“You [Satan] were in Eden, the garden of God; You were the anointed cherub who covers; I established you; You were on the holy mountain of God; ... You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, Till iniquity was found in you. ... You became filled with violence within, And you sinned; Therefore I cast you as a profane thing Out of the mountain of God; And I destroyed you, O covering cherub, From the midst of the fiery stones. “Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty; You corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor; I cast you to the ground,... (Ezekiel 28:13-17) So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelations 12:9)
Why do bad things happen? We can't possibly go over every possibility, but we will focus on the third specific reason based on the Word of God, in this conclusion:
III. This World
- ... Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:5-7); So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. (Genesis 7:23); The "rainbow": It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. (Genesis 9:14-15)
- ... [man's] "heart is hard" - therefore the earth suffers: contaminated water supplies, plagues of insects and rodents, famine and drought, physical and bodily difficulties, storms and disasters, and death (Exodus 7-12)
- ... These things I [Jesus] have spoken to you, ... In the world you will have tribulation;... And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. (John 16:33; Matthew 24; Mark 13; Daniel 11-12; Revelations 2:18-29)
The conclusion of the matter is this - whoever teaches that life will be or should be perfect on this side of eternity is a deceiver. God never taught that! From the very beginning, God commanded man to obey Him, and He would take care of them. Man disobeyed and continues to disobey, and we have to live with and deal with the consequences. But God is so merciful, in that He has made a guaranteed promise to each of us who believes His Word, the Lord Jesus Christ: Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. (II Corinthians 4:16-18) For here [on earth] we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. [Revelations 21] Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.... Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen! (Hebrews 13:14-21)
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