Explore God — 5.12.19 Sermon

Why does God allow pain and suffering? This message starts at the beginning, in Genesis 3, where free will makes real relationship possible but also makes rebellion possible, and brokenness damages everything: people, creation, the relationship with God. The arc is creation, brokenness, redemption, restoration. God's banishment from Eden is reframed as compassion, and the first blood sacrifice foreshadows Jesus, who put on flesh, was tempted as we are yet without sin, and is no stranger to suffering. The application is woven through personal grief, a missing child, an injured son, the loss of a mentor and grandfather, and the image of a mosaic: the artist makes something more beautiful from broken pieces. Drawing on Romans 5, 2 Corinthians 4 and James 1, the counsel is to not throw in the towel, to process honestly, and to walk with others rather than alone.