Page 42 - The Poetic Books - Student Text

Not until the New Testament did God actually walk on this earth day after day. Jesus was the “word
made flesh (John 1:14).” Jesus “made God known (John 1:18).” Despite this increase in the presence of
God on earth, those closest to Jesus often did not get it. He did not conform to their ideas about God,
about what God might look like in human form. Immediately after declaring faith in Jesus as “the Son of
the living God,” Peter stumbled at the promise of a crucified God and was rebuked sharply by Jesus
(Matt. 16:16-23). Not until his death did the disciples begin to grasp the meaning of Old Testament
prophecies carried out in front of their eyes (John 19:19:34-37).

Not until the Day of Pentecost did God live inside a human permanently (Acts 2:17; Joel 2:28), constantly
revealing himself in this personal way and even more intimately than He spoke with Job (Rom. 5:5). Old
Testament believers, receiving a portion of God’s presence, longed for more. “Do not cast me from your
presence,” said David, “or take your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalm 51:11). The New Testament summary of
all the Old Testament prophets is one of longing. “They searched intently and with the greatest care (1
Pet. 1:10). They were told clearly that “they were not serving themselves but you [believers since
Pentecost], when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the
gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven (1 Pet. 1:12).”

So, the issues of the book of Job and the major point come down to us today. Is God enough? Job said,
“Yes!” even with fairly limited contact with God. As we live day after day in a painful world, do we say,
“Yes!” now with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit from inside our hearts and minds? That is the
challenge. This is the application of Job. We must decide constantly for ourselves. All people on this
earth suffer. While all people do not suffer equally, all suffer horribly. It is the rare person indeed who
does not watch a loved one die or who does not experience significant agony at his own death. “We
know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present
time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstftuits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for our adoption to sonship (Rom. 8:22, 23).”

Why Does God Allow Evil?

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