Daily Lesson for Friday 21st of February 2025
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
“The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam. It was a revelation of ‘the mystery which hath been kept in silence through times eternal.’ Romans 16:25, R. V. It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne. From the beginning, God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate. God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency. So great was His love for the world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, ‘that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.’ John 3:16.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 22.
Discussion Questions
- If God does not always get what He wants, how does this fact impact the way you think about what occurs in this world? What are the practical implications of understanding that God has unfulfilled desires?
- If we go back to the cake analogy in Thursday’s study, we can understand why, even though “God and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan,” they went ahead and created us anyway. Love had to be in the mix, and love meant freedom. Rather than not create us as beings able to love, God created us so that we could love, but He did so knowing that, ultimately, it would lead Jesus to the cross. What should it tell us about how sacred, how fundamental, love was to God’s government that Christ would suffer on the cross rather than deny us the freedom inherent in love?
- Often we lament the evil and suffering in this world, but how often do you take time to ponder that God Himself laments and is grieved by suffering and evil? What difference does it make to your understanding of evil and suffering when you recognize that God Himself suffers because of evil?
- How does this truth—that many things happen in this world that God does not will—help you deal with your own suffering, especially when it doesn’t make sense and seems to lead to no good at all?
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<–Thursday
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You would have to be a hermit to miss the conflicts that have killed hundreds of thousands of people in the last three years. Many of the victims are civilians who would normally be going about their daily lives, shopping, teaching, building, playing, and romancing. But with deadly frequency, their lives have not only been interrupted but terminated.
It is easy for me, on the other side of the world to to debate the theology of good and evil, in the comfort on my home were the only noise is the rumble of traffic on M1. It reminds me of my trip to Iran. I have crossed Iran from east to west and looked at its huge cities, its modern highways, its deserts, and its pasturelands. I did it all from a height of 11 km in a flying aluminium tube. Did I see Iran? Yes, and what I saw was pretty impressive. But, I did not experience Iran. At home at the time I was working on my PhD with a fellow researcher, who was Iranian. I experienced more of Iran in my research office from my coworker than I could ever experience flying over the country.
Likewise, for many of us, the big evils of this world are viewed from a distance, but there are people within our own horizon who are experiencing evil and pain. That is where our theology must hit the road and work out in practice.
God did not sit in heaven, isolated from the problem of sin, but became human and experienced sin first-hand.
God did not fly over the problem he came down and was touched by our pain and struggle.
Understanding that God does not always get what He desires highlights the depth of human freedom and the seriousness of love in His government. Love cannot be forced—it must be freely given. This truth explains why God, though knowing the fall of man, still created us: love was worth the risk.
Recognizing that God grieves over evil and suffering helps shift our perspective. Instead of seeing Him as distant or indifferent, we understand that He is personally affected by our pain. This makes suffering less about a divine test and more about a shared burden—God suffers with us.
The reality that not everything happening in the world is God's will reassures us that suffering is not always a divine punishment or a predetermined plan. Instead, it is often the result of human choices and the great conflict between good and evil. This understanding helps us trust God even in moments when suffering seems senseless, knowing that He is working toward ultimate restoration.
The question is asked:"What difference does it make to your understanding of evil and suffering when you recognize that God Himself suffers because of evil?" My response follows:
Recognizing that God Himself suffers because of evil profoundly impacts our understanding of both evil and suffering. It reveals that God is not distant or indifferent to the pain and injustice in the world; instead, He is deeply involved and experiences sorrow alongside us. This realization shifts the perspective from seeing God as merely a judge of evil to one who also bears the weight of it.
The suffering of Jesus on the cross exemplifies this truth. God willingly entered into our broken world, took on human flesh, and endured suffering, rejection, and death. In doing so, He demonstrates that He is not immune to the consequences of evil—He shares in our pain and is actively working to redeem it.
This understanding offers comfort, knowing that we serve a compassionate God who fully understands our struggles. It also assures us that evil and suffering are not the end of the story. God's participation in suffering points toward a future where He will ultimately overcome evil, heal wounds, and restore all things. His shared suffering becomes a source of hope, reminding us that we are never alone in our pain, and that God is actively working toward our deliverance and ultimate victory over evil.