Hope(!!), Suffering and Evil in the World!

There are three sources of Evil and Suffering in the World:

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A BROKEN NATURAL ORDER
- According to the second law of thermodynamics:
  - matter always tends to the lowest state of order
    - meaning, in nature all things tend towards decay.
  - The start and sustenance of ‘life’ itself
    - proceeds in the opposite direction;
      - living things autonomously draw energy
        
        (in the form of ‘food’)
        
        from the surrounding environment,
    - but then eventually succumb to this law,
      - when it ends in illness, accidents, and death!!
- For example, storms, earthquakes, and volcanoes
  - occur on the other planets and in other parts of the universe!!
  - When these happen on earth,
    - where human beings live,
    - they cause suffering!!

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A PERSONAL EVIL BEING CALLED SATAN
- Personal experience with a presence
  - outside of human beings,
  - possessing the ability to reason with and influence individuals,
    - and whose sole purpose appears to be
      - to instigate, encourage all things
        
        evil, painful, and
        
        opposed to goodness and to God’s purposes;
  - demonstrated in real ‘supernatural’ and demonic encounters, and
- described in the events and exhortations in the scriptures,
- is a source of much of the evil, and suffering upon the earth;

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OUR FALLEN HUMAN NATURE, THAT IS,
- the evil tendencies in everyone of us and/or combined with
- our human limitations
  - (limited in knowledge, memory, ability etc.)
  - to use our God given freedom,
    - for selfishness, opposition to goodness and God,
    - as individuals or together as members of communities;
  - causes evil and suffering
    - upon ourselves,
    - upon one another,
    - and upon the earth.

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The ULTIMATE RESOLUTION (HOPE) FOR ME! AKA:

I HAVE PEACE BECAUSE OF THE FOLLOWING *:

I KNOW GOD LOVES ME in the face of all the evil and suffering in the world:

“but God demonstrates his own love for us [ME] in this: While we were still sinners [I WAS STILL A SINNER], Christ died for us [ME].”
- Paul in his letter to fellow Christians at Rome
  - Romans 5.8
GOD HAS A PLAN FOR A FALLEN CREATION:
- Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, …³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” …
- “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
- Jesus’s BFF, John in his letter to some very young churches in first century AD
  - Revelation 21. 1-5
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SATAN, (THE DEVIL) WILL BE DEFEATED FOREVER
- ¹⁰And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
- John the BFF of Jesus
  - Revelation 20.10
MY FALLEN HUMAN NATURE:
- In Christ we are a New Creation
  - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
  - Paul in his letter to believers at Corinth
    - 2 Corinthians 5.17
- In Christ we have a New Heart and are under a New Covenant
  - ³³“This is the [NEW] covenant I will make with the people …
    “I will put my law in their minds
        and write it on their [NEW] hearts.
    I will be their God,
        and they will be my people.
    ³⁴No longer will they teach their neighbor,
        or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
    because they will all know me,
        from the least of them to the greatest,”
    declares the Lord.
  - From the writings of the famous Jewish ‘weeping’ Prophet
    - Jeremiah 31.33 – 34
- We now and will have only one NEW COMMANDMENT: LOVE!
  - “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
  - Jesus according to his BFF John
    - John 13.34
      
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THEREFORE I LIVE BY FAITH TRUSTING IN GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST!
- ⁷For we live by faith, not by sight.
- Paul to his believer friends at Corinth
  - 2 Corinthians 5.7