Sin & Suffering
Did God create everything, including sin?
God created everything and it was good. He also loved His creation and wanted us to know and love Him without forcing it on us. He gave us free will. It is not free will if we are forced to love Him. Since we have free will, sin is actually doing something that goes against the intended purpose of its creation. The creation itself is good, but when used in a way that twists God's purpose for it, that's disobedience.
Recommended reading: Who created sin? God or Satan?
Sin is an abstract man-made concept that cannot be created or destroyed. It's just like science - who can say who created science? The phenomenon of good and evil are concepts governed by rules and laws. When God spoke, creation came into being through certain rules that He set. Free will is a choice between obeying and disobeying God's intended purpose of His creation.
God's creation is good but when given free will to interact with His creation in multiple ways, there are options where you can choose to use it for the wrong purpose. Take for example, a knife. It is good for cutting vegetables but when used wrongly, people hurt themselves.
In an ideal world, God would create diverse creatures who did everything as he intended for them and everyone would be happy and in an eternal bliss in utopia. And yet there will be people who disagree with that notion. That's the gift of free will.
Why is there so much suffering in the world? Did God not know what would happen?
God created everything and set the universal laws, the cause and the effect. He knows everything - past, present and future. He knew the choices we would make and the consequences of our choices. He tells us in His word and directly in Old Testament times, but humans willingly ignored, disobeyed or remained ignorant. Suffering is the consequence of sin, whether directly or indirectly. It was the disobedience of God's intended purpose that caused generations down the line to suffer. We are still suffering the effects of Adam and Eve's choice as a sober warning of how we shouldn't choose to live.
Did God know all this would happen? Yes. His plan uses the suffering in our lives for good intentions - to develop our character and teach us about Him. We may not like our suffering, but from the bible in Romans 8:28, "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."
God already has everything planned out from start to end for good. He sent Jesus to take the punishment of sins for the world and will judge the world at the end of the age so that no one can escape justice. This world is temporal so our perspective of our suffering is limited and we won't know what will happen in the future, much less in eternity.
God created everything and set the universal laws, the cause and the effect. He knows everything - past, present and future. He knew the choices we would make and the consequences of our choices. He tells us in His word and directly in Old Testament times, but humans willingly ignored, disobeyed or remained ignorant. Suffering is the consequence of sin, whether directly or indirectly. It was the disobedience of God's intended purpose that caused generations down the line to suffer. We are still suffering the effects of Adam and Eve's choice as a sober warning of how we shouldn't choose to live.
Did God know all this would happen? Yes. His plan uses the suffering in our lives for good intentions - to develop our character and teach us about Him. We may not like our suffering, but from the bible in Romans 8:28, "we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."
God already has everything planned out from start to end for good. He sent Jesus to take the punishment of sins for the world and will judge the world at the end of the age so that no one can escape justice. This world is temporal so our perspective of our suffering is limited and we won't know what will happen in the future, much less in eternity.
