Made in His Image, part 3

The General Sense

First, I want to address this from a general perspective. These questions deal with that age-old question of “Is God the author of pain and suffering?” And Ken Ham will talk about this in greater detail in the next session. But let me offer this brief explanation.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth is six actual days. When He finished, he said that everything was “very good.” His creation was a reflection of His good nature. It was full of life and joy, just as He is.

Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:31, NKJV)  

I believe He designed the universe so that everything would work together for His glory and our good. In the Psalms, David writes:

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. (Psalm 19:1)

As God created the first man Adam in His image from the dust of the ground, He gave the first man (and a short while later, the first woman) a “very good” combination of DNA. He encouraged them to be fruitful and multiply. And had things stayed the way they were in the beginning, that “very good” genetic combination would have continued combining in “very good” ways as Adam and Eve brought forth children.  

But, by studying Genesis 3, we know that things did not stay the way they were in the beginning. God had told Adam that he was free to eat from any tree in the Garden of Eden, except one: The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God declared that the punishment for disobedience was death. Adam disobeyed God’s command and ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And as a result, God placed a curse on His beloved creation—the just punishment for the commitment of high treason against the Creator of the universe.

The culmination of the Curse is separation from God forever through death. As accompaniments to death, we have pain, suffering, disease, and . . . genetic disorders. In this more general sense, Williams syndrome (along with all the various other genetic disorders and disabilities) isn’t God’s fault. Genetic mutations (including spontaneous deletions on part of the seventh chromosome), disabilities, suffering, and pain are a result of no longer living in a “very good” world. So, did God create Williams syndrome in this sense? No—we, sinners in the hands of a holy God, are the responsible parties. However, there’s a more specific sense that I need to address, as well.

 
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11