A Loving God

A Loving God

Author: Pastor Mark Evans

Text: John 3:16

Year 2001

STATISTICS:

· A Woman is "Battered" every 15 seconds.

· 1.3 Adult Women Are "Raped" Every Minute.

· 45 Americans were Killed in "Alcohol Related Traffic Crashes" Each Day in 1994.

· Approximately 6 Children Are Reported "Abused and Neglected In America Every 60 Seconds.

· There was a "Murder" Every 24 Minutes In 1985, and has only increased since.

· There is a "Robbery" Every 51 Seconds.

· There is a "Violent" Crime of Some Kind Every 18 Seconds.

· There is an "Aggravated Assault" Every 29 Seconds.

· There are 20 Employees "Murdered" and 18,000 "Assaulted" On The Job Every Week.

· A Recent CIA Report Estimates 2 Million Women and Children are "Sexually Trafficked" From All Over the World, Including the U.S. Each Year Into Prostitution and Pornography. They are sold to Brothels Where they are beaten and Raped.

· Natural Disasters, Disease and Third World Hunger.

Why?

A Question that has plagued man for centuries - Both Believers and Unbelievers alike. They have both asked this question.

If God is really a Loving God…Why Does He Permit All The Evil Done In This World?

Believer…What would you say if someone were to ask you that very same question?

What would your answer be? Do you fear the answer you’d give would sound vague and unsatisfactory to your opposing skeptic?

Unbelieving? Is this why you don’t choose trust in God?

Friends…there are an answer to this "seemingly unanswerable" question.

READ TEXT: John 3:16

2 Things Will Help Us To Understand.

In the Book of Gen. we learn that God gave mankind a "freewill". That is, this God who created man in His own Image to bring Him Glory and Pleasure, gave to every man, woman and child the power to choose for him\herself independent of God.

The Book of Gen. also tells us that Adam and Eve fell in the Garden and that ever since man has been born with a sin nature to "rebel" against the Living God.

Just as you may have been the happy recipient of a Big Nose or a Long Nose or a certain Hair or

Eye Color, or maybe you are Short or you are Tall. Just as we have received these things through birth so it is with a "Sin Nature".

Once Adam and Eve Sinned every person born into the world inherited a "Sin Nature", that is to "Rebel against God; and so it has been ever since.

Romans 5:19 tells us that "by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners.

This is the Case of "ORIGINAL SIN".

Then there is "WILLFUL SIN"- where we deliberately choose to sin against God.

I am not going to get any further into the Doctrine of Sin then that.

I only wish to remind us that man by "Nature" is Rebellious against God and that Man is "Willful"; that is man has the power to choose. To freely make a cognitive choice of his own volition and according to his own desires.

After explaining this to one co-worker that I once had a discussion with over this same topic I challenged him with these words:

Illus. For just a moment, pretend that you are God and in your imagination you are going to recreate a perfect world.

Keep in mind, however, that for every thing that you do there is a ramification, a certain consequence.

Now to help my friend get started I begin to assume what any person in his/her right mind would think of. I said OK let’s start by wiping out "all murder". POOF! NO More Murder! Whoops…now all the Pro-Choice people are mad at you because you forgot to exclude abortion.

Now let’s get rid of "all rape". POOF! No More Rape!

Oh, I said, you can’t stop there, why don’t you stop all robberies. POOF! NO More Robberies!

I said, again, while your at it why don’t you eliminate World Hunger. POOF! No More Hunger! People are helping to plant crops again and are giving food in abundance! People are being fed again. Great! Fantastic! I tell my friend you continue to wipe out every known evil till you are finished.

Oh wait a minute! Something is wrong. Oh yes, very, very different. No one is following you anymore. No one believes in you anymore and No one loves you anymore. What do you mean my friend says! Why I just finished wiping out and eliminating all the evil in the world and you mean to tell me that no one loves me anymore!

Well, remember in the beginning, I said, "keep in mind" that for everything you do there are ramifications, certain consequences?

1. When you wiped out all murder, you wiped out the "choice" of certain people to "commit" murder.