are saved will be an eternal separation with the
wrath of God abiding on sinners in hell forever).
All people inherit a sin nature from Adam and are under the
same sentence of death for our sins (Romans 5:12–19). Animal death and
suffering are also a consequence of the Fall, though animals are not moral
beings (e.g., they were cursed for their involvement in sin through the serpent
and Satan’s use of it in Genesis 3). God’s original creation was free of
carnivory, predation, and diseases; these came only after the Fall—with
the majority of the fossil record being a testimony to the Flood. This now
brings us to the first question!
Will It Ever End? Yes—The Solution Is To Receive Jesus
Christ
Jesus the Christ or Messiah is the only solution to
death and suffering (John 3:16-18, 14:6; Acts 4:12, Roman 10:6). Jesus, the infinite
Son of God, came into the world to take the punishment we deserve brought by
Adam’s sin.
By living a sinless life and dying on the cross, Jesus took
the penalty for sin upon Himself (Isaiah 53:5–6; 1 Peter 2:24). His
resurrection demonstrated victory over death (1 Corinthians 15:21–22, 26).
Through repentance (truly being sorry for your sin) and
faith in Jesus Christ—who He is, His death, burial and resurrection—one can
receive eternal life, spiritual restoration, and the promise of a future where
suffering, tears, death, famines, wars, and pain will be no more. Revelation
21:4 describes the new creation as a place where God will “wipe away every
tear,” and “there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.”
Again, God will make things new (a new heaven and a new
earth) and perfect for an eternity of good and amazing things to which we can’t
even comprehend on this side of heaven. God will one day restore creation to
its original perfection (called Consummation).
This includes the removal of the curse and the
reestablishment of a death-free, suffering-free world for those who are in
Christ. The current suffering is temporary and will be replaced by eternal joy
in God’s presence (Romans 8:18; Revelation 22:3).
Take hope in that. Those in Christ have passed from death to
life (John 5:24; 1 John 3:14) and look forward to an eternity with loving and
infinite God.
