Why

We are starting a new series called Bad Things, Good God. Bad Things, Good God. And in this series, we're going to tackle some of the why questions that we have. There's a lot of why questions out there, and let me just kind of give you a scope of where this series is going, and then I'll give you an introduction to the whole broad scope of what things are.

And some of you are probably like, what does this have to do with Easter? I thought we were going to hear about resurrection. Well, hold on. Just track with me for a minute, and I'll get to that. I think you're going to really find some good stuff here.

But we're going to deal with questions. Week one, we're going to talk about, God, are you really there? I can't feel you. At times when we're going through bad stuff, sometimes it's like, God, are you really there? I don't know if you're there.

And we don't always feel God, and it's hard. And we're going to deal with that next week. The following week, we're going to deal with, God, why aren't you listening to me? You know, I pray, and I pray, and I ask, and if you're a good God, and if you really love me, you're supposed to listen to me, right? You're supposed to listen to my prayers and answer my prayers.

And I'm going through this stuff, and you're not answering those things for me. So we're going to deal with that. And then the third week, we're going to deal with, God, why am I not happy? Aren't I supposed to be happy? If I'm following you, I'm a good person, and I'm doing everything that you've called me to do, and I just don't feel happy.

Do you really love me? There's times we feel that way, right? Do you really love me, God? And then week four, I think, is probably the one that drives it home. God, am I really that significant?

Can you really use little old me? Is it possible? So we're going to begin that series starting next week. But this week, I just want to give you an introduction to this. And I'm going to ask the question we all ask.

Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do bad things happen to good people? And whether you are a believer or not, we all have the question why, right? We've all asked the question from time to time. Why did this happen, God?

Why did you allow this to happen? Why do young, innocent children have to die? Why are people taken before their time? Why do earthquakes, tsunamis, major storms, natural disasters, why do all these things happen and people are just taken off the earth just like that? Innocent people, good people.

Why? I'm a good person. Why am I going through this? At a smaller scale, some of you are probably like, why, God, did the coffee maker not work this morning, right? You're yelling, oh, Lord, help me.

I can't take my coffee break. Something within me dies, right? Some of you that happened to this morning. Or the kids couldn't find their Easter shoes and you don't want to be late for church. And you're like, where did you put your shoes?

And you're running around the house and you're going everywhere. You can't find them. And you're like, why, God? Or the kids were home this week. That was me.

The kids were home this week. And this is like the busiest week of the year. And I've got so much to do. And these kids, why, God? You know, have all those why, God questions even.

And, you know, you wake up in the morning and you can't find a toothpaste. And you're running around the house trying to find the toothpaste. And you've got to be somewhere. And then you look at your toothbrush and it's wet. And you're like, honey, did you use my toothbrush again?

What? Why, God? Why? Why? I was trying to make the subject a little more lighthearted.

But in the grander scope of things, we do see a lot of bad things happening in the world. And we always ask that question. Why? We want to know, right? We want to know.

Just this past week on the news, there was a small Egyptian Christian community that met for Palm Sunday. And just like that, a bombing took place by ISIS, a terrorist attack. And it took people away just like that. Good people. Christian people.

Christian people meeting to worship. Why, God? Why do things like this happen? The why question is a question that has been asked for thousands of years. In fact, it goes back into the Bible.

People in the Bible were actually asking these questions of God. Abraham asked the question, should not the judge of the world judge fairly? Moses said, God, why don't you treat your people as they deserve? Jeremiah says, the weeping prophet says, why do the wicked prosper? It's not fair that bad people get rich and the good people are struggling.

It's just, why is that happening? And let's just throw out David like most of the psalms that he wrote were about why. Why didn't you answer my prayer? Where were you, God? Why don't you show yourself to me?

Why don't you deliver me, God? Why don't you seem fair? These were questions of old. The truth is, there really isn't a clear answer. And I can't give you all the answers to why bad things happen to good people.

Why bad things happen in the world. And there's no way to begin to understand all that God understands. God knows I've, I've been through my share of tragedy. Just this past year, I've had to bury a four-year-old and a 52-year-old who passed away in the same week of cancer. And I've asked the question, why?

Why God? Why this awful disease? Why is this happening? Why are people dying? Why are these things happening?

And, and I ask the question often, why? There's mysteries in God. There's mysteries of God. And the book of Job is like the perfect text to kind of look at to begin this series. And if you know anything about Job, he lost everything.

He lost his family. He lost his possessions. Everything was taken away from him except his wife, which that's another story for another time. She's, he's probably like, why didn't you take her? Because she was like, why don't you curse God and die?

You know, that's what it seemed like in scripture. And he's like, you took everybody but the one that's nagging me, right? Just joking. Just joking. Just joking.

Some of you took a few minutes, you know. What are you talking about? Is he serious? But he asked the question, why? In fact, he, he used most of the book, 38 chapters.

He and his friends were sitting around and they're talking and they're trying to figure out why this happened and giving all of these. And, and Job is just pouring his heart out to God. Why did this happen to me? And God let him do their thing, let him work it out. And then he opened up and he said, Job, let me ask you a question.

Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Where were you when the angels were dancing and shouting and rejoicing when I spoke? The world left into existence. Do you not even know that the single most small piece of dew that falls to the ground, I command? Do you not know these things?

And he starts laying it out and drilling Job, like over and over again, just all these characteristics of God. Do you not know that I'm in charge of everything, that I know what's going on, and there's things that you just cannot understand that I could even tell you, because your small mind isn't capable of understanding all that I have. And then Job's response, and I think this is a beautiful response, because we can pull a lot of things out of this, particularly about the nature of God. It says, it says, then Job replied to the Lord, I know that you can do all things. No purpose of yours can be thwarted.

You ask, who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge? Surely I have spoken of things I did not understand. Things too wonderful. This man lost everything. But he says, things too wonderful for me to know.

My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you. So in this scripture, we see an all-knowing God, an all-powerful God, an omnipresent God. All these things that we know about God are laid out in the scripture. When Job says, Job says, I get it. I'm just not going to be able to understand everything.

So I turn our eyes to Jesus. We move, you know, Job is like the oldest book in the Bible, actually. Genesis isn't. Job goes back and dates much further. And this is thousands of years later, and we get to Jesus.

And Jesus says this, and this is kind of where I'm setting up the series. This is our theme verse. It says, it says this in chapter 16, verse 33. The disciples are asking him some questions and things like that. And he says, I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

So I say these things to you. What I'm getting ready to share with you is what Jesus is saying. What I'm getting ready to share with you, or what I've already shared with you, these things, they give you peace. They give you the peace in the midst of these storms of life. They give you peace and hope in the midst of tragedy and suffering.

Here, this is how it is. In this world, you will have trouble. In this world, you will have trouble. Jesus said it. Not me.

Jesus said it. In this world, you will have trouble. Some of you are like, can you be a little more positive, Pastor? It's like Easter. Well, I'm being positive.

I'm positive that you're going to have trouble. Okay? You're going to have trouble. I wouldn't be a good pastor if I didn't tell you that you're going to have trouble in this life. But he says this, but take heart.

But take heart. I have overcome the world. Overcome the world. He overcomes the world. So what does that mean?

Overcome. How has he overcome the world? How does this look? Well, that's why we're here today. That's why we're here on Easter Sunday to talk about this, to celebrate this, to celebrate this overcoming that he talks about.

So I take you to the account of the resurrection in Luke 24. And I'm telling you, a lot of people don't think about this, but this was a really, really, really bad situation. The Jews were expecting something great. They were expecting a king from the lineage of David to come in and totally resurrect this entire kingdom that they were under. This was not a good place in history to be a Jew necessarily.

And they were just, they've been praying and seeking him for thousands of years. For thousands of years, they have been waiting for the Messiah. Prophecy after prophecy. And they're waiting for this guy to come. And then Jesus shows up on the scene.

And these 12 men are following him around and learning from him. And they're seeing these extraordinary acts. Miracles are taking place. And people are finding hope. And he's teaching these extraordinary teachings, these supernatural teachings that are changing people's lives.

Changing people's lives. This has got to be the Messiah. And what happens? Jesus is arrested. Oh, surely he'll break free of this.

He's the king of kings. You know, that's the one we've been waiting for. Then he was charged to be put to death like a common criminal. Surely Jesus will come off that cross, right? He's the king of kings.

Yeah, we romanticize the cross. Yeah, we wear the necklaces and we wear the t-shirts. And that's okay and everything because it helps us remember and it helps us look too. But the cross was nothing to smile upon in that time. It was so cruel.

It was so cruel. It was so brutal. It was so inhumane that not even Roman citizens could be sacrificed. Paul was beheaded, as history tells us, because he was a Roman citizen. Roman citizens were not allowed to be murdered or killed in this way.

It was something that was not expected by Jesus' followers. It certainly wasn't anything expected by the Jewish culture. And the disciples scattered and they hid. These 11 scattered and hid. And they're asking themselves, I'm sure, I can just imagine, what's going on?

This is everything we've been waiting for. We've seen the miracles. We've seen everything take place. And here we are. God, is this what happens to people who follow you?

This isn't a good thing. This seems really, really, really bad. This is not what should happen to Jesus' followers. Do you ask that question? When tragedy hits?

When circumstances happen? Whether it's a death in the family or just a financial situation? We may ask those questions. But what changed their minds? What changed these 11 cowards that hid away into a house ready to give up and go back to fishing?

Even part of the Bible shows them just going back to their old jobs and fishing and doing whatever they were doing before. But what changed them? What was it that really, really, miraculously made them bold and made them give them the ability to give up their lives for something? Well, it happened right here in Luke 21, 24, beginning with verse 1. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.

And they found the stone rolled away. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they entered, they did not find the body. They did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground. But the man said to them, why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. He has risen.

That's it. We can overcome because he has risen from the dead. He is risen today. He is alive today. Why are you looking for the living among the dead?

So many times we're looking for life in the dead places, but he is risen. Look for life. Find life. It changed everything. Why did these men go come from scattering and hiding to being bold and conquering man, the leading thousands, going to the, even to the highest core?

Preaching the gospel before all the people because of resurrection. We have hope because of resurrection. They didn't do it because it was some kind of hearsay or speculation or they just had some kind of thoughts about Jesus. They certainly didn't take them from a tomb. I'm not here to give apologetics lesson today about why Jesus is Jesus and I can have a conversation if any of you want to at another time, but I'm here to tell you that Jesus is alive.

And there's proof of it. And we know it today because of what's happening even today. The reason the church is existing today, why hundreds of thousands if not millions of churches are meeting today in the name of Jesus to remember and celebrate what the greatest feat ever victory in Jesus. We are overcomers through him. Bad things come my way because I am an overcomer because of the victory of resurrection.

Resurrection in Jesus. Without the event of resurrection, there is no hope. There isn't any hope. Paul even said, if Christ did not rise from the dead, our preaching is useless. What I'm doing up here is useless.

And there is no faith through any of us. So without a shadow of a doubt, we have to believe. We have to know. Because of God and who He is, He is the Messiah. And every promise that He's made through us throughout Scripture is possible.

It's going to be fulfilled. That's the good news. Every promise in the Word of God is for us, and it will be fulfilled by the victory and resurrection through Jesus Christ. Isn't that exciting? We have hope today because of Jesus.

And as Jesus follows us, we not only believe in resurrection of Jesus, but we also believe in our spiritual resurrection. And I can tell you that years ago, when I surrendered to Jesus, at that moment I surrendered to Jesus, I can't explain it. I can't give you any science behind it. All I can tell you is it changed me completely. It made me go from selfish to selfless.

It done something in me. I've never been the same. And I can't tell you, I can't tell you how much better. Even through the tragedy, even through the bad things, even through the hurt and aches that I still feel today, and I ask Jesus why all the time, why do we have to go through these things at times? I still go through those things, but I have hope because of resurrection.

Resurrection. And not only that, we have hope for a future. That He will physically and supernaturally resurrect the natural. That this isn't it. That we have hope on every level, past, present, and future.

We can have hope in resurrection. So with that, if we believe in the promises that God has for us, if we put our hope in resurrection, we can learn to overcome things in life. Although we don't have the answers to everything, we can learn to overcome. So let me offer you a few things here that will help you when you're going through tragedies. Things that you can recall, that you can remember through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that you can take hold of.

There's an old hymnist named Fanny Crosby. Most of you, or some of you may know of her. She wrote Blessed Assurance. An old hymn that we used to sing growing up. I sang it in church.

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine. She was blinded at six weeks old. She was a blind writer, pianist. Wrote beautiful melodies. She's, she faced a lot of tragedy in her life.

A lot of tragedy. But, when she penned the words, Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine. Oh, what a foretaste. Even in my pain. Even in my hurt.

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine. She didn't place her hope in the circumstances of being blind and losing a child and going through a divorce or separation or in all the things that she, even being misrepresented in her music and things like that. She had, she had some tough things, but she penned that in the midst of her suffering because she placed her hope. And, and, and, and Paul in 2 Timothy says, I am suffering, yet I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for this day. Okay, so I'm asking you, though you may be going through hard times, you may be suffering, you may be asking the why question.

Resurrection assures us of a few things here. Resurrection assures us of these promises and I'm going to lay out four things real quick and then we'll conclude, we'll pray and conclude. Number one, God loves me because of resurrection, because Jesus laid it on the cross for me. I know that he loves me. Why do I do what I do?

Because he loves me. Why do I give my life to ministry? Why did Leon give his life to ministry? It's because Jesus paid it all. He loves me.

John 15, 13 says, greater love has no one than this to lay down one's life for one's friend. He did that. He calls you a friend. He laid it all down for you. There's a book in the Bible.

It's called Lamentations and there's a whole book about whining. And the prophet Jeremiah obviously was going through some pretty bad things and he's whining and he's going on and he says this in verse 3, I mean chapter 3, beginning with verse 21. He says this, yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope. I mean this is all this whining. He says this in the middle of this.

It's hilarious. Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed. For his compassion never fails. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness no matter what I'm going through.

Great is your faithfulness. Your compassion never fails. You are a compassionate God and you love us and you call us and you seek us. And I know some of you have walked in here today and you don't even know what love is because you've never experienced real love. You have a lot of heartache.

You have a lot of scars. You have a lot of hurts. You have a lot of pain. And you walked in here today and you're asking, how do I ever get through this? Can I tell you, maybe it starts.

Just consider, maybe it starts with Jesus because he does love you. He loves you. We can all say we love you, but he really loves you. And he's concerned for you and he cares about your needs. Secondly, God wants the best for me.

Sometimes it's hard to see that when we're going through pain. But he actually does want the best for you. A lot of people kind of go around life thinking about God and imagine him as this like mean guy in a big white robe and a long white beard up in the clouds with a lightning bolt. Don't do that. Don't do that.

Stop it. Stop it. Get over there. Get over there. You over there.

You know, if you don't, you're going to hell. You're going to hell. And when I, you know, I grew up in ministries where all you'd hear about is how. That hell is, you know, and you know, you're going to hell. Smoke cigarettes, you're going to hell.

Every one of you. You need to get your life right. Right? There's no, there's really, you gotta scare you into Jesus, you know. I don't want to burn.

You better turn before you burn. Turn, turn towards Jesus. God is, is not against us. He's actually for us. He cared, he gave his son so that we could come to him.

The father actually loves us. And he, the reason he gave his one and only son is so that you could, you could know him. Paul says it like this in Romans 8. He says, if, if God is for us, who can be against us? Right?

If God is for us, who can be against us? Since he did not spare even his own son, but gave up, but gave him up for us all, won't he also give us everything else? Huh? Does it mean he no longer loves us? If we we go through trouble and calamity?

Or our, or persecution, or hunger, or, or destitute, or danger, or threat, or, or we're threatened with our lives as Paul was being threatened, he could relate. Or with death even. No. Despite all these things, overwhelming victory. He, he says we can overcome through overwhelming victory.

Is ours through Christ who loves us. Wow. Wow. We have a God who loves us so much that no matter what we go through, we can experience his love. He's, he's reaching out to us.

He is for us. He is not against us. Number three, God has a plan for us. Number three, God has a plan for me. Did you know he has a plan for you?

The things that seem terrible, the bad stuff that happens to us that seem bad in this life, may just be where God is taking you to get you to a better place that he intends you to be. Perhaps you're exactly where he wants you to be. Because he has a plan. He has something that you can't see. He has something that you don't know.

He has something for you. He has a plan. John 9 talks about a man who was born blind before birth. And in, in Jewish theology, it was, it was said that the sins of the fathers and mothers were poured on the sins of the children. And, uh, and this man was born blind and the disciples were asking Jesus about this blind man.

What, what does his parents do? What did they go? Where did they go wrong? Why is he suffering? Did he sin?

It was his sin or was his, his, his, uh, his, uh, mother and father sin. What's going on? And Jesus answers this way, neither this man nor his parents. That's that's, you need to throw that out right now. But this happens so that the works of God might be displayed in him, that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Meaning I, that God had a plan all alone for this man. And obviously we know the end of the story. The man is healed by Jesus and, and the glory of God is known. And it's, it's, it's a part of the bigger picture of what happened. But God, even in the midst of our troubles, even when things don't seem to go our way, or they don't seem to go somebody else's way, God does actually have a plan.

Nick Wojcic, an Australian evangelist, uh, was born with no arms or legs. And, and as a young boy, he struggled with depression, bullying. He, there were times where he even wanted to take his own life because he just felt like he was worthless. And then one day he was reading John 9 about the blind man. And God changed his life.

He made a decision to surrender his life to Christ. And he wrote this. He says, due to the emotional struggles I have experienced with bullying, self-esteem, and loneliness, God began to instill a passion of sharing my story and experiences to help others cope with whatever challenges they might have in their lives. Turning my struggles into something that would glorify God and bless others, I realized my purpose. That the Lord was going to use me to encourage and inspire others to live to their fullest potential and not let anything get in the way of accomplishing their hopes and dreams.

God's purpose became clear to me that day. And now I'm fully convinced and I understand that his glory is revealed as he uses me just as I am. And even more wonderful, he can use me in ways others can't be used. He can use you in ways he can't use me. He's got a plan.

He's got a purpose. Jeremiah 29 11 says, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future. This God that's for us and not against us has plans for us.

Good plans for us. And then number four and lastly, God will bring me through. God will bring me through. In other words, I can be an overcomer. You know why?

Because of Jesus. I can be an overcomer because of resurrection. I can be an overcomer. Second Timothy 4 18 says, the Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his kingdom, his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever.

Amen. When I think of the apostle Paul, I think of the statement I often reflect on. To live as Christ and to die as gain. What did Paul mean like that, mean about that, by that statement? What did he mean?

To live as Christ, to die as gain. Because Paul had an overcoming joy inside of him. That despite his circumstances, he could dip into that joy, that bucket, that overflowing, they call it the overflowing cup of joy. He could pull from that cup in any circumstance. And he shared his heart.

He shared his life. He gave up everything. He was a Pharisee among Pharisees, as he said. Knew everything about the Jewish law. Was probably in line to be in the Sanhedrin.

Who knows, right? He was a great educated person. Had everything going for him. And he said, I give it all up because I've experienced something special and supernatural. And it changed me from the inside out.

So, to live as Christ, I will live every day with this hope and this joy, despite my circumstances, and preach the gospel. Preach the good news. The gospel means good news. It is actually good news. And that's why he was willing to give his life.

That's why the 11 were willing to give their lives for the name of Jesus. Because, not because it was some kind of out there idea, or some kind of philosophy, or some kind of good vibes, or some kind of energy. Because he actually physically resurrected from the dead. So, Paul's like, this is a win-win for me. I get to live, and I get to live in Christ, and enjoy Christ, and Christ loves me, and he builds me up, and he gives me a joy, and he gives me a peace, and he gives me a hope.

I get to live this way, and if I die, what better place can I be but with my Lord? Because heaven is waiting for us, and heaven is not a place where we're going to sit up there plucking instruments all day on clouds. That's not. That's not going to happen. That's boring.

God is not boring. He has an eternal resurrected place for us. Everything. There will be no more weeping. There will be no more hurting.

There will be no more pain because of resurrection. Jesus was an example of resurrection power. He showed us this is the optimal state of all mankind. You will be resurrected as I am resurrected. And I go to be with my Father.

And I leave with you, the Holy Spirit. But listen. I will return. And I will return. I will come again.

And I will resurrect everything. Heaven and earth. All that dwells within it. That's a good theology lesson there, isn't it? That we have hope and victory in Jesus.

Resurrection gives us that. So He not only resurrects us physically. But going back to the spiritually. He resurrects us spiritually. And there's a verse where one of the priests is asking Jesus, you know, what, what is, what are you talking about?

This, this being, you know, born, how can born again? He talked about being born again. He says, how can I be born again? What are you talking about? He says, well, a man is born once.

But then there's a new birth. But then there's a new birth that comes. An internal resurrection that takes place. And you can be changed from the inside out. And I'm sharing that with you today.

That you can actually change. If you walked in here today and you're experiencing loneliness, hurt, you've been unloved, and you've never considered Jesus before, I'm asking you today to consider having a relationship with Jesus. It's not God up in heaven throwing lightning bolts around you. He wants to come down to you. That's why He offered His Son.

So as we go into prayer, if with every head bowed and every eye closed, if you would just take this moment very seriously. And I don't care about if you join our church or if you're a part of our church. I just care that you know Jesus. I just care that you know Jesus. And if you don't know Jesus today, would you surrender your life to Him?

If I could ask you, if you're here today and God's prompting your heart and pulling on your heart strings, and maybe you've walked away from God. Maybe you've been away from God. Maybe once you were in a relationship with God and you walked away, I'm inviting you to. Or maybe you've just never considered Jesus before. Maybe today is the day.

The power of resurrection is alive in this place. Salvation is here. The reason He gave His Son is for you. If that's you today, if you could quietly but boldly lift your hand and say, I'm in. I'm in, Pastor.

This is the day. Give it to Him. Give your life to Him. Is that you? Is there anyone else?

Today is the day. Give your heart to Jesus. Give your heart to Jesus. If you pray with me, Father, I admit that I am in need of a Savior. I do wrong things all the time.

But I confess with my mouth and I believe in my heart that You are the Son of God. I live from this day on. Come into my life. Come into my heart. Change me from the inside out.

Transform me, Lord. Transform me into a new person. In Jesus' name.