"And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good".
One of the most common questions that people ask about God is; "If God really exists, why He allows natural disasters like hurricane charley that recently hit part of Florida?
#1. suffering and disasters are not part of God’s original created order, the Bible says in Genesis 1:31 "and God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good".
#2. Because sin entered the world, the earth and everything around it has been affected.
- In the book of Genesis we see the results of sin on the world.
A. The first thing affected by sin was the relationship between God and His new creation. That’s why Jesus came, to restore man’s relationship with God.
B. The second thing sin affected was Adam and eve’s physical body.
-God had already stated that their disobedience would result in death; Genesis 2:16-17, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "From any fruit in the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die".
-As we know from science, our bodies are dying slowly, we can’t escape death. Furthermore, the woman’s pain in childbirth was greatly multiplied (Gen.3:16) and toil, sweat and tears came upon Adam till death (Gen.3:17-19).
C. The third thing was that Adam and Eve’s relationship with God’s new world was affected.
- Their relationship with the animals and the serpent was affected, In Genesis 3:15 we see enmity between the serpent and the woman and the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.
D. Also the ground was cursed because sin had entered the world. In Genesis 3:17b God says to Adam; "Cursed is the ground because of you".
-Later, in the New Testament, the Apostle Paul inspired from the Holy Spirit receives and writes this revelation when he states;
(Romans 8:20-22)."For the creation was subjected to futility, not of it’s own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will also be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now".
Conclusion;
-One of the most comforting things for Christians to know when facing situations such as this is that God has a much bigger picture than what we see in the here and now. Without a doubt, many have been affected by Hurricane Charley, but God has promised in His word that he will comfort all those that are hurting and in need.
-It’s at times like this that the Church has to put their resources together and be an extension of Christ to those who are hurting.
