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The reason is because God controls everything except for our free will.
Yes God is supreme, but God has gifted us with free will or the power to choose. In order to be able to choose, there has to be choices and God has allowed for the possibility for people to reject him if they choose.

Free will is the ability to make your own decision, this rules out the possibility that everything is planned by God, and we are just acting out that plan. Yes God has a plan but we choose where we will end up within that plan.

Then one might argue why did God give his created beings with free will in the first place.
Well to answer this age old question, why don't we imagine a world where there is no free will. Lets imagine that God created us with no choice, a world where everybody obeyed God because it was the only choice on offer. Wouldn't that solve all the problems? Well yes in a technical way that would be the case. But if God did that, then all he would really accomplished is to create a race of robots that are programmed to obey his will. So every time we express our love to God, it would really be meaningless, and this would also render love between people including husbands and wives as nothing more than a program. Think about that for a moment. Imagine if you brainwashed someone to love you, you would know that this love wouldn't be real, because real love can only happen where there is free will. Obedience is good, but obedience without choice is not obedience at all, rather it is a process or system.

The Bible says that all thing will pass away, and only faith, hope and love will remain. The greatest of these things is love the scriptures tell us that God is love. Without true love there is no meaning to life, and without free will, true love cannot possibly exist. Of course with free will there is risk. There is always the possibility that some of God's created beings may exercise their free will to choose to live a life separate from God and go there own way. In other words, free will leaves the possibility to sin, which is falling short of God's glory and will. God allows this choice as he is perfect and to choose otherwise would mean that we could choose imperfection.

Now we know that control results from the fear that someone will harm you in some way. We also know that we have to give up any form of control and learn to trust. Same thing with God, he doesn't control us, he has given us free will to choose him. Of course God desires that we choose him, but he lets us make that decision.

In God's Angelic Kingdom, the bible tells us that one third of the Angels lead by Satan chose to rebel against their creator. This world is also caught up in this rebellion and in this rebellion, the world seems to be constantly trying to find some meaning, or some other reality outside of the truth, but we must remember that wide is the path that leads to destruction and narrow is the path that leads to life. Why? Because there are many lies but only one truth.

In Paradise (Eden) God allowed Mankind to eat from all the trees in the garden, except for the Tree of Good and Evil. This tree was in Paradise so that Mankind would have a choice. God gave mankind a choice, my Kingdom or not, this choice was manifest as both the Tree of Life and the Tree of Good and Evil. Now the scriptures tell us that God tempts no one, instead we are drawn away by our own lusts and then enticed. God didn't put the tree of Good and Evil in Paradise to tempt mankind, but only to test him and to give him a true choice.

God had decreed that we shouldn't eat from that tree. It was the Devil that enticed or tempted Man to eat from this tree, as it's fruit would supposedly make us like God, knowing good and evil and choosing our own destiny. Instead of obeying God, and knowing only his goodness and enjoying life eternal, and going from glory to glory, mankind chose to have the knowledge of good and evil and to follow our own destiny or to put it another way, to follow the way of the Devil who was the first to choose his own way. The Devil is the god of this age and he is also called the Father of Lies. So Satan, his Angels and mankind have rejected the truth.

When you reject the truth, then that only leaves lies. It's like saying 1+1 can only equal 2. If you reject the fact that 1+1=2, then you are free to choose any other answer, but only one answer is really true, and all other ways are lies. Matthew 7:13-14 says that narrow is the path that leads to life and broad is the path that leads to destruction. You have heard it said that the truth adds up, well this is true. Ask any programmer and he/she will tell you that the code must be logical within a set of parameters/laws or it will not work/create. Likewise with the truth, God creates because his Word is true. This is why the Devil cannot create, as he is a liar, (his words/code isn't true). His sole intention is to destroy as much of God's creation as possible. If anything Satan writes viruses (corrupt programs) as he is the Father of Lies.

Now in Eden, God told Man that we would die if we ate the fruit from the Tree of Good and Evil and the Devil said we wouldn't die. The fact that Man didn't die immediately when he partook of the fruit may suggest that the Devil was right, but we know that Adam and Eve eventually died, and this curse has since passed onto all succeeding generations. So the Devil's lie was very subtle, and he continues to deceive people today with this method.

The result of eating the fruit of Good and Evil brought death to humanity, because God created not only the physical laws we see in the universe today, but also spiritual laws to govern the spiritual realm. One of these spiritual laws states "The soul that sins must die". The reason for this is because God is perfect and it is impossible for perfection to have fellowship or relationship with sin/imperfection. So when Gods creatures sin and rebel against him, they are actually choosing death, as there is no life outside of God. It's like saying, choose God equals choosing life and choosing not God is choosing death. Therefore all who sin will pay the penalty of death. It's a bit like a branch saying to the tree I don't want to belong to the tree anymore I will go my own way. But once the branch is snapped from the tree it doesn't die immediately, but it eventually withers up and dies, because it is separate from it life source and cannot live forever in itself. That is why our bodies wither and die.

Knowing the consequences of sin, it does appear to be a foolish thing to choose sin. One might wonder why Satan was interested in sinning in the beginning as he was the first to sin. Well the scriptures say that he sinned because he became vain by reason of his beauty. The Devil was and is filled with vain imaginations and perhaps he wasn't aware of the true consequences that his actions would bring. Remember that sin and death had never happened before and creation only knew the love of God. But now it is clear that there is no life outside of God, perhaps this was known by God's creatures, but whether they knew or not, we now know it to be true today, as our world is the living proof of a world without God and this world has been filled with disaster and pain.

Satan's rebellion may have brought death to many, but it has also highlighted the truth, that there is no good thing outside God's will and now creation has witnessed first hand the consequences of rebelling against God, and the absolute realization that that all things must come under God, he is the only true source of good and he is the only one who is eternal and can love us beyond measure.

One might say then why doesn't God stop all the sin and suffering now that we have seen the result of sin or rebelling against God and his Truth. We'll the answer again goes back to the free will that God has gifted to us. God gave Man this gift and he will not take it from us, as this action would infringe on our free will, and God honors our choices and he also honors his promises. God in his infinite wisdom is also allowing mans rebellion to go to it's logical end, (the end of the world) to prove to creation for all time the folly in rebelling against him and to also preserve the righteous. God allows man to go his own destructive way, but he is taking out people for himself that have chosen to obey him and live his way. This will leave only the righteous in the end.

If God ended this world prematurely, then this may leave unanswered questions for creation as there would be no physical proof of the complete consequence of rebellion. God has nothing to hide. He doesn't sweep these things under the mat. This rebellious world is a testimony to all of God's creation, now and forever as to the consequence of sin and how miserable it is existing in a world that is not governed by God. God brings all these things out into the light for all to see, and God will allow this world to keep going for its allotted time regardless of the horrors that Mankind will subject himself to, although he does shorten the last days because if he didn't no one would survive.

So God allows evil to run its complete course, so that Satan's accusations against the Divine will be seen in their true light by all of creation, in order that Gods way will be shown to be perfect and beyond all question and doubt. Eventually all sinful creatures will be cast into the Lake of Fire to suffer destruction, and creation will know full well that only God is good, not just because God says that he is the only one who is good, but we will have witnessed the consequences firsthand.

Because we are born into sin as the result of sin passing on to us from our parents, who in turn inherited from their parents which originated in our first parents Adam and Eve; God has offered salvation to us because He loves each one of us very much.
In fact He loved the world that much that He gave his only begotten Son that whom ever would trust and follow Him would be saved from their sin and given everlasting life with Him. The price for sin is death, but Jesus the Son of God, died in your place, so you don't have to suffer this penalty. It would be a shame for you to die in your sin when the remedy has been offered to you. Its your choice. Eternal Life in Gods glorious kingdom or death. Your debt with God has been paid, why not just except it and be free. Why throw His forgiveness away and remain a slave to your sin. Only a fool would hold onto his sin and miss out on the greatest thing of all, God's eternal love.

Jesus Christ said that He is the way, the truth and the life, and no-one can come to the Father except though him. Jesus is the Messiah who's appearance was prophesied in the scriptures.

So even though man has chosen to disobey God. God in His wisdom has worked out a wonderful plan for you, so that you may come back to him, and live his perfect life, where we will only know his goodness, this was his plan and will from the beginning. If you choose to serve God, then you will align your will with his, and you will be in the hands of an eternal God who is love.

And finally all those who continue to rebel will be cast away from God and his Kingdom leaving only good in the end.
The righteous will reign victorious forever and the wicked will perish.

See the article on How to be Saved.

Posted by Barbara Grant on October 30, 1998 at 17:27:41:

Hi there
Just read the reply about why God allows suffering on this earth. According to your answer this is because we have been granted free will. However, I have a question about the 'slippery slope' nature of this answer. What about instances like the rubbish dump children of Korea etc? These children born in innocence, cannot (as far as I'm concerned) be said to have exercised free will when it comes to scavenging off rubbish dumps to eke out an abominable existence? How does this fit in the 'free will' picture?
Look forward to your response,
Thanks
Barbara

In Reply to: Why does God allow suffering? posted by Barbara Grant on October 30, 1998 at 17:27:41:

Whether you are born on a Rubbish Dump or you are born into Royalty everyone suffers
Young Children living in Rubbish Tips has its cause in Man not God.
This is the result of others Free Will not the innocent child's free will.
Whatever we do affects others and it is other people that have caused this miserable existence for many. It is misuse of free will, not the lack of free will that causes this suffering. E.g.. If I live in an island with 200 people and these 200 people decide to abuse the island and cut all the trees down, then I will be forced to live in conditions that are not favorable to me, even though I may do my best to preserve the natural beauty and recycle the resources, the shear weight of the other peoples actions will cause suffering for me too.

This is because Mankind is designed to be one Family and work together as one people who follow the One and True God. This Godly design means that whatever we do affects other people too, this is of course was designed for good purpose, so that when we bless it affects all, and unity is also the perfect way for the expression of true love as it passes to all. But when Man does evil it also affects all of us and evil perpetuates though humanity like the spread of a virus.

Today many of us know the Good News that Jesus died for our sins to save us, but some people do not know the Gospel, and they have never heard about the Kingdom of Heaven, but everyone has a conscience . Conscience is made up from the words, con & science. "Con" means "with" and "science" means "knowledge". So we all have knowledge of good and evil and we are all judged by what we know. No one can escape judgment from God, some of us will obtain the wages of life and others the wages of death.

Everyone in this world suffers to varying degrees because Mankind has chosen to go his own way rather than Gods way. This is the root cause of suffering which passes onto every new generation. God wants to free all from this curse. If Mankind had followed Gods Will in the beginning, then this earth would be a paradise today. All suffering can be attributed to mankind not following Gods will. God allows this suffering because he respects our free will and choices even if they are wrong. True Free Will means that we are also free to make mistakes, and God has given us true free will. This ultimately means that the Human Race is responsible for all that happens in this world whether good or evil.

Jesus taught us to pray to the Father in his name and say these words.
Thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
If Mankind chose to follow God in the beginning, then The Kingdom of Heaven would be on earth. It is now just a matter of time before this Kingdom overcomes all the earthly kingdoms. God will judge this evil world, and this world will pass away, but only the righteous will remain and inherit the world to come. It is Mankind who is responsible for innocent children living in poverty not God , and to make matters worse, Man can change what he has caused and created to a degree, but he doesn't because he is selfish.
There is enough wealth in this world for every man woman and child. But it is the true selfish heart of human nature that that stops this wealth from being shared. Again I say that this is an example of our free will not lack of it. Its just Free Will being used to please ourselves more than others instead of using Free Will to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and love our fellow man as we love ourselves; which by the way are the 2 greatest commandments.

The philosophy of this world is to look after No 1. This of course leads to success for some and poverty for others.
This worlds economy is Buying and Selling, but in the Kingdom of Heaven it is Giving and Receiving

In the Kingdom of Heaven we can we all live in prosperity and in harmony with our creator.

The Kingdom of Heaven will come to earth and Gods Government will be setup. It is not a matter of if, but when. Only then will Mankind be able to attain what God created him for, and collectively we will allow Gods blessings to pour out to all creation and in abundance.

• Participate in a discussion called "Do you think the suffering you go through is caused by God?".

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