Is God to blame... ? Evil, suffering and Christian warfare

1. D-Day

2. V-Day

3. There is no neutral ground in
the universe; every square
inch, every split second, is
claimed by God and
counterclaimed by Satan. . . .

4. Creation, fall and redemption
Creation
God is the source and sustainer of all
things
Fall
The creation as it is is not as God
intended it to be it is distorted,
disrupted, deformed

5. Garden of City: New
Jerusalem
Eden
Not the way it’s
supposed to be!
Evil, sin and suffering are alien
invasions into God’s good creation

6. 6 One day the angels came to present themselves
before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
7 The LORD said to Satan, Where have you come
from? Satan answered the LORD, From roaming
through the earth and going to and fro in it.
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, Have you
considered my servant Job? There is no-one on
earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man
who fears God and shuns evil.
9 Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied.
10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his
household and everything he has? You have
blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks
and herds are spread throughout the land.
11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything
he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.
12 The LORD said to Satan, Very well, then,
everything he has is in your hands, but on the man
himself do not lay a finger. Then Satan went out
from the presence of the LORD.

7. 6 One day the angels came to present themselves
before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
7 The LORD said to Satan, Where have you come
from? Satan answered the LORD, From roaming
through the earth and going to and fro in it.
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, Have you
considered my servant Job? There is no-one on
earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a
man who fears God and shuns evil.
9 Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied.
10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his
household and everything he has? You have
blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks
and herds are spread throughout the land.
11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything
he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.
12 The LORD said to Satan, Very well, then,
everything he has is in your hands, but on the man
himself do not lay a finger. Then Satan went out
from the presence of the LORD.

8. 6 One day the angels came to present themselves
before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
7 The LORD said to Satan, Where have you come
from? Satan answered the LORD, From roaming
through the earth and going to and fro in it.
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, Have you
considered my servant Job? There is no-one on
earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man
who fears God and shuns evil.
9 Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied.
10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his
household and everything he has? You have
blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks
and herds are spread throughout the land.
11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything
he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.
12 The LORD said to Satan, Very well, then,
everything he has is in your hands, but on the man
himself do not lay a finger. Then Satan went out
from the presence of the LORD.

9. 6 One day the angels came to present themselves
before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.
7 The LORD said to Satan, Where have you come
from? Satan answered the LORD, From roaming
through the earth and going to and fro in it.
8 Then the LORD said to Satan, Have you
considered my servant Job? There is no-one on
earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man
who fears God and shuns evil.
9 Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied.
10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his
household and everything he has? You have
blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks
and herds are spread throughout the land.
11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything
he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.
12 The LORD said to Satan, Very well, then,
everything he has is in your hands, but on the
man himself do not lay a finger. Then Satan
went out from the presence of the LORD.

10. Is suffering part of God’s
punishment for doing wrong?

11. At that very time there were some
present who told him about the
Galileans whose blood Pilate had
mingled with their sacrifices. He
asked them, quot;Do you think that
because these Galileans suffered in
this way they were worse sinners than
all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but
unless you repent, you will all perish
as they did. Or those eighteen who
were killed when the tower of
Siloam fell on them - do you think
that they were worse offenders
than all the others living in
Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless
you repent, you will all perish just as
they did.

12. At that very time there were some
present who told him about the
Galileans whose blood Pilate had
mingled with their sacrifices. He
asked them, quot;Do you think that
because these Galileans suffered in
this way they were worse sinners than
all other Galileans? No, I tell you; but
unless you repent, you will all perish
as they did. Or those eighteen who
were killed when the tower of Siloam
fell on them - do you think that they
were worse offenders than all the
others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell
you; but unless you repent, you will all
perish just as they did.

13. Is suffering part of a cosmic
training ground?

14. Is suffering just a matter of
perspective?
Mr Jones' rheumatism was a judgement,
until his daughter swore to you on the Bible
that the tale of his secret drinking was a
baseless slander.
Her father was a saint.
His rheumatism was, therefore, a trial.
But then the bowling club went on a day's
outing and drove their [bus] into the sea; and
Mr Jones' rheumatism, since it kept him at
home on the occasion, proved a blessing in
disguise, and a providence indeed.

16. Is suffering a necessary means
for good?

17. Is suffering part and parcel of
the way the world is?

18. Why doesn’t God do
something about evil?

20. Redemption
...is all about redeeming creation from
the effects of evil
How?
Through suffering!

21. God in Jesus suffers too

22. The reason the Son of God appeared
was to destroy the devil's work.
1 Jn 3:8
And having disarmed the powers and
authorities, he made a public
spectacle of them, triumphing over
them by the cross.
Col 2:15

23. We are a battleground -
We are in a battleground

24. It is a virtue to disbelieve what does not
exist.
It is dangerous to disbelieve what exists
outside our current limited categories.

25. Know who we are in Christ:
Joint-heirs with Christ Rom 8
The same Spirit that raised Jesus from
the dead is in us Rom 8:11

26. 10 Finally, be strong in
the Lord and in his
mighty power.

27. 10 Finally, be strong in
the Lord and in his
mighty power.

28. 10 Finally, be strong in
the Lord and in his
mighty power.

29. 10 Finally, be strong in
the Lord and in his
mighty power.

30. 10 Finally, be strong in
the Lord and in his
mighty power.

31. 11 Put on the full armour
of God so that you can
take your stand against
the devil's schemes.

32. 11 Put on the full armour
of God so that you can
take your stand against
the devil's schemes.

33. 12 For our struggle is
not against flesh and
blood, but against the
rulers, against the
authorities, against the
powers of this dark
world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in
the heavenly realms.

34. 12 For our struggle is
not against blood and
flesh, but against the
rulers, against the
authorities, against the
powers of this dark
world and against the
spiritual forces of evil in
the heavenly realms.

35. 13 Therefore put on the
full armour of God, so
that when the day of evil
comes, you may be able
to stand your ground,
and after you have done
everything, to stand.

36. 14 Stand firm then, with
the belt of truth buckled
round your waist,
with the breastplate of
righteousness in place,

37. 15 and with your feet
fitted with the readiness
that comes from the
gospel of peace.

38. 16 In addition to all this,
take up the shield of
faith, with which you can
extinguish all the flaming
arrows of the evil one.

39. 17 Take the helmet of
salvation
and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word
of God.

40. 18 And pray in the Spirit
on all occasions with all
kinds of prayers and
requests.
With this in mind, be alert
and always keep on
praying for all the saints.

42. How do we put on the armour?
Make sure it fits!
But most of all we need to be putting on Christ –
abide in him: he is our armour.

43. Armour Jesus
He is the way the
belt truth
truth and the life
He is our
breastplate righteousness
righteousness
feet gospel of peace He is our peace
He is our faith
shield faith
and our shield
helmet salvation He is salvation
Jesus is the Word,
sword word of God
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