Jesus explains Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People and Why does the world exist

Extracted from Merton Lee's book
When Bad Things Happen to Good People (God Explains Life's Mysteries, Problems and Wisdom):  Available at Amazon.com Kindle eBook and Paperback  (July 2013)

Jesus Explains …

“Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People?”

 “Why Does The World Exist?”

“What is God’s purpose of creation?”

A group of Christians became disappointed with God. 

Some have lost their jobs due to retrenchments. 

Some have lost their homes due to hurricanes or floods. 

Some have lost their children or loved ones due to earthquakes, crimes, accidents or illnesses.

When queried by non-believers, they do not have the answers to their setbacks and tragedies.

They are beginning to lose their faith in God.

How do they rebuild their faith? 

How do they defend their faith in God?

Thus, they travelled to a quiet beach.

They put up their tents and cooked their meals.

They stayed there and prayed sincerely for a few weeks.

They hoped to find Jesus ...

One evening they heard His gentle voice. 

They came out of their tents and Jesus appeared.

He embraced each of them and kissed their foreheads.

 He comforted them by saying the 23^rd Psalm.

The group of men and women gathered around Jesus and they sat down.

They asked, “Lord, please explain to us our setbacks and tragedies.  Please help us to deepen our faith in God …”

Jesus nodded. His eyes and voice reflected understanding, sympathy, love and compassion.

The group of men and women asked, “Why do bad things happen to good people?  As God is all-knowing, all-good and all-powerful, why does He allow undeserved suffering and untimely death?  Why does the world exist?”

Jesus replied, “God has decided to reveal the truths. From the year 2013 onwards, humankind can more deeply understand these problems and deepen their faith.

“First, please realize that God will not let you bear the cross unless it reveals the eternal life within you.  He will not let you bear the cross unless it is for your eternal best, unless it contributes to the long-term well-being of humankind.”

The group of men and women listened attentively.

Jesus gently asked, “Do you know your real identity and the real identity of your loved ones?

“Let Me explain. Please realize that God more than carried you and your loved ones during the times of suffering. All along He has been living inside you and inside your loved ones in the form of spiritual essence and pure consciousness.  He is your living God.

“Your body is temporary. But your spiritual essence or your soul is eternal.   Your soul is a part of God.  It is an individualized portion of God.  It is always wholesome, pure and intact.  No people and no events in the world can affect your soul.  Nothing can impair it.  Nothing can defile it.  It is always wholesome.  When God decided to bring you home, your souls will return to His kingdom to enjoy eternal peace and harmony.”

The group of men and women thanked Jesus for His explanation.

Jesus continued, “All of you and your loved ones are precious children of God.   All of you are spiritual beings. This is your real identity.  You are always connected to the love of God through the spiritual essence living within you.”

The men and women asked, “May we enquire how do we find God?  How do we know that God is with us all the time?”

Jesus said, “You can do so by learning to meditate.  Close your eyes and gently let go of your thoughts, feelings and desires.  Watch them arise and pass away.

“Please do not chase after them. They are fleeting and momentary. They arise and pass away. They are only flashes of mental energy.  They do not make up your selfhood or personality.  They are not your identity. 

“Your real identity is a child of God.  Your real identity is your soul.  When you let your thoughts, feelings and desires to arise and pass away, you experience tranquillity and inner peace.

“Slowly the pure consciousness within you will emerge.   This is an attribute of your soul.  It is also an attribute of God.  By experiencing pure consciousness, you begin to experience the presence of God.  Slowly you realize that God has been living inside you all the time.  What you suffered in life, God also suffered and experienced through the pure consciousness living inside you.   He is your living God.   He is living inside you during your good days and during your times of suffering.  By experiencing your suffering, He can truly understand.”

The men and women thanked Jesus and asked, “What is our life purpose on earth?”

Jesus explained, “You are precious partners of God.  You are here on earth to serve an eternal purpose.  It is to contribute to the moral dimension of life. 

“God created you to fulfil this purpose.  God individualized His spiritual essence into pockets of souls.  He created your soul.  He  combined your soul with a human body at the time of your conception and birth.

“The everyday waking consciousness of your embodied soul is given freedom of choice. You can choose between listening to the voice of your soul or to ignore it and be driven by self-seeking thoughts.

“Your life purpose is to become spiritually aware and to contribute to the moral dimension of life.   By becoming spiritually aware, you become receptive to the voice of your soul.  Gradually you realise the difference between the kind intentions of your soul and selfish desires.  In helping the poor and needy, compassion is realised.  This contributes to the moral dimension of life. 

“Spiritual maturity is difficult.  It requires daily moral commitment. It requires you to choose simplicity, kindness and selfless service. It requires endurance during the trying times and reliance on God’s strength.

“The Moments of Truth come when you face a deep personal crisis, when you face the loss of your loved ones, when your life is shattered into pieces, when you face death itself.  During these Moments, will you choose to follow God until your last breath? 

“When you make this choice and follow God faithfully, despite the doubts and fear, holding on to the belief that God is divine Truth and Goodness, the significance of these Moments is fulfilled. This is the hard-won humane and selfless faith God has been waiting for. This is the significance of why God decided and chose to suffer together with you.”

The group of men and women thanked Jesus.  They asked, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

Jesus said, “For centuries, humankind have sought to find out why did God create the visible world and why did He allow the occurrences of natural and moral evils.  

“Natural evils include natural disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes and outbreaks of diseases. 

“Moral evils refer to the abuse of free will when human being ignored the voice of their souls and performed immoral and harmful deeds under the misconception that these can protect or enhance their well-being.

“It is time to reveal why God decided to create the visible world.   Let us begin at the beginning. 

“Since eternity God has existed.  He is divine Oneness.  He is the Source. He lives in the timeless dimension. He is all-knowing, all-good and all-powerful. 

“First, God’s omniscience is all-sufficient.  He knows the past, the present and the future.  He does not need to create a visible world to complement or prove His omniscience. 

“If God wishes to create a visible world so as to experience and enjoy it, He can create many types of visible worlds which are peaceful, beautiful and pleasant, without the occurrences of natural and moral evils, without the existence of human beings.

“Such peaceful and beautiful worlds will be congruent with God’s supreme knowledge and wisdom.  They will reflect God’s supreme knowledge and wisdom.  God does not need to create the type of visible world which human beings currently experience which is marked by existential uncertainty and suffering.

“Second, God’s omnipotence is all-sufficient.  He does not need to create a visible world to complement or prove it.  If God wishes, He can create and eliminate visible worlds without human beings or creatures inhabiting them.  

“If God wishes, He can create beautiful and peaceful worlds so as to enjoy them, without the occurrences of natural and moral evils, without the existence of human beings.  This is congruent with His supreme power and wisdom. 

“Third, being all-good, God is Holiness.  He is Purity.  He is divine Goodness. But God is also divine Oneness.  As divine Oneness in the timeless dimension, God does not have a physical body or bodies.  God does not live in a space-time dimension. God is not individualized.  God is not embodied.

“In the timeless dimension, it is natural that God does not have the opportunity to experience physical vulnerability and existential uncertainty.  God does not have the opportunity to manifest dynamic moral goodness.

“Dynamic moral goodness includes faith, humility, kindness, love, compassion, endurance and selfless service which humankind manifested when they performed compassionate deeds on earth.

“In addition, dynamic moral goodness requires God to create individualized human beings or embodied souls.  Dynamic moral goodness requires the interactions of individualised, embodied and vulnerable beings in a visible world. 

“These embodied souls need to experience trials and suffering to become mature.  They need to exercise free will inherent in their waking consciousness to make moral decisions and perform good deeds.  Thus, it is a natural condition of God’s divine Oneness that before the creation of the visible world and humankind, God has not yet manifested dynamic moral goodness.

“In order for God to contribute to the manifestation of dynamic moral goodness, God needs to bite the bullet.  This can be called “God is biting the bullet” theodicy.

“God decided to create an authentic self-challenge for Himself and for His children on earth.  He decided that He cannot remain forever untested and unproven in the timeless dimension.   

“God decided to create a visible world with its natural laws which can give rise to natural evils.  He decided to endow the waking consciousness of His children with freedom of choice which can give rise to moral evil. 

“The risks and occurrences of natural and moral evils bring about the conditions of physical vulnerability and existential uncertainty. Humankind endure and suffer the risks and occurrences of natural and moral evils, which enable them to develop spiritual and moral qualities such as faith, humility, acceptance, endurance, sympathy, compassion and selfless service.  By manifesting these qualities, they contribute to the moral dimension of life in the longer term.  This is the ultimate purpose of God’s creation. 

“Since eternity, in the timeless dimension,  God has remained as divine Oneness.   At some point during His eternity, God decided to create a visible world, so as to manifest dynamic moral goodness through His children.  

“God decided that dynamic moral goodness in the visible world is a very valuable attribute which complements His attribute of divine Goodness in the timeless dimension.  

“God decided to bite the bullet and create this stringent challenge for Himself and for His children on earth.  His children need to bear and suffer physical vulnerability and existential uncertainty due to the occurrences of natural and moral evils.

“Thus, God created this visible world and humankind.  He individualised His spiritual essence, so as to live inside His children on earth.  To make the stringent challenge authentic, His earthly children will not remember their real identity when they are born.  They need to experience trials and suffering to awaken to their real identity, to become mature. 

“God and His children are moral partners on earth.   Through the pure consciousness of their souls, God will share the life experiences of His children on earth. Together they experience adversities, trials and suffering.  The purpose is for His children to become spiritually mature. 

“As the voice of their souls, God encourages His children to do good.  God provides the Holy Spirit in the visible world to encourage and spiritually strengthen His children. 

“When the waking consciousness of His children chooses to listen to the voice of their souls, they become spiritually aware.   They learn to walk the spiritual path.    

“When His children are honest, kind, faithful and compassionate in their daily lives, despite being physically vulnerable and facing existential uncertainty, they are manifesting dynamic moral goodness. 

“When His children resolve to follow God and choose to do good, despite trials and suffering, they are manifesting high-quality goodness. In these ways God has manifested dynamic goodness through His children.”

The men and women thanked Jesus for His explanations.  They said, “We understand that if a person committed a harmful wrongdoing, he should repent and seek Your forgiveness. He should find constructive ways to make amends.  May we enquire whether there is cosmic justice for those who committed wrongdoing, who did not repent and avoided legal punishment on earth?” 

Jesus explained, “Please be assured that there is cosmic justice.  Upon the death of the body, the disembodied soul will be assessed by My Holy Spirit. 

“If this soul during its journey on earth had worked in harmony with the body and its mental states and it had contributed to human well-being, it will be given a choice.  It can choose to return to My kingdom or begin another human journey on earth, so as to further contribute to the moral dimension of life.

“If a soul during its journey on earth had endured undeserved suffering and untimely death, it can choose to return to My kingdom or begin another human journey, so as to contribute to the moral dimension of life.  

“If a soul during its journey on earth were not able to work in harmony with the body and its mental states, and the human body committed harmful wrongdoing due to selfish desires, upon the death of the body, My Holy Spirit will direct this soul to embark on another or more human journeys on earth. This will provide opportunities where it can contribute to human well-being. When it has sufficiently contributed, it can return to My kingdom.”

The group of men and women thanked Jesus and asked, “Can we share these revelations with others?”

Jesus said, “Please share these revelations with others. You are doing something valuable and beautiful for God by sharing them with your loved ones and friends. 

“It is crucial to do so.  During their moments of sadness and affliction, during their hours of darkness due to setbacks or unfortunate events, they will remember His words.  They will realize that they are precious children of God and they are always connected to His love.  

“God’s words and the Holy Spirit will provide them with hope, strength and courage.  His words and the Holy Spirit will remind them that they have not lived in vain, that they have not suffered in vain.  As long as they hold on to their faith and belief that God is divine Truth and Goodness, despite existential suffering, they have bravely contributed to the moral dimension of life. They have fulfilled their life purpose. They will rejoin God in heaven when their journey on earth ends.”  

(Summarised from Merton Lee’s Footprints of God In Every Season,  Amazon.com and Barnes & Nobles.)