God is Good / Suffering Exists
God is good. The Bible affirms this again and again (e.g., Psalm 100:5, Psalm 145:9, Nahum 1:7).
It’s also clear that God’s creation is good. In Genesis 1, the refrain echoes six times: “it was good”, even “very good”. Genesis 2 expands on this goodness, depicting a garden teaming with life, meaningful work, moral order, companionship, and love.
Yet sometimes we doubt God’s goodness. Why? Because of suffering.
We see poverty and war, betrayal and abuse, loneliness and loss. Natural disasters flatten homes, injustice crushes the weak, and disease takes those we love. Everywhere we turn, suffering shouts: If God is good, why does the world look like this?
The Bible doesn’t ghost the question. It shows us why suffering entered the world, what God is doing about it, and how it’ll all end.
1. The Good God Was Rejected, Bringing Suffering
In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve reject the good God by deciding for themselves what is good. The serpent tempts them to think God is holding something back. When Eve sees the fruit is “good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom” (v 6), she redefines goodness on her own terms.
By eating, they replace God’s standard with their own, turning from trusting his goodness to trusting their judgment. The result is catastrophic. Joy turns to pain, peace gives way to struggle, work becomes exhausting, childbirth painful, and relationships full of conflict and blame (Genesis 3:16–19). Even the ground is cursed, as death and decay spread through a world once full of life.
Now, you might say, “But that wasn’t me—that was Adam and Eve. That’s not fair.” But the Bible says Adam’s story is our story: “Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
We are both victims and perpetrators of sin. Victims, because we live in a world broken by rebellion — suffering the fallout of others’ sins. But also perpetrators, because we keep repeating Adam’s choice. We turn from God’s ways, hurt others, and live as if we know better.
So sin is both something done to us and something we’ve done ourselves. We can’t fix it by blaming others or denying it by blaming “the system.” We need to be rescued from it.
So, why is there suffering? Because of sin. We rejected the good God—and with that rejection came suffering.
But that’s not the end of the story.
2. The Good God Entered Our Suffering
The good God entered our suffering by sending his Son. As 1 Peter 3:18 says,
Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
Suffering exists because of sin. So Christ suffered to bring an end to sin.
When Scripture calls him “righteous,” it means he was perfectly good—never deceitful, unjust, proud, vengeful, or careless with his words. Every thought, word, and deed of Jesus was pure.
When it calls us “unrighteous,” it means the opposite: we’ve turned away from the good God and fallen short of his goodness.
Because of his perfect righteousness, Christ suffered to deal with our unrighteousness. He took our place so we could take his.
Imagine your phone records everything about your life. The Notes app holds every thought. The Camera Roll stores every action. The Voice Memos replay every word.
Now imagine Jesus has a phone too, but his is completely clean. At the cross, he swaps phones with you. He takes yours, full of sin. He gives you his, filled with his perfect goodness, love, and obedience.
That’s what happened at the cross: the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.
But if Jesus has dealt with sin, why does suffering remain? It turns out that the good God is not yet finished.
3. The Good God Patiently Allows Our Suffering
Suffering continues, not because God doesn’t care, but because he cares too much to stop early.
He is patient. He is crafting something better.
As 2 Peter 3:9 says:
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
God delays, not out of neglect, but out of grace.
He’s giving more people time to turn back to him. That’s why the Lord Jesus has not yet returned.
And that also explains why we still experience sin and suffering, even though Jesus suffered for our sins.
At the cross, Jesus defeated sin in two decisive ways. He paid its penalty, bearing the full judgment our sin deserved, so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God. And he broke its power, freeing us from sin’s control so we can live new lives by his Spirit. But the presence of sin still remains,and will remain until Jesus returns.
If Jesus returned today, your non-Christian friends and family would have no more opportunity to repent, and therefore no more hope of salvation.
Because he waits, there’s still time. There’s still hope. As Peter reminds us, “God’s patience means salvation” (2 Peter 3:15).
4. The Good God Will End Our Suffering
A day is coming when the good God will end all suffering. In Revelation 21, John describes that day:
Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
When sin is finally banished, suffering will disappear with it.
No more children born into poverty.
No more families torn apart by war.
No more disease stealing those we love.
No more betrayal or abuse.
Best of all, God himself will dwell among his people.
When you ask people what they most look forward to in the new creation, they probably think of seeing loved ones again, being free from pain, or walking streets of gold. Those things will be great. But the New Testament points us to something even greater.
The best thing about heaven isn’t the absence of pain or the presence of gold. It’s the presence of Jesus.
To see him as he truly is—face to face.
To behold his glory.
To dwell with the one who suffered for us.
That’s where the story ends. Not just in the absence of suffering, but in the presence of the Son who suffered for us.
Joining the Dots
So, if God is good, why is there suffering? Because the good God was rejected by us.
Our sin brought suffering, but Christ suffered to solve suffering.
Sin’s penalty is paid. Its power is broken. Its presence remains only for a while. When Jesus returns, even that will be gone. And we will dwell with God forever.
So if you find yourself doubting his goodness, don’t look at your pain. Look at the cross. That’s where the good God entered our suffering to end it forever.
