ORDERLY MYSTERY

Jerry Landers: If you’re God, how can You permit all the suffering that goes on in the world?
God: I don’t permit the suffering – you do. — 1977 movie, “Oh God!”

Genesis 1
John 1:1-5 (esp. 3)
Matthew 15:12-20

Creationists chortle: “God created everything!”

So who, then, created evil?

Such questions stump experts and baffle the mind. We see a world created with astounding order. Organisms heal, animals procreate, cells divide, DNA patterns predict life, food chains maintain balance, seasons change in predictable cycles, the sun rises … every day, the moon revolves, the earth rotates, universes exist in perfect order.

We view this all from the most perfect observation platform: the earth’s surface. It is as if the creator wanted to impress us. Case in point: our sun is 400 times the size of our moon. The sun also lies 400 times the distance from earth’s surface. . . so we can predictably view a perfect solar eclipse. Scientists will tell you that, because the moon blocks the sun’s light, they have made monumental discoveries about the sun’s surface.

Our planet possesses the perfect mixture of gases to provide a transparent atmosphere. Alter the combination slightly, as is the case on other planets, and we would have no view of the heavens. And we would cook.

It would require overwhelming determination to believe any of these natural occurrences were accidental. No, our creator designed a world full of astounding order and purpose.

It is as if the Great Lover were giving his bride the ultimate view of his kingdom.

An immense comfort. Yet other truths confuse.

Why would a loving and all-powerful god allow pain and suffering?

Why does evil exist?

Why are so many truths incompatible?

While confusing us, these questions also raise the mystery of god. We realize that our intellectual arms are much too short to embrace all truth.

Majestic order and baffling mystery. Would you want your god to be any other way?

How have you observed natural order?
What mysteries baffle you most about God?
How do you reconcile the two ideas?

Brad