A barrage of questions, a barrage of answers!
Pick your favorite of the questions the ex-lead singer of Hawk Nelson has... they are all good for Q&A day.
“If God is all loving, and all powerful, why is there evil in the world? Can you not do anything about it? Does he choose not to? Is the evil in the world a result of his desire to give us free will? OK then what about famine and disease and floods and all the suffering that isn’t caused by humans in our free will? If God is loving, why does he send people to hell?” were all questions that plagued him.
Evil in the world was man's doing. And God promised that things will not always be that way (Revelation 21:5). He WILL do something about it.
Famine / disease / flood – results of living in a fallen, cursed world, which God will also remedy.
And God doesn't send people to hell. People choose to go to hell by rejecting God's salvation offered in Jesus Christ. See Romans 9:22-23 - the Greek verb tense makes it clear. The vessels of wrath literally “fitted themselves” for destruction!
“Why does God seem so p______ off in most of the old testament, and then all of a sudden he’s a loving father in the New Testament? Why does he say not to kill, but then instruct Israel to turn around and kill men women and children to take the promised land? Why does God let Job suffer horrible things just to win a bet with Satan? What does he tell Abraham to kill his son and then basically say ‘just kidding! That was a test.’ If God can do anything, can’t you forgive without someone dying? I mean, my parents taught me to forgive people – nobody dies in that scenario,” he wrote.
God is the same God in both Testaments. His love for people is evident on every page. Yes, in both Testaments!
The people Israel were commanded to wipe out were brutal and wicked people. In The Case for Faith, Lee Strobel has an excellent chapter on this.
God wasn't “betting” Satan. As usual - what Satan meant for harm, God used for good. Job ended up blessed despite the suffering he endured. Find Job in heaven and ask him about this.
Abraham was chosen by God to be the father of Israel – and the faith. Once upon a time, Abe left everything to follow God. With telling Abe to sacrifice Isaac, God was essentially asking him, “Are you willing to do that again?”
There is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). And we forgive people because of the shed blood of Jesus (Ephesians 4:32). Forgiven people forgive.
Okay, you asked for one - but I couldn’t decide! So here’s a short answer for them all. These are very common questions, and it’s kind of surprising the son of a pastor didn’t have these answers. Again, this is the difference between knowing ABOUT Jesus and KNOWING JESUS.
And this is why we theology!