SLIDES

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

(Part 1)

Introduction

Several questions that many of you are asking are "Why do bad things happen to good people," Why do bad thing happen to Christians?" After all, we are bought by the blood of the Lamb. We are in Christ and Christ is in us. We sit in the heavenlies with Christ. We have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Then why in the world do bad things happen to Christians. Also, why do bad things happen to family and friends and to me?" or "Why does God allow bad things to happen to people and why does He allow people to suffer?" Or “Why does He allow me to suffer."  These are very good questions because bad things do happen to all of us who are believers. Believers do get sick! Believers do suffer.  Some of you are sick right now. Everyone has problems of some kind.  Each of us goes through difficult times in our lives.  I am going to begin to answer these questions from a biblical perspective.

So, let’s now discuss some of the reasons why God allows suffering and bad things happen to believers, to my friends and family, and to me.

1. Bad things happen to people because of our freedom to make choices.  Sometimes the choices we make have negative consequences.

Adam and Eve's had a choice.

God placed Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden.  It was perfect and a beautiful place to live.  They had no problems.  God took care of their every need.  He only made two requests of them.  He told them not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and not to touch it.  If they did eat it or touch it, they would die physically and spiritually.  Death means separation.  Physical death is when the soul and spirit leaves or separates from the body.  The soul and the spirit are the real person.  Spiritual death is when the soul and the spirit of a person are separated from God.  Adam and Eve had a choice, to eat or not to eat and/or to touch or not to touch.  They knew that if they ate or touched the fruit, death would come to them.  There were consequences of eating or touching the forbidden tree. 

Genesis 3:6 tells us what happened?

6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.

The Devil, Satan, tempted Eve and she touched the tree and ate the fruit.  She then asked her husband to eat, and he did.  They made a choice and disobeyed God.  The results or consequences were many and affect us today.  The results of them eating are:

A.  The Curse on Satan - Genesis 3:14-15

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

Cursed are you more than all cattle,

And more than every beast of the field;

On your belly you will go,

And dust you will eat

All the days of your life;

15     And I will put enmity

Between you and the woman,

And between your seed and her seed;

He shall bruise you on the head, v

And you shall bruise him on the heel.”

The serpent would be cursed more than any other animal.  The serpent is the form Satan became to deceive or trick Eve.  The serpent may have had legs before he was cursed.  After he was cursed, he would crawl on his belly.  Serpents do not eat dust so that must be a figure of speak that means humiliation and eventual total defeat. Today serpents continue to crawl on their belly’s. In verse 15 we see the curses to the serpent that would include four avenues of conflict.

1.    There would be personal hostility between the serpent and the woman.

When we studied this several years ago, we discussed that the woman in this verse is not referring to Eve or even Mary. It interesting that like with Mary, there is no record of any personal hostility between Satan and Eve. The curse put upon the serpent was more far reaching than simply a personal hostility between the serpent and Eve. We would do well to look for the ultimate identity of the woman in the same passage where we have the identity of the serpent as Satan in Revelation 12. We have identified the woman in Revelation 12 as who? Yes, the woman is the nation of Israel. Revelation 12 and Genesis 3 are very similar. Therefore, the woman being identified as the nation of Israel fits perfectly in this prophecy because from Israel’s birth as a nation. Satan has had personal hostility toward her. This is seen in one occurrence after another to include Egypt, Assyria, Babylonian, Medio-Persia, Greece, Rome and since 1948 when Israel became a nation. Antisemitism is a tool of Satan has used over and over and over again for 3500 years. During the Tribulation period we will see it again in the Revived Roman Empire that is led by none other than Satan’s anti-messiah i.e. the antichrist.

2.    There would be personal hostility between the serpent’s offspring and the woman’s offspring.

The identification of Israel being the woman who gives birth to the offspring who will have enmity with the serpent is interesting. In Jewish culture during Bible times until the dispersion in AD 70 the linage of offspring came through the man not the woman. The offspring coming through a woman may point to the prophecy of the virgin birth because He is called the offspring of the woman rather than the offspring of the man. Who do you think the offspring of Satan might be? It is probably the antichrist. He will get his power and authority from Satan who is called the dragon. (Revelation 13:2; 2 Thess. 2:8-9). This personal hostility will manifest itself during the second half of the Tribulation period.

3. The offspring of the woman to crush the serpent’s head.

The offspring of the woman is the Messiah. The Hebrew word translated bruise in verse 15 may also be translated crush. The Messiah is the only One who is capable of crushing the head of the serpent which is seen symbolically. The crushing defeat of the serpent, Satan, was accomplished at the cross when Jesus cried out, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) but the guarantee of the reality of the total defeat of the serpent is not seen until the resurrection three days later. This prophecy of the victory of the ultimate "offspring” of the woman (the Messiah) over Satan is seen by many as the first biblical promise of the provision of salvation. This is called proto-evangelism.

4.    The serpent would bruise the heel of the woman’s offspring.

As the crushing of the serpent’s head was symbolic, so is the bruising of the heal of the woman’s offspring is as well. Satan from the time Jesus was born until He was resurrected made many attempts to kill or defeat Him. The final stab at the heel was at the cross which was actually just a setback. Satan thought he had defeated the Messiah when He died on the cross, but it would take three days from His’ death to Resurrection Day for Him to be fully vindicated. At that time Satan realized that his head had been crushed and that he had seen total defeat.

B.  The Curse on The Woman - Genesis 3:16

16 To the woman He said,

“I will greatly multiply

Your pain in childbirth,

In pain you will bring forth children;

Yet your desire will be for your husband,

And he will rule over you.”

Eve and every woman who has ever given birth to a child naturally has given birth in pain.  Is there anyone here who has delivered a baby that was not in pain?  This is part of the curse that Adam and Eve caused as a result of the choice of disobedience against God.  A choice to disobey God then and now brings suffering and problems into the lives of women. 

C.  The Curse on the Earth - Genesis 3:17-19

17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’;

Cursed is the ground because of you;

In toil you will eat of it

All the days of your life.

18     “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;

And you will eat the plants of the field;

19     By the sweat of your face

You will eat bread,

Till you return to the ground,

Because from it you were taken;

For you are dust,

And to dust you shall return.”

God cursed the earth. The man was not cursed directly, but indirectly. God cursed the ground after Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.  Growing food and work would be very difficult for Adam and all mankind to follow.  Weeds and pests would cause growing food to be very difficult.  This is true today.  Adam and Eve would have lived forever if they had not disobeyed God.  Because they did, they would grow old and die.  God also cast Adam and Eve out of the garden.  The effects of this curse remain today. The curse affects all of us.  You and both suffer because the body is under the curse.  We have diseases and the body gets old and dies.  Everyone here today is under the curse.

 Genesis 3:20  

20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.

We are all descendants of Adam and Eve.  We all are born spiritually dead i.e. separated from God. and will one day die physically.  Women have pain in childbearing.  Our bodies get old, and they give us problems.  Satan and his demons cause us trouble just about every day.  We are all born spiritually dead, i.e. separated from God.  God did provide a way for Adam and Eve's sin to be removed and the same can be said of mankind today.   

Genesis 3:21.

21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.

God killed an animal, and his blood was poured out to remove their sin.  God provided a blood sacrifice to make them spiritually alive.  We all should be thankful that the LORD had provided a sacrifice in Jesus for our sins to me removed. We also have a responsibility to tell others that through faith in Jesus their sins can be removed also. 

Let’s look at some other examples from the Old Testament about people making bad choices and the consequences of these bad choices.  

Abraham - made a choice to have a child by his servant, Hagar.  Ishmael was the result.  Ishmael was the co-founder of the Arab nations.  The Arabs are the ones since that day that have caused Israel and the Jewish people the most problems.  Let’s look at Genesis 16:11-12. This continues to happen today. It is all because of a bad decision that Abraham made 4000 years ago.  It affects those who are Jewish and those who support the Jewish people and Israel.

11 The angel of the Lord said to her further,

“Behold, you are with child,

And you will bear a son;

And you shall call his name Ishmael,

Because the Lord has given heed to your affliction.

12     “He will be a wild donkey of a man,

His hand will be against everyone,

And everyone’s hand will be against him;

And he will live to the east of all his brothers.”

King Saul - King Saul was the first king of Israel.  He was told to destroy some of Israel's enemies.  He was told to destroy the king, the people, and the animals.   He disobeyed by not killing all the animals and the king.  Because of this disobedience, God took the kingship away from him and gave it to David and his descendants.  Disobedience brings suffering and problems. It brought problems to King Saul and his family, particularly his son, Jonathan, who did not get to follow him as King.

King David - David was told not to number the people.  He did number them and disobeyed God.  Because of this God brought punishment.

1 Chronicles 21:7 God was displeased with this thing, so He struck Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:14 So the Lord sent a pestilence on Israel; 70,000 men of Israel fell.

Because of the sin of the leader or king of Israel, God punished David by punishing his people, Israel.  This really caused a big problem with David.  The people blamed him. 

Application

As we contemplate today’s lesson, let each of us remember that Scripture teaches and the stories we discussed demonstrate that we as believers have freedom to make choices.  Many times, however, our choices end up having negative consequences. These negative consequences can affect us personally, as well as family and friends. There are several important principles we can glean from these biblical stories concerning bad choices. The first set of principles comes from agriculture.

1.   We reap what we sow.

2.   We reap more than we sow.

3.   We reap later than we sow.

There is another set of principles that should also get our attention:

1.   Sin takes us farther than we want to go.

2.   Sin keeps us longer than we want to stay.

3.   Sin cost us more than we want to pay.

There are some things we cannot change such as the curses related to the sin of Adam and Eve. They do bring suffering and pain to our lives. However, some pain and suffering for ourselves, for friends, and for family can be avoided by making right choices concerning being obedient to God. Obedience beings blessings and disobedience can bring pain and suffering to ourselves, our families, and our friends.   

Song – Trust and Obey. Next week we will continue our study of who bad things happen to good people. 

  SELAH!

  Questions or Comments