Continued human suffering is the most significant stumbling block to the Gospel claim. If the Kingdom of God is here, as the Gospel says, why is there so much suffering?
The answer is pretty simple: God wants you and I to be part of defeating evil, and He wants to give mankind time to repent.
God never intended to create a world where humans are mere spectators. We are not spectators but participants. Even more than participants, we are sons and daughters. Like the good Father that He is, God intends for you and me to learn and grow up to become like our Father in Heaven. That means we must have responsibilities, authority, power, and the possibility of making mistakes. When Jesus came to establish God’s Kingdom, He didn’t come to take away our vocation but to renew it! Therefore, while evil is defeated, we must still work to apply the victory of Christ in the world. To put feet on the Gospel is our mission, our vocation, why God called us to be disciples and make disciples. The battle between good and evil is a participation sport, not a spectator sport. The Gospel allows us to fight in the confidence that we have already won. If we have the assurance of victory, we can never be hopeless or discouraged for long. Faith calls us to get up again because we know how it ends. With that confidence, we can deliver some heavy blows in the rounds we are given to fight.
“Light has come into the world, and the darkness could not overcome it.” John 1:5