{{2010_06_07_t1.jpg}} {{2010_06_07_t2.jpg}} {{2010_06_07_t3.jpg}} [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2010_06_07|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]] [[topics_collection_ii|| Topics Collection ii ]] ======Suffering 3 - Origin of Illnesses ...====== Monday, June 7, 2010. Why is there suffering in this world? We have been with an older lady recently, who had many illnesses. In the morning, she needed to take some strong medication, just to keep the pain on a bearable level. She had been very committed to Christian work over her whole life. Why does she have to suffer? Suffering is not a pleasant topic to us. It reminds us of our fears. We do not want to suffer. And we all know that we will die, but usually we do not want to die. But suffering is a universal topic at the same time. It is a topic we should have the courage to address ...! {{2010_06_07.jpg }} **Is the world alright?** Is suffering or illness something which is just an accident in this world? Is the world basically alright? Is there just some little deficiency in the beauty of the rest? We all know that the world is very beautiful. What about the unpleasant layers of life? The bible tells us the story of the fall of mankind. When Adam and Eve mistrusted God, the whole creation moved into a different state. It was the state of pain and death. It was a state where illnesses started to be the reality on the planet. From a biblical perspective, the illnesses in this world are in fact visible and painful signs of the illness OF this world. The world is not alright, but it is sick. The creation as a whole is ill. It is a creation which has lost the connection to the eternal God, and as such its illnesses show its state. {{ 2010_06_07_2.jpg}} **Analysis in the bible** In its first books the bible describes God's view on the behavior of mankind. Mankind is sick. God even wants to destroy the humans. Only one, called Noah, is allowed to survive. This judgment is an image for God's view onto our societies, onto our behavior, our hearts, our will, our desires and decisions. Often, people talk about "human mistakes". They say: oh, I did that wrong. But we usually do not see the depth of our problems. Our worldview is distorted. Our emotions are biased. Our mind is not clear, it is not able to see the truth. The biblical insight into human behavior is quite tough. There is nothing good in humans ... some passages state this plainly. Illnesses in this world are a sign of our state. Death in this world is God's reaction to what mankind has become. Don't let them live forever in the state they are. That is the consequence of the fall of man. Only when we go into the analysis of the full state of mankind, we can fully understand the problems which are there in this creation. When we suffer, we take part in the suffering of this world. With our illnesses we are part of a dying world, of a suffering world, of a fallen world. As long as we live in this world, we will take part. Our medicine will try to cure illnesses, and it is good to do so. But we will not be able to completely remove the suffering. Though we can cure some diseases, new illnesses appear. But there is also hope, there is more to say, more to come. We will talk about this soon ... [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/en/doku.php/topics_collection_ii|... more texts]]