Why does
God allow suffering and death? Why didn’t God destroy the devil when he sinned,
and end the sin problem?
When sin
first appeared in heaven, it was something completely new in God’s universe,
and its inhabitants did not understand it. Lucifer (Satan) himself did not
fully comprehend it at first. He was a brilliant, highly respected angelic
leader, an anointed cherub (Ezekiel 28:16). Lucifer was perfect, until iniquity
was found in him (Ezekiel 18:15) and until his heart was lifted up because of
his beauty (Ezekiel 18:17).
His
approach was doubtless one of great concern for heaven and the angels. It
possibly ran something like this: Angel’s should not be required to take
orders. Angel’s should be free from the Law of God and not restricted as they
are good by nature.
Lucifer’s
arguments convinced many angels, and one-third joined in (Revelation 12:4). If
God had destroyed Lucifer immediately, some angelic beings who did not fully
understand God’s character would have begun to worship God through fear,
saying, “Lucifer may have been correct. Be careful. If you differ with God, He
may kill you.” So nothing would have been settled, instead, the problem would
have been heightened.
The only
devotion, from His creation, that God would accept is a voluntary worship
prompted by love. Obedience for any other reason is unacceptable.
Inspiration says this of
Satan before his downfall, “How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground,
which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit
also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
Isaiah 14:12-14.
Satan
claimed he had a better plan for the government of the universe. There was war
in heaven, but Jesus and His angels won the war and Satan was cast to the earth
(Revelation 12:7-9). God allowed the devil to live to fully demonstrate the
results his principles.
Adam and
Eve chose to listen to the devil over God’s word and thus allowed him to rule
in our planet, the result of which has been the suffering and killing we see
around in our world today.
But the
good news is that God has planned a way out for humans. God has taken the
punishment of our sins and put it on His only begotten Son to bear. Jesus died
so we can be set free from the Devil. All those that accept God’s plan and
receive His gift of salvation through Jesus will be saved eternally.
The Lord
will abolish sin only after every soul in the universe is convinced that
Satan’s government is unfair, hateful, ruthless, lying and destructive. The
devil’s lies will be unmasked for ever.
Those who
have chosen to ally with sin and Satan will be destroyed with him, and God’s
people will be taken to the eternal safety of their heavenly home.
