Wallace G. Smith

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

The Spirit World Is Real

Our world today is not the world God wants it to be.

One of the reasons, which will surprise many, is that our planet, its governments, and its peoples are all living under the weight of Satan’s rule. From the beginning of mankind’s existence to today, human history is the written record of what it means to live under the rule of the devil.

Yet that rule is coming to an end—and what a difference that will make.

Join us here on Tomorrow’s World as we dive into God’s word and see the coming end of Satan’s rule.

Satan the Devil Is the Ruler of This World

Welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible.

Have you ever heard the old Protestant hymn, “This Is My Father’s World”? Its poetic praise of the created, natural world around us is beautiful.

Yet, when we look more broadly, it seems very apparent that this world is not our Father’s world. It is filled with suffering, misery, conflict, and heartache—surely not His desire for this beautiful place He created or for the people He fashioned in His own image.

That’s because the world around us, in a very real way, is under the authority and control of Satan the Devil.

That might be hard to believe. Maybe you’ve never heard it before. But I assure you, based on God’s own word, it is true.

Again, it might seem odd to say that Satan rules the world—maybe even a little overdramatic. But we don’t want you to just take our word for it. Don’t just believe us—believe your Bible. In fact, in this case, you can take Jesus’ word for it.

Jesus Did Not Refute Satan’s Authority

In John 14:30, we read something Jesus said to His disciples as His crucifixion was drawing near.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.”

That “ruler of this world” Jesus talked about was Satan the Devil, and He calls him this in two additional passages: John 12:31 and John 16:11.

Now, you might wonder about how that meshes with other statements in the Bible. For instance, in Matthew 28:18, we read Jesus’ comment, after His resurrection, that “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”

We see the answer to this question reflected in the temptation of Jesus Christ, early in his ministry.

Satan Tempts Jesus Christ

At that time, 3½ years before His crucifixion, Jesus had been fasting, 40 days and 40 nights, drawing near to His Father before launching His ministry.

At that time, Satan appeared to the Son of God and tempted Him—and among the devil’s temptations was an offer of power. We read about it in Luke 4, starting in verse 5.

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve’” (Luke 4:5–8).

Of course, Jesus did not take the bait. If He had, He wouldn’t be our Savior.

But notice what Jesus didn’t say—He didn’t say Satan was lying about having that authority. He didn’t say that the kingdoms of the world had not been delivered to the devil.

In fact, the kingdoms of the world have been given to Satan. Again, as Jesus said, the devil is the “ruler of this world.” And why? Because rulership of the nations had been given to Satan, as he says to Jesus in the passage.

“All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me…” (Luke 4:6).

Satan Is “the God of This Age”

Yes, God reigns supreme in all things but, for this time, in this age, He has given Satan a certain amount of authority and freedom to act. That’s why even after Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostle Paul still refers to Satan as “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

Now, you might think, why in the world would God do that?

But the short story is that Satan wasn’t always Satan.

Satan Deceives the Whole World (Revelation 12:9)

Responsibility for the world had been given to him when he was the archangel Lucifer, before his sin and descent into darkness.

However, mankind had an opportunity to replace him—to take the reins of the world and bring it back into line with the will and desire of God. But if you’ve read Genesis 1 through 3, then you know the story.

Given the choice between following Satan’s lead or God’s—between disobeying their Creator and deciding right and wrong for themselves, or obeying their Creator and choosing His guidance over their own desires—they chose to follow Satan’s lead.

And frankly, each of us at various times in our own lives have made the exact same choice as Adam and Eve. Romans 3:23 is plain.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

So Satan remains, as Christ called him, the “ruler of this world.”

Results of Satan’s Deception

And what have been the results of following the devil’s lead?

We’ve had thousands of years—generation after generation after generation—to figure out how to build the world while deciding right and wrong for ourselves instead of obeying our Creator.

What have we achieved in all this time? What does a world under the rule of the devil look like?

Consider these four facts.

A World of Confusion

1. First, our world is filled with confusion.

Humanity has thousands upon thousands of different religions, philosophies, worldviews, ideologies, and belief systems. Right and wrong differ from culture to culture—even family to family and person to person.

In fact, many today believe there is no right or wrong—that life is a matter of what you can get away with, so long as no one catches you.

In some of our most scientifically advanced societies, the most astonishing ignorance is on the rise, where even the most basic questions—such as what is a family? What is a man or a woman? What is a boy or a girl?—generate blank stares and stammering, babbling nonsense. We are becoming, simultaneously, the most educated and the most stupid generation in human history.

Endless War

2. And under Satan’s rule our world is one of near-constant warfare.

John Arquilla, professor of defense analysis at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, wrote on this fact at the end of 2012 for Foreign Policy magazine.

Writing their Lessons of History in the tumultuous year 1968, Will and Ariel Durant observed that in “the last 3,421 years of recorded history, only 268 have seen no war.” The 44 years since they made this observation have added not a single year of peace to that meager total (“The Big Kill,” Foreign Policy, December 3, 2012).

That’s less than eight years of peace for every century of recorded history. Of course, he wrote that in 2012, a little more than a decade ago. How do you think we’ve fared since then?

As I record this program, right now, Israel is at war in Gaza; Russia and Ukraine are trading dead bodies at an astonishing rate; and nations around the world are arming as if they see World War III dawning on the horizon like an apocalyptic sunrise.

And our current arsenal of weaponry is like nothing history has ever seen, capable of fulfilling the end-time conditions Jesus described in Matthew 24:22—warfare in which “no flesh would be saved” apart from God’s own intervention.

Humanity cries out for peace, but the truth of our existence under Satan’s rule has consistently matched the declaration of God in Isaiah 59.

Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, and there is no justice in their ways; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever takes that way shall not know peace (Isaiah 59:7-8).

Famine

3. Also under the devil’s rule, our world is one of FAMINE and want.

I’m blessed to live in the United States—a nation blessed with wealth and almost embarrassing access to food (at least for now). But my life is not the norm.

In its “State of Food Security and Nutrition” report for 2023, the United Nations noted that after years of decline, hunger and food insecurity is on the increase, with more than 700 million people globally facing hunger at some point in the year—roughly one out of every 11 human beings (“The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024”, FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, 2024).

Global poverty, as well, has been on the increase in recent years. And who hasn’t seen the growing waves of homelessness and illegal immigration, as millions seek an escape from the turmoil, danger, and want in their home nations?

Disease and Pestilence

4. Further, the devil’s reign as “ruler of this world” has given us a world of disease and pestilence.

COVID-19 frightened Western nations who are used to feeling that rampant disease was a part of other countries’ lives—not theirs. And, indeed, the constant threat of disease and infection is a way of life for people in so many nations around the world.

And in nations with enough wealth to push back against those diseases that ravage impoverished countries, the specter of “diseases of affluence” rears its head. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancers, obesity-related and respiratory diseases, sexually transmitted diseases. In Satan’s world, it seems as if humanity is determined not to be healthy.

As much as we cry to the heavens that we want to understand how life is supposed to work, that we want peace, plenty, and good health, mankind proves generation after generation that we cannot achieve those things—because we continue to seek our own ways, our own paths, our own ideas and values apart from the authority of a loving God.

We seek to continue imagining that we can rule ourselves, the way we want to live. And in doing so, we continue to support Satan on his throne, as the “ruler of this world,” just as Jesus Christ said he was.

In fact, Revelation chapter 6 says that each of these conditions—ideological and religious confusion, warfare, famine, and pestilence—will eventually come to a dramatic climax in the end-times, symbolized by the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse holding life-or-death sway over a fourth of the entire world.

But, my friends, there really is good news ahead.

Because while six millennia of human history has proven mankind simply cannot solve the problem of Satan’s rule, Almighty God can solve that problem, and He will. The time is coming when God the Father will send His Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to end the reign of the devil on this planet.

God Gives Jesus Christ All Authority

Where Adam failed to remain faithful to God and failed to replace Satan on his throne, Jesus Christ succeeded. The sinless Son of God has earned the right to reign over this world to the glory of His Father and for the fulfillment of their plan of salvation.

Recall that earlier in our program, we mentioned that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, said after His resurrection that “all authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18).

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ: Satan’s Kingdom Ends

But the time when He will act on that authority and take control of the kingdoms of the world lies just ahead. When it comes, it will be the greatest news mankind could ever hope to hear.

Let’s read about it, starting in Revelation 11:15.

Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” And the twenty-four elders who sat before God on their thrones fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was and who is to come, because You have taken Your great power and reigned” (Revelation 11:15–17).

That same trumpet blast, the last trumpet, will also herald the resurrection and glorification of His saints, who will begin their reign alongside Him.

Jesus Christ Will Destroy the Works of the Devil

And the first order of business will be the destruction of the assembled armies of the devil and the banishing of Satan for 1,000 years. We read of that in Revelation 20.

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while (Revelation 20:1–3).

That “little while” would be the focus of a completely different program.

For today’s purposes, we can’t fail to miss that at the beginning of Jesus Christ’s reign on this earth, Satan the Devil and his influence will be utterly removed from this world for the entire 1,000-year period. His rule on this earth will end, [as] the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3:8.

For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

And destroy the works of the devil He will!

God’s Way of Life Will Replace Satan’s Lies

Today’s world may be shaped by the character of the devil, but tomorrow’s world will be shaped by the character of Jesus Christ—and what a difference that will make.

For instance, instead of confusion, Christ will bring understanding and knowledge.

The world will know that there is a God. They will know—and believe—that Jesus Christ is His Son. And they will know the way of life that we were created to live.

No More Sorrow or Pain

In fact, look in Isaiah 11:9, which describes the world during the Millennium under Christ. There it says,

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

The Way of Peace

Notice that statement: “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain.” That’s because the Bible says that the rule of Jesus Christ will replace our world of warfare with one of true peace. Not a peace built on pretense—based on a delicate-but-fragile balance of nuclear stockpiles or treaties that are made in one generation but broken in the next. But a real peace, founded on the laws of God and a way of life that is built on loving your neighbor, instead of seeing him as means to get what you want.

The millennial reign of Christ will see peace between nations, yes, but also peace between families and between people. He will show us how to live in peace—and once they have experienced the joy of living in a world governed by His laws and way of life, Isaiah 9:6 tells us they will call Jesus Christ, the “Prince of Peace.”

The Abundant Life

And in that land of peace there will be plenty for all. Prophecy contains a beautiful picture of this in Amos 9. There, God speaks of a world overflowing with produce.

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him who sows seed; the mountains shall drip with sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it” (Amos 9:13).

And finally, in a world where the knowledge of God permeates all of life, peace and safety reign, and food is not only plentiful but is grown properly according to divine guidance and biblical principles, we will also experience a world of abundant health.

The Kingdom of God: God’s Laws, God’s Blessings

With Satan’s rule ended, the laws of God will be enforced, including the many laws He established for man’s good—laws of agriculture, of hygiene, and of distinguishing between the clean and the unclean.

Just as He did during His ministry 2,000 years ago, but on a much grander scale, Jesus Christ will intervene and heal the sick.

The prophet Isaiah writes of this coming time in chapter 35 of his book.

Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert (Isaiah 35:5–6).

Instead of the confusion, war, famine, and disease of today’s world, tomorrow’s world will be filled with understanding, peace, plenty, and abundant health.

For millennia, man has been struggling and failing to turn the world into a paradise his way, following the pattern of Satan the Devil, who refused to do things his Creator’s way.

But Jesus Christ is returning, and when He does, He will end Satan’s rule and begin His own.

And man will finally experience that paradise he’s always longed for—once he finally gives up for good the idea of doing it his way and submits, totally and completely, to be ruled by the Son of God.

Pray for God’s Kingdom to Come

Today, we’ve discussed the fact that the tragic history and present condition of our world is due to the fact that it reflects the character of its true ruler, Satan the Devil. And the fruit of his reign is exactly what you would imagine it to be—resulting in thousands of years of misery, heartbreak, and human suffering.

But the good news is that Satan’s rule is coming to an end.

In the days just ahead of us, and none too soon, Jesus Christ will appear in the clouds, ready to end the reign of the devil and inaugurate the Kingdom of God—replacing every sorrow of this world with a joy and happiness that can only come from the Son of God who loves us and who longs to make us a part of His family forever.

No wonder Jesus taught His disciples to pray “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10).

The True Christian Walk: Life More Abundantly Now

Yet, there is even better news. That news is that you do not have to wait until the return of Jesus Christ to begin ending the reign of Satan. That’s because God the Father is calling some now, in this age, to begin taking ground from the devil by submitting to the reign of Jesus Christ now—in their lives now and in their family’s lives now.

In John 10:10, Jesus says that He came that those who follow Him may have life, and have it more abundantly.

And Hebrews 6:5 speaks of those who have the opportunity now, today, before Christ’s return, to taste “the good word of God and the powers of the age to come” (Hebrews 6:5).

No, you can’t end the world’s confusion, but you can begin knowing the true God of Scripture better yourself.

And, no, you can’t end wars, no matter who you vote for. But you can find a peace that surpasses understanding in your own life and your own relationships with others.

And you can’t feed every starving child in this world, nor heal every suffering person. But you can learn the miraculous way of give instead of get, and get to know the One who does provide His children’s every need.

Reject Satan’s Way of Life

You can end the devil’s rule in your life and begin personally experiencing the blessings of the reign of Jesus Christ.

In fact, those who are willing to allow Christ to end Satan’s rule in their own lives in today’s world are the very ones He will use to bring an end to Satan’s rule over all mankind in tomorrow’s world.

Thanks so much for watching. All of us here at Tomorrow’s World work very hard to help you understand your world through the pages of the Bible.

If you’re interested in today’s free DVD, The Occult and the Spirit World, you can go to TWTV.org/SPIRIT or just click on the link in the description. And, we’d really appreciate it if you’d give us a like and subscribe to the channel.

Thank you so much for watching!

[The text below represents an edited transcript of this Tomorrow’s World program.]

Why Does God Allow Suffering and Evil?

Our world is filled with evil and suffering. How do we reconcile that evil and suffering with the fact that God, Creator of the world, is good and loving?

Philosophers have wrestled with this “problem of evil” for centuries. But God reveals the answer to the problem—the reason for evil and suffering in the world—in the pages of His word. And that answer is perhaps the greatest source of hope the human mind is capable of understanding.

You need that hope.

Join us right now on Tomorrow’s World where we will give you God’s answer to the problem of evil.

Freedom of Choice Means Pain Has to Exist

Greetings, and welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible. And today’s subject is one that many struggle to make sense of: Why is the world so filled with evil and suffering if God is good and loving?

In philosophical circles, the topic we are tackling today is called the problem of evil. It’s been stated many ways, but you could summarize it like this:

“God is supposed to be all-powerful and good. Yet, evil clearly exists in the world, resulting in much pain, misery, and agony. Either God is too weak to do anything about it, or else He doesn’t care. In either case—a weak God or an uncaring God implies that, in reality, there is no God at all.”

Hence the existence of evil and suffering (supposedly) proves that there is no God.

In short, it argues that an all-powerful, all-good God simply can’t exist, because there is so much evil in the world that He does nothing about. And if you search around on YouTube and pointless discussion forums on the Internet, you’ll see the problem of evil thrown about as if it had somehow done God in.

Yet, as supposed “proof” that God does not exist, it’s long been recognized by many that the problem of evil falls short.

Many answers have been provided, including the fact that—to truly rule out God’s existence—one would need to prove it is impossible for God to have good cause for allowing evil to exist. And that’s a tall order.

Free Will Means Being Free to Choose Poorly

For instance, as our children grow, we sometimes need to let them experience the result of their wrong choices instead of intervening to prevent problems. Calling every parent who does so a “bad parent” would be naïve.

In the 1970s, philosopher Alvin Plantinga’s argument—that the value of human free will provides God with sufficient moral cause to allow evil—was widely perceived to have won the day, so to speak, demonstrating that, yes, it is feasible that God can have good cause to allow people to choose evil. If humans are free to choose, it’s unreasonable to expect that they will always choose the good.

Still, the problem of evil is not merely a philosophical problem, is it?

Where Does Evil Come From?

When we or those we love are personally stung by the pain and suffering of the world, the arguments of philosophers provide cold comfort. And this world truly is filled with pain and suffering.

On a personal level, how many have been victims of robbery, theft, assault, rape, or murder? And how many suffer at the hands of those who benefit from their suffering? Many of you watching know the burdens of sickness and infirmity. It seems no age—young or old—is immune to disease. And maladies of every sort plague mankind and bring pain and heartache to even the youngest and most innocent among us.

On a larger scale, how many lives have been ravaged by the scourges of mass murder, slavery, genocide, and warfare? Human beings are shockingly creative in their capacity to generate suffering among their fellow human beings.

And beyond the world of man’s cruelty to man, there are earthquakes; floods; droughts and famines; hurricanes and typhoons; plague, pestilence, and parasite. Nature seems intent on reminding us, over and over again, that we are not in control, and our lives are lived at the mercy of merciless forces far greater than we are.

Whether we are sitting amidst our burnt belongings in the smoldering ruins we once called home, or holding the hand of a son or daughter in a hospital room, suffering from a disease we cannot heal, the question of the problem of evil and suffering in the world is very real and very personal.

Why does evil exist? And how does suffering fit into the plans of a supposedly merciful and loving God?

We need more than the abstract assurance of philosophers. We need answers.

And God provides them. When we understand why mankind exists and what the purpose of life truly is, then our lives, even our sufferings, become infused with meaning, hope and, believe it or not, even a profound and unshakable joy.

And the best way to understand the purpose of human life is to go back to its beginning—all the way back to the VERY beginning, in the book of Genesis.

God Created the World as a Paradise—Not of Suffering

And when we do, we see that God did not create the world to be a place of suffering. Genesis 1 and 2 describe the world God created as a paradise. And it tells us of the creation of first human beings, Adam and Eve. There, we’re told in Genesis 1:26,

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them (Genesis 1:26–27).

Humans Were Made in the Image of God

Unlike any of the animals God made, we see that He made mankind as a sort of analog of Himself—sharing with them His own image and likeness, with the capacity of reasoning, judgment, and morality. And man was given a level of dominion over the creation—again, picturing what God possesses, but on a much smaller scale.

The importance of being made in God’s image is hard to overstate. In fact, skip ahead for a moment to chapter 5 and verse 3. There we read of Adam and Eve’s reproducing themselves in their son, Seth.

And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth (Genesis 5:3).

The use of this phrase is not a coincidence.

God Created Man With Potential to Join God’s Family

The larger picture of Scripture, supported from Genesis to Revelation, is that God created man as a part of a process of reproducing Himself and growing His divine Family, intending to produce countless children. Today’s free resource will demonstrate this astonishing truth to you beyond the shadow of a doubt. God intends man to one day share in His divine and glorious existence, ruling and creating throughout the cosmos forever.

This is why, unlike the animals, man was made in God’s own image and given analogous capacities and responsibilities—yet something vital was missing. While God is spirit, as Jesus tells us in John 4:24, man is physical—limited. And unlike God, who has eternal life inherent within Him, mankind was made with the potential for eternal life, but also for eternal death. Because being an eternal child of God requires holy and righteous character, and developing godly character requires choice.

Intrinsic Motivation: God Wants Us to Choose Wisely

So, Adam and Eve were given the opportunity to CHOOSE. God planted a tree in the garden that could provide them eternal life, and a tree that represented the knowledge of good and evil. And He lovingly told them which one to choose. If they continued choosing the right tree, the tree of life, then God could continue working with them, developing them, caring for them. But if they rejected Him and His instructions, then they would eventually die, refusing eternal life and obedience to their Creator.

God Gives Freedom of Choice—and Allows Us to Make Wrong Choices

You can read of their choice in Genesis 3. In short, they chose disobedience. They chose to accept the temptations of the devil and to take on themselves the “right” to choose what is good and evil, and what is right or wrong for themselves. They rejected God’s instruction, rejected God as their Creator, rejected His purpose for them, and rejected His care for their lives.

Pain Comes From Wrong Choices

And all of the suffering of the world has flowed from that choice. Yet it’s easy to sit here and blame Adam and Eve. The Apostle Paul makes it very plain that every single one of us, in our own way, has repeated their mistake for ourselves in our own lives. As he writes in Romans 3,

“There is none righteous, no, not one”… for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:10, 23).

Think about it—and be honest with yourself. At any point in your life, was there a right thing to do, and you chose the wrong one? Was there a loving thing to do, and you chose a selfish one? Was there ever anything God tells us to do, and you chose not to? Or anything God tells us NOT to do, and you did it anyway?

In our own, individual ways, each of us has fallen short of the character of God—and, thus, fallen short of our purpose to become His children.

God Allows Suffering to Teach Us That We Need Him

And the world around us reflects this condition. We sin, and we suffer. Those around us suffer. Our children suffer. We kick God out of the world that He made for us and tell Him we can run it without Him, and that same world becomes a place of suffering.

Yet even in the midst of all of this evil, all of this suffering, God’s purpose remains. He is still working to create a family full of billions upon billions of glorified children of God who will live with Him forever in glory, majesty, and power. And the means by which He is accomplishing this not only resolves the problem of evil, but provides profound meaning in our suffering and life-changing hope beyond that suffering that you need to grasp.

Sin Is the Root Cause of Suffering

In fact, the Bible says something important in Proverbs 26:2.

Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight.

The reason we suffer is because of sin—disobedience to a God who loves us too much to prevent us from learning, as a civilization, what it means to appoint ourselves the masters of “right and wrong” instead of accepting the guidance of a loving God who plans so much better for us.

If we examine the suffering we experience, all of it—every bit of it—comes from humanity’s choice to disobey God.

Pain: Feeling the Effects of Our Own Sins and Others’ Sins

Sometimes we suffer because of our own sins. We see this in many of the problems that plague us: Addictions, sexually transmitted diseases, some instances of poverty and wasted lives. But we suffer, too, as we are impacted by the sins of others—just as a pebble thrown in a lake disturbs the water in every direction.

Our societies suffer the ravages of diseases that would not exist if we would look to the laws of God as our guides in matters of health, and look to the God of heaven who has the power to heal and bless. And the Creation suffers disasters as mankind refuses to turn to the Creator—the One who can control the forces of nature that lie beyond our grasp.

And why God won’t simply snap His fingers and make everything all right makes sense when we consider the purpose for our lives in the first place. Human beings aren’t simply “pets” to God—fun playthings for Him to care for and make sure we’re fed, watered, and happy all of the time. He seeks to turn us into members of His family—full and glorious children of the divine family of God.

And unlike pets, we have a role to play in that purpose. We must learn to think like God, react like God, and choose like God.

Suffering Builds Character in Us—and Teaches Lessons

We are here to develop the mind and character of God Himself—to grow to reflect Him on the inside in the same way He has made us to reflect Him on the outside, in His image and likeness.

When we comprehend that, then our suffering takes on meaning, because we know that what we learn in that suffering, how we respond to evil in the world, and the godly character we develop becomes part of an eternal reward that will far outshine any pain and anguish we will ever know in this life. When we comprehend that, then how we grow in our trials contributes to that future of glory.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this coming time, and this coming existence, in Romans 8:18.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Paul is saying that comparing light from the smallest matchstick to the light of the sun, or a mote of dust with a mountain range, would make more sense than comparing the sufferings of this life with the glory that God is building within those He is working with to develop His own righteous, godly character. Let’s continue:

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God (Romans 8:19–21).

God intends the entirety of Creation, the whole universe, to be given over to the glorified children of God—you and me, if we repent and commit ourselves to Jesus Christ to allow God the Father to reproduce Himself and His character in us.

God Promises That Pain Will Not Last Forever

Paul writes that all of creation—the whole of created reality—is waiting for the liberty and glory that will come with the revealing of the children of God at Christ’s return.

For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now (Romans 8:22).

This, my friends, is the answer to the problem of evil and suffering—seeing that suffering not as an eternal condition, but a passing phase that, just like the pains of childbirth, are serving a purpose that will bring joy and happiness such that the suffering will never come to mind again.

Such a fact should remind us of the words of Jesus, spoken on the final Passover of His earthly ministry.

A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world (John 16:21).

And how much more joy will be known when that birth is not of a human being, but the expanded and glorified God family?

My friends, God is not silently watching us suffer in the cold, dark distance. For those willing to yield their lives to Him, to repent of their sins and turn to His Son, embracing His beautiful purpose for their lives, He is present in our suffering—working within us for His purposes, building within us a future, and creating within us a glorious existence that will last throughout time.

Our suffering is profoundly personal to Him. And He proved this to us in the most intimate way possible.

God Promises to Wipe Away Every Tear (Revelation 21:4)

He displayed this fact by sending His Son to suffer, just as we do.

Already one of the two members of the God Family, the One that John 1:1 calls the Word, the Logos, condescended to become like His Creation—like us—and become the man Jesus Christ. He came and, unlike us, followed His Father’s laws and way of life perfectly.

His obedience did not bring the praise of men, but their hatred, their contempt, and their violence.

The prophet Isaiah described the suffering that Christ would endure in this life:

Despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief… He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows… He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities… He was oppressed and He was afflicted… He was led as a lamb to the slaughter… (Isaiah 53:3–7).

Jesus Christ, Our Example: Learn Obedience Through Suffering

One whose life of love and generosity deserved nothing but praise and adoration was given instead mockery, threats, beatings, abandonment, torture, and execution. And through it all, He remained faithful to God, His Father.

As Philippians 2 explains, though He had existed in the form of God, He was willing to set that aside and become like us so He could suffer as we do, and:

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8).

Having done so, He was resurrected and given once again the glory He had set aside and the existence that He had before. But now from Heaven He makes Himself available to live His life again through His Spirit within those who are willing to repent, obey, and fulfill God’s purpose for their lives by following Him.

Pain and Suffering: Our Resistance Training to Enter the Kingdom

For those who do, then these times of evil and suffering can be seen for what they truly are—mere birth pangs before they, too, are born into the Family of God and into the glory Jesus Christ now has with His Father, which will be revealed at His return. A time when they will join Him in His Kingdom to begin building a world, and ultimately a universe, that will never know evil and suffering again.

As the Apostle John was told, in vision, of that final estate:

Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:3–4).

May God send His Son soon to finally solve, once and for all, the real problem of evil.

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