Why Bad Things Happen Message was given by Marcia Plotner at Cedar Creek SDA church in September 2021. The full audio file is on my Sound Cloud channel.
If you wrote about what you dreaded the most, what would you write about? Most of us would hope that our loved ones would not get sick. We would also hope that we would not come down with a serious illness.
What if Jesus Christ wrote down HIS thoughts? Would HE write about earthly things or eternal life?
Why Bad Things Happen Message
Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 9:1-2
Matthew 9:1-2
Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralytic
So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. 2 Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”
Now turn back to Matthew 6:33
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Now let us look at Matthew 9:3
Matthew 9:3
And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!”
Now turn to Matthew 9:5-6
Matthew 9:5-6
For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? 6 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
Now turn forward to 1 John 4:10
1 John 4:10
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sin.
Now look to your right or left at someone that is not a family member. Would you give up your only son for that person?
Turn to 1 John 4:7-8
1 John 4:7-8
Knowing God Through Love
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
In Isaiah 40:25-26 we read:
Isaiah 40:25-26
“To whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26
Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one ismissing.
Our Infinite God created the world with just the right amount of oxygen and natural laws like gravity. We are close enough to the sun to sustain life and just far enough away to not burn up. Why Bad Things Happen Message reveals how much God loves us.
Look at what the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 139:1-6
Psalm 139:1-6
God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2
You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
3
You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4
For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
5
You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
Let us read about God’s Rescue Plan found in Romans 5:6
Romans 5:6
Christ in Our Place
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
When did God make this rescue plan? Turn to Ephesians 1:4
Ephesians 1:4
Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.
What motivated God?
Turn to Romans 5:7-8
Romans 5:7-8
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Now turn ahead to Romans 8:32
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?
Will we have to be alone in our work of saving souls for God’s Kingdom? NO !
J
ohn 14:16
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
The times we are living in now are very difficult. We have the Father, the Son & the Holy Spirit on our side but you must remember that satan is against us.
Turn to Revelation 12:9
Revelation 12:9
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Once again, Who Condemns Us?
Turn to the next verse in Revelation 12:10
Revelation 12:10
Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
How does Jesus Christ win for us in the battle of good versus evil? Turn to Romans 8:35 to find out.
Romans 8:35
New King James Version
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Is it our internal choices that separates us? We are the only one that can separate us from God’s Love. Who gives us the victory over all of these external problems?
Jesus makes us Victors. Turn to Romans 8:37-39
Romans 8:37-39
New King James Version
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Turn to Jeremiah 29:11.
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.
Why do bad things happen?
The last verse we will look at in Marcia Plotner’s Why Bad Things Happen Message is John 13:7
John 13:7
Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
Hope you have been blessed by reading Why Bad Things Happen Message. For more Spiritual Messages, please visit our archived posts link below.
Spiritual Messages