“And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2)
I read something the other day that a man of God much wiser than myself wrote almost four hundred years ago, and it is one of the things I have been contemplating at length since then. To be honest with you I am not quite sure how to approach this topic, for I can see no outlet for it other than to call it injustice which the Almighty has allowed since man was created out of the dust of the earth.
And I hate to say it this way, but if He is allowing it, and He is, how do we accept that truth and not find blame with Him?
A terrible thought.
The words I read are as follows, “All sin leads to suffering, and where there is no suffering, there is no sin.”
The man’s theory was based on the truth that there is no suffering in heaven because there is no sin, but in that regard, though partial in its truth, the tears we will shed in heaven will not be wiped away until the new heaven and new earth are formed by the Living God.
But there was truth in this respect of what he said if you look at those words and evaluate them as he meant, sin causes suffering.
The Lord Jesus Christ’s response to the question asked of Him in the opening verse of this letter to you was thus, “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” (John 9:3)
God made that man to be born blind so that His glory would be revealed to those there that day, and to everyone who has ever read that account. Not because his parents sinned, not because he sinned, but for the glory of God revealed in the Son of God.
We like to look at the miracles, but not always in the way in which they came to be, because if we do, that thought of blaming the Most High might enter into our thoughts.
I offer you another example here, the one that has encompassed my mind since I read those words, that all sin brings suffering, and why that suffering is allowed upon those who, I almost hate to write this, have not sinned.
What of those small children, very young, who get some form of terminal illness, those who will never reach an age of double digits, what sin has caused them to suffer.
You and I both know the answer.
“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;” (Gen. 3:17)
Because of the actions of one man, the first man. And that is the reason I really had no desire to pick up my pen this evening, because although it is Adam’s fault that suffering arrives in some who have not yet sinned, it is God Himself that allows it. Just like He caused that man to be born blind and remain that way for almost four decades.
I tremble to write the following words. Is God to blame?
“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numb. 23:19)
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.” (Isaiah 55:8)
Suffering always arrives because of sin, and it may arrive not because of your sin, but because of another’s. Yet your sins may cause others to suffer.
“Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.” (2nd Sam. 12:14)
I hate these kinds of letters, but they need to be said. Seeking the face of God my friends is not always a pleasant experience; some truths are difficult to swallow.
It will be interesting to watch just how many people He has read this short letter. Personally, I do not think anyone should, but that is up to Him.