The Grief of the Lord

God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who
are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from
heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. (2 Thes 1:6-7 NIV)

The Bible and God’s view of sin

It was going to be a Sunday school class like any other class. It was in a Presbyterian setting,
and that means we had bibles, tables, chairs, pens, and outlines in front of us. Our pastor had a
music stand at the front of the class. We were working our way through some passages of
Scripture relating to God’s view on sin.
After a few introductory remarks and a few questions had been asked and answered, my pastor
took a drink from his coffee cup. Another person raised their hand and asked a seemingly “easy”
doctrinal question about the awfulness of sin. This was the moment that brought the class to a
standstill. The person in the class began to become emotional. You could hear pain in the words
being asked.

“It is evil. It should cause us to weep.”

Our pastor came away from the music stand, away from his notes, and stood closer to the class.
His face looked longer, and his shoulders weighed down from some invisible burden. The
person asking the question brought up some specifics, “isn’t this evil? Why doesn’t God end
this?” Tears on their cheeks. Words were coming out slowly. “I’m sorry, it is just so upsetting.”
A few folks went and sat next to the person asking the question to offer tissues, support, and
hugs. My pastor then taught a lesson that has stayed with me for years. He responded
something like this:
“It is evil. And it should cause us to weep. This is a weeping-worthy thing. We aren’t the only
ones that are upset about it. God is far more upset about evil, injustice, and sin than we are.” He
paused, and then continued “and that is a strangely comforting thought.”

God hates

Evil is something which God hates, detests, and cannot abide. As my pastor that day in Sunday
school reiterated time and time again “God is grieved more by sin than we are.” Any discussion
relating to eschatology, if it is biblically informed, must deal with the righteousness of God and
His just hatred of sin.
Ever since that day in Sunday school I’ve had a greater thankfulness that God hates sin. The
sin which I hate so much, the Lord hates even more so. The sin that I struggle against, the Lord
has triumphed over. The sin and evil which is so weeping worthy, is something our Lord knows
and will deal with in an ultimate sense on the day of the Lord.

God is not ignorant of evil

It is a strange thing, but this is of great comfort to me, and I hope of great comfort to you as well
dear reader—Evil does not have the final word. Evil does not escape the justice of our God. God
is not absent minded, nor ignorant of evil. The evil which grieves us, grieves him. Indeed, it is
His Spirit within us which causes us to grieve such things. What a great day it will be when
God’s people will be avenged when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with
His powerful angels.