We suffer a broken earth. Romans 8:20 tells us that the whole creation has been subjected to emptiness or futility. We see this in a host of ways. Our houses need constant repairs, our cars break down, our beloved pets die. As we’ve seen most obviously in recent days, natural disasters bring destruction and carnage on a level difficult to grasp. Hurricane Helene has left multitudes feeling small, helpless, and even hopeless.
We suffer broken bodies. Some endure disease early and/or often. A portion of these end in untimely deaths. Yet, even the healthiest among us inevitably succomb to the deterioration of age. Exercise, nutrition, and other healthy habits are of benefit, but eventually decay wins and we die. We endure these things with those we love, then we endure them in ourselves. They die. We mourn. We die.
We suffer broken relationships. On the personal level, we have divorces, estranged parents/children, and former friends. In the community, we have political parties, church splits, street gangs, and grand juries. On the national and international levels, we have class-action lawsuits, industrial espionage, and civil, religious, and world wars. On every level of human interaction, we hate and are hated, we wrong and are wronged.
That’s a ton of brokenness and suffering. No one is exempt. What should the biblically-informed mind do with all this?
First, remember this is why we need a gospel. All this brokenness does not reflect incompetence in the manufacturing, so to speak. When God created the world, He made man—male and female—in His own image, gave man dominion over all he earth, charged man to be fruitful and multiply, and blessed him. When God saw everything that He made, including man’s creation in His image and his dominion over creation, He saw that “it was very good” (Gen 1:26-31). Our perfect creator God entrusted man with a good earth, harmonious relationships, and healthy bodies.
Man’s rejection of God is what led to the brokenness of the world and separation from Him (Gen 3:17-24). God’s grace toward sinners would bring man back to the goodness of life with God (Gen 3:15).
Everything that sin has wrought in man and the world would be rectified through the life, death, and resurrection of one person, the God-Man Jesus Christ (Eph 1:7-10; Col 1:15-23). Those who repent and trust in Him are reconciled to God. All others remain separated from God in this life; upon death, they will enter judgment eternally.
The brokenness that we see, hear, and feel in us and all around us is a result of our rejection of God, a taste of eternal separation from God, and a demonstration of our need for a Savior.
Second, remember this world is not our home. The New Testament repeatedly affirms that we do not ultimately belong here. First Peter 1:1 addresses believers as “elect exiles,” those chosen to live temporarily in a world not their own. Later, he calls us “as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Pet 2:11). Sojourners are those passing through a foreign land. As sojourners, we ought not get mixed up in the practices of the “locals” since we have a spiritual mission serving another land (1 Pet 2:4-10). Similarly, Paul reminds us in Philippians 3:20 that our citizenship is in heaven.
Therefore, we ought not look for eternal joy in temporal things. Our hope is not the rehabbing of this domain. Rather…
Third, look to our hope in the return of Christ. The great joy of the believer is the coming personal presence of Jesus Christ (2 Thess 1:10; 1 Pet 1:3-9; Jude 24). When the fullness of His people have come to repentance, He will return, gather His own, judge the wicked, and bring in a new heavens and a new earth (2 Pet 3:9; Rom 11:25-27; 1 Thess 4:13-18; 2 Thess 1:9-10; 2 Pet 3:13; Rev 21:1-2). In that place of eternal rest, we will enjoy perfect fellowship with the Godhead, free from sin, death, and sorrow (Rev 22:3-4). For He will make all things new (Rev 21:5).
Fourth, in the meantime, cling to His sufficient grace. Manifold are His gracious blessings as we wait for the coming of Christ. He graciously grants us the strength to endure the difficulties of life in a fallen world (2 Cor 12:7-10). He graciously equips us to join Him in the meaningful work of spreading His gospel and growing His church (Eph 4:7-16; Rom 12:3-8). He graciously conforms us to the image of Christ, granting us a measure of His love, joy, peace, patience, etc (Rom 8:28-30; Gal 5:22-24). In these and other temporal joys (reconciliation, fellowship, healing, etc), he graciously gives us glimpses of the eternal blessedness of the next life.
Fifth, the church is tasked with sharing all this with others. Every person we have contact with is touched in various ways by this broken world, their own broken relationships, and their own broken bodies. Most people narrate their own suffering in casual conversation; we have only to keep our ears open. Further, most people—whether they say so or not—want to make sense of it all. We should meet them there by sharing the gospel. We’re broken because of sin. We’re saved only through faith in the work of Christ. We have hope only in His coming return.
May we think rightly as we are confronted with suffering, and may we open our mouths to help others find hope in Christ!
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