Before a "Christian" asks question #2, they must answer question #1: Do you believe that God is indeed God? For Him to be God, do you trust Him as the Creator? He says that He created all things (Gen 1 & 2) and that all things were good: "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good" (Gen 1:31). If it (the creation) was all good, why are there bad things? Because the Serpent was evil and used gullible creatures to introduce bad things.
What is bad in the Christian lexicon? The absence of good. Good, as we see, was the entire creation. God created good and introduced it to his creatures. Thus, goodness was created by God because only God is good (Luke 18:19). If only God is good, then evil or bad are things contrary to God's will. God did not create bad. Bad is a consequence of deviation or rebellion from God's good. For those who are not following this line of reasoning: God is not the author or creator of bad. Someone was! Satan does not have any power to create. He can only deceive and tempt. Mankind is the creator of bad which is called evil. Sin is the exercise of evil. Bad things are self-induced. Because of the creatures' sins, the creatures created evil. We did it, so quit blaming Satan although Satan was the first to do that.
The creatures (us humans) were made in the image of God. Since God is good, mankind was created good. However, God is omniscient. The creatures are not; we just think that we are because of the entry of the knowledge of evil into the world. That was eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God commanded not to do that. When the creatures ate, they created evil in the world. That one act was the original sin and theologians call the eating of the fruit "original sin".
That brings us to the second question: Why do bad things happen to good people? There is much to be said about that! "Bad" is a product of mankind's disobedience. With Adam's new knowledge, he created evil. Since only God is good, the absence of good points toward the works of mankind as evil. Of course, we are God's second creation. The spiritual beings (angels) were the first. to sin. Again, they didn't create sin... they rebelled against God and that rebellion became sin. Therefore sin existed in the spiritual world and mankind brought it into the physical:
Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned— (Rom 5;12)Sin, again, is bad. Bad exists in the world because of our own progenitor. Adam is a type of "creator"; he created sin in the world by not heeding God's authority. Why do bad things happen at all? Mankind is responsible for evil. The act of diminishing God's authority introduced bad into the world.
Think what Paradise was like before sin entered into the world: It was all good! Since we are the authors of sin, how can God legitimately be blamed for bad things? Because of sin, there were consequences. The creatures were designed immortal. Credit must be given to the Creator for designing mankind without death, sickness, and despair.
God warned his creature: "You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die" (Gen 2:17). The creatures ate and they died. Eve ate first, and Adam, not understanding the nature of death, ate because Eve didn't seem to have changed. However, inside she did. She did a bad thing and Adam followed suit.
They, out of disobedience, brought death into the world because God is not a liar. On that day, death came into the world, and there are two causes and effects: (1)Sin caused death, and (2) the process leading to death is what we call "bad things".
Actually, bad things are the consequences of sin. Genesis 3:16-19 is where God tells of the consequences of sin. Sinners believe those consequences are unfair. Because of our knowledge of good and bad, mankind has never accepted themselves a perpetrators of "bad". Like Eve and Adam who blamed the serpent and Eve, respectively, everyone still blames God! Even misled Christians blame God for bad things even though as sort of creator gods, only they could truly create bad!
Bad things are those which cause death. The good done even by Christians are as filthy rags to God (Isa 64:6). Christians can only try to be good but they cannot! If we say that we are without sin - good - we are liars (1 John 1:8). Those who claim to be good are still bad, and the claim of goodness is arrogance. Christians are to be meek but meek people admit their nature: It is I (you and me) who is responsible for bad but we blame God. Bad things happen to good people because we are bad.
Ironically, good things happen to bad people. That is God's type of justice. He doesn't want people who do good, but are willing to not do bad. Because our flesh is weak even though the our spirit is willing (Mat 26:42), even Christians still do bad things.
Our thoughts and actions are bad things. Bad thinking and sinful activities create distress in the soul, and many lead to spiritual death. Simultaneously, bad things can lead to physical death as well! For instance, one who smokes cigarettes (not a good thing to do) can expect bad things to happen to them physically. Those who lust can expect a spiritual malaise if they continually do that. Emotional depression (not clinical) can result from spiritually under-performing. I have gotten sick (guilt) because of willful sin! That is a good thing because guilt leads to remorse and repentance. Sinful people, even Christians, bring that on themselves.
Pain is a positive thing. When fire burns the skin, the burnt person suffers. However, that is a mechanism to keep people safe from further harm. On the other hand, intense pain is God's mechanism in the dying process. It makes people look forward to death. The world only seems to be a place of pleasure but life itself is tribulation.
Sometimes emotional pain causes people to desire escape. At other times, it may be the pain of cancer or such. If it wasn't for sin there would not be pain or suffering. When Adam was cast into the world, he suffered the consequences of his own sin. Things didn't go so well for him nor many of us! Adam's life was the process of dying. He was warned about that and disobeyed anyhow. Now, we not only have inherited Adam's sin but the consequences of sin.
Death seems to be a harsh judgment for us. Indeed, for those who reject Jesus, death is dreadful. It is the initiation ceremony for forever dying. On the other hand, death for Christians is just a sting, and initiates forever living! Those who expect to live forever savor the idea of dying in the world because they look forward to eternity with all good things! Of course dying people, and we all are dying, dread the "sting" but have hope in the hereafter. Part of our suffering is missing our loved ones which we will need to leave behind. However, the Great Commission is ultimate love - we can bring them to where we are going!
We all hurt terribly sometimes. When mankind returns to Paradise there will be no pain or suffering. That is our reward. If life was only pleasurable who would want to leave the world? No one! Bad things happen to righteous people to increase their desire to be with God. Note that I used "righteous" rather than "good". People try to be good but only Jesus makes us righteous.
Sometimes we do hurt terribly. My most terrible pain is fearing for the souls of others. I hurt for my loved ones who have not been made righteous. I cried yesterday in pain for a loved one. I'm not ready to die until I can take my loved ones with me; not by what I do but what God can do for them!
When my brother Joe faced death, I know he feared the sting but was content with death because he would live forever. Joe suffered in pain but he never complained. His pain was more spiritual. He revealed to me that he hurt for his daughters who he was leaving. He was going to Heaven but feared he was leaving them behind. All Christians should hurt that way! That's why we are to go unto the world with the gospel: to prevent them the pain of dying forever!
Why do bad things happen to good people? Bad is introduced by us and we suffer for what we brought in. That itself makes us not good (or bad). The very question is an oxymoron. Bad is not revering the Creator. That is what Christians must do! Creators can heal death and pain. Denying the Creator circumvents that. Faith entails knowing relief is coming. We caused ourselves to suffer by sinning. It doesn't seem fair but neither does Hell. We have to suffer here but we need not suffer eternally.
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