Enjoy
Big
Bad Questions, Part 1
Why
do bad things happen?
Sunday,
July 6th, 2014- MRWC
Well, good
morning everyone, it’s great to have you here with us this today.
For those of you
who don’t know, my name is Pastor Nick and I am the Lead Pastor here on the
Ridge, and I am excited to be kicking off our summer series called Big Bad
Questions.
Pastor Mike and
I planned this series back in the middle of winter, and over the last several
weeks, we’ve asked our congregation to send us their questions about the Bible,
and the response was incredible. We got some great questions…
This past week,
PM and I looked over all the questions that were submitted and we grouped the
questions according to common themes that will serve as direction for the next
9 weeks.
Some of the
themes are: Christian Character. (And Christians are supposed to be people of
character in case you’re wondering... not questionable character either...)
We’ll also be
talking about Heaven, Hell, the love of God and forgiveness! We’ve got some
great topics lined up; you’re not going to want to miss a Sunday this summer on
the Ridge!
So today, we’re
going to be diving in to the age old question of why
do bad things happen to good people; and how
do good parents end up with bad children.
Super awesome
way to begin a new series, but you asked for it, so I’m going to do my best to
give biblical answers to these important questions.
I think both of
these questions can be answered by keeping in mind 3 things.
First of all: No one is good;
we are all sinners.
One thing that I
don’t want us to ever forget is that at our core; we are not good; we are
sinners.
The day Adam and
Eve ate from the forbidden tree; the tree God specifically said stay away from,
sin entered the world and we’ve been plagued with sin ever since.
Paul wrote in
Romans 5:12: “When
Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread
to everyone, for everyone sinned.” (NLT2)
Dr. Arthur
Maxwell, who was the academic Dean at Bethany Bible College, when I was
attending there, now called Kingswood University, once said “I didn’t do it,
but I am it.”
He was referring
to the fact that while we may not have been present in the Garden when Adam and
Eve ate the forbidden fruit, we became sin; because of that one act of
disobedience, we have been living in sin ever since.
Going back to
Paul’s writings again, this time in Chapter 3 of Romans, he wrote: “No one is truly
wise; no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned
away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” (NLT2)
No matter how
good we think we are, according to the Bible, at our core, we are sinners.
Lest you think
that this thought of being “no good” is simply a New Testament idea, let me
share with you two verses from the OT, the first one coming from Jeremiah 17:9.
Here we read
that: “The heart
is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (NIV84)
When the Bible
uses the word “heart” it is referring to the center of a human being; “it is the point
of origin of moral evil” (Key word bible)
Our heart is,
inherently evil, because we are sinners.
The wisest man
who ever lived wrote that: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it
leads to death”. (Proverbs 14:12, NIV84)
We think we know
the way, but we really don’t, because our heart is deceitful, corrupt and bad.
“I didn’t do
it, but I am it.”
This is the
first thing that we need to keep in mind: No one is good; we are all sinners.
Now, to properly
address the why do bad things happen to good people?
and how do good parents end up with bad children? Question,
we need to understand a second truth: We live in a
sinful world.
I sometimes
think that we forget this truth we live in a sinful world.
Even though we
enjoy some—even many—good things provided by this world—the fresh air, the 30 +
degree temperatures of this past week, the company of good family and
friends—the fact remains that we live in a sinful world and because of that, bad things are going to
happen.
Children will
die way too early, and parents will have to bury the children who died way too
early.
People will go
around shooting other people just because they didn’t like them.
Families will be
torn apart by adultery; pornography will continue to destroy its victims.
Wars will
happen, earthquakes will displace numerous people; cancer—in all its forms –
will continue to ruin lives, our kids will do dumb stuff, even parents will do
dumb stuff.
Remember what
Paul wrote: “When
Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread
to everyone, for everyone sinned.”(Romans 5:12 NLT2)
Because
we are all sinners, we all have to deal with the consequences of living in a
sinful world, and that means dealing with things that we were never supposed to
deal with—like sickness, children, teens and adults doing stupid things, child
abuse, divorce, suicide, and even death.
All
of these unthinkable things happen to the human race because we live in a
sinful world.
“When Adam sinned,
sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone,
for everyone sinned.” (Romans 5:12 NLT2)
We are all
sinners and we all live in a sinful world, meaning that bad things are going to
happen, bad things that you can barely understand will happen to you or to
members of your family and friends.
Jesus said: “In this world you
will have trouble.” (John 16:33b,
NIV84) How’s that for a pep talk?
Jesus is
guarantying that bad stuff will happen that will leave us scratching our heads.
Things that will leave us with more questions than answers.
Things that
don’t make any sense will happen to us, because we live in a sinful—and sin
filled-- world.
But notice that
the verse doesn’t end there. Jesus said: “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world."(John 16:33, NIV84)
Jesus
told us that there will be things that happen to us that we will never be able
to explain or understand, but He also told us that He has overcome the world
and He is all that we need.
Mother
Teresa once said: “You will never realize Jesus is all you need until Jesus
is all you’ve got.” (http://www.sermoncentral.com/illustrations/illustrations-about-mother-theresa.asp?Keyword=Mother%20Theresa)
When
bad things happen to you—and they will; you can rest in Jesus alone,
because—and this is Truth #3: Jesus is enough!
Paul
wrote in Romans 5:6-8: “When we were utterly helpless,” read sinners trapped in a sinful world---
“When we were
utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
7 Now, most people
would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps
be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
8 But God showed
his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still
sinners.” (NLT2)
Don’t miss this
truth today loved ones—“Jesus died for people who are neither ‘righteous’ nor ‘good’”.
(NIV NT commentary)
Jesus died to
address the sin issue that resides in us; He came to break the power of sin and
shame, of guilt and death.
Jesus Christ has
the power to give us life, when we have no business of ever having life.
Coming back to
Paul, he wrote in Ephesians 2: “…because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in
mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--
it is by grace you have been saved.” (Eph.
2:4-5, NIV84)
Jumping
down to verses 8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--9 not by works, so that no one
can boast.” (NIV84)
God
has saved us by His Grace, and His grace can and will sustain us when bad
things happen.
This
is what He told Paul, when Paul was dealing with a trying time in his life: “My grace is
sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
(2 Cor. 12:9, NIV84)
So
remember that because we live in a sinful world, stuff is going to happen that
we will not like; that we cannot understand.
Stuff
will happen that will make absolutely no sense to us what so ever.
But we must trust that when things don’t make any sense
to us, they always make sense to Jesus, and He is enough.
When
something bad happens—and it will—we must turn to, and rest in, the grace of
God.
Psalm
91 reminds us that: “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in
the shadow of the Almighty” (NIV84)
Along
with remembering that we
live in a sinful world, we need to remember that people are sinners, and they will do stuff
that we don’t like!
ILLUSTRATION- I do stuff that I don't like
because I am sinful man, but, I am saved by grace because Jesus is enough.
He’s enough for
me, and Jesus will be enough for you.
Are
you in the midst of a storm today? Has something bad happened to you, either
because of your offspring, or because something someone has done to you?
You
need to know that Jesus is
enough and He has come to address the issues that are affecting your
life.
He
can and He will help you get through this time in your life, because Jesus is
enough.
So
here is what I want you to do with what you’ve just heard:
1.
Remember that people need the Lord.
As
followers of Jesus, we have a responsibility to point people to the Cross of
Jesus, be it our neighbour, our colleagues, our friends or family—so whenever someone does something
bad, or when bad happens to us, don’t curse; pray, love, be Jesus to that
person.
I
know it’s going to be incredibly difficult, especially when we don’t have
answers, but “God
has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5b, NIV84) and His grace is sufficient for
us.
Secondly, we’ve
been talking a lot about Jesus being enough. Maybe you don’t have a personal
relationship with Jesus.
If that is the
case, you are still trapped in sin, but the Good News is that Jesus is enough.
And
you can receive Him today; it’s as simple—and as difficult as A-B-C:
Ø Admit
that you are a sinner—and everyone is a sinner
Ø Believe
that Jesus’ death on the cross is enough to cover your sins;
Ø Confess
Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.
John
reminded us that: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jo 1:9, NIV84)
In
just a moment, I’m going to pray, and if you would like to receive Jesus, I
invite you to pray a specific prayer that will begin your journey with Jesus.
In
response to our Big
Bad Question for today: why do bad
things happen to good people; and why do good parents end up with bad
children, let’s remember 3 things:
1)
We all are sinners
2)
We live in a sinful world, but
3)
Jesus is enough.
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