People have tough questions about God.

Questions like:

Why would a loving God cast “good” people into hell?
Why would an all-powerful God allow so much death and suffering in the world?
Why would a good God allow children to suffer?
If God knew the world was going to turn out so badly, why did He make sin possible in the first place?

We could go through each question and come up with some details from the Bible to help answer, but ultimately we will never be able to completely understand why God does what He does. This is because God is incomprehensible. He can’t be fully known and understood. And the only things we do know about God we know from an act of God’s self-disclosure. It’s not like we can scientifically study God and put Him under a microscope and figure Him out. And guess what? God doesn’t disclose all the reasons why He does what He does.

But the Bible does give us some foundational truths that will help us form a baseline for learning to trust the Lord with child-like faith (Matthew 11:25).

1. God is working to showcase His multifaceted glory and power and beauty.

In Romans 9, Paul clearly states in verse 22, “What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power…” It’s a hard truth to accept, but God is working to show more than just His love and mercy. God’s justice and holiness and righteous anger are on display as well.

A big reason why such a thing as Hell exists is that God desires to display for all to see the purity of His holiness, the awfulness of sin, the magnificence of His power, and the fairness of His justice.

2. We have a low view of sin.

Even if you’ve been saved 40 years, you probably don’t see sin as bad as what it really is. Sin is so bad and our sinful condition is so terrible that Isaiah 64:6 says the best we can ever do is this: “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment”.

All of us have lied at some point. God. Hates. Lying. God calls a lying tongue an abomination in Proverbs 6:16-17. Lying is so bad that God punishes liars in eternal fire (Rev. 21:8).

Some answer: “Well, nobody is perfect and I was born this way. I can’t help it. God’s too harsh.”

I’ll never cease to be amazed that people would rather justify themselves than just admit their sin and seek God’s forgiveness. It really is that easy.

But at the end of the day, if God never intervened in human history and let every single person die in their sins and go to hell, God would be completely fair and just. Do you know why it’s hard to accept that truth? We have a low view of sin.

3. The cross is our anchor.

Anytime you struggle with whether or not God is a good, loving God -- look to the cross and remember John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

God was willing to pour out all of his wrath and hatred of sin against His only Son so that if you humble yourself and acknowledge your sin and trust Him as Savior, God will forgive you of all your sins. This is an incredible act of love and the most beautiful thing that’s ever happened in this world and it’s our anchor point to always know that God’s love knows no limits.

So next time you struggle with understanding God and why He does things the way He does, look to Christ. See Him as the Sovereign Savior who willingly suffered the righteous wrath of Almighty God so that we might have everlasting life if we believe in Him. It’s the goodness of God in Christ that makes me realize that even if I don’t always fully understand the Lord, I know that I can trust Him.