If God is good and God is love, why does He let pain continue, including His own? First, let’s acknowledge that a time will come when God will end pain in Heaven and earth (Rev. 21:4). If this is the ultimate reality that God will bring to pass at the fulfillment of time, then it must be part of His ultimate goal. But for now, what is He waiting for?
(There is so much to this topic, including how God has chosen to engage with and through humanity (see the Epic Gospel book). We’ll only cover one small aspect in this post.)
Remember the pain of God as a Father that we discussed in the last post. The story of David and Absalom is a foreshadowing of the Gospel. Upon hearing that Absalom had been killed, David wept and said:
“O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
2 Samuel 18:33 ESV
King David wished that he could have died in his rebellious son’s place. This was a foreshadowing of the Gospel but with a twist. In the Gospel, God’s Son, Jesus, dies not for His own rebellion but for ours so that we might have the opportunity to become children of God and brothers of Jesus (Heb. 2:11).
And like David wished that Absalom could be spared in spite of His rebellion, this foreshadowed the heart of God revealed through the Gospel.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
2 Peter 3:9 ESV
Although God experiences grief and indignation over humanity’s rebellion (like David’s grief over Absalom), He is patient like one with the heart of a father waiting for a wayward child to come to their senses. What is God waiting for? Why doesn’t He remove all pain now? Because for pain to be removed in a moment would mean that all opposed to God would be removed in a moment. And He is patient, not wishing that they should perish but allowing more time for the work of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20) to be fulfilled.
At the same time, it is imperative to realize that the Gospel indicates a time will come when the wicked will be expelled from Heaven and earth (Rev. 21:8, 27). (If this sounds strange as an association with the Gospel, see the Epic Gospel book). God’s patience with the rebellion of mankind and supernatural beings will not last forever because He will not allow His children to experience pain forever. A day will come when He will bring an end to pain, evil, and death, and usher in the fulfillment of a new creation.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Revelation 21:1, 3-4 ESV
Epic Gospel 