[Greetings friends and listeners.]

It is sad that we start with a bad news this time. Another tragedy has struck this world. The most powerful earthquake in 40 years has sent tsunamis crushing on some Asian and African shores just about a week ago. This is the fourth largest earthquake in the world since the nineteen hundreds.

As of this broadcast, some reports say that the death toll has climbed to more than 150,000 people in 12 countries plus over half a million people injured and about five million people rendered homeless. Of course, different news agencies and organizations have different estimates.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands still remain missing while thousands of bodies of men, women, and children lay rotting and unidentified on lawns and streets waiting to be simply dumped into mass graves. The stench and filth has become almost unbearable. Whatever the estimates, the Red Cross predicts the death toll could still increase. Many could still die from contagious water-borne diseases, contaminations, and in other infections. A daily news reporter called it the farthest reaching catastrophe in recorded history and also the worst natural disaster of any kind in more than a decade. Like most of you, I was and I'm saddened by the news. A third of the victims were relatively innocent children, about 30,000 of them.

Why did this have to happen to these innocent ones? Why do tragedies like this occur? Where is God when tragedy like this strikes? If God is a God of love and mercy, why does He allow such tragedy and grief and suffering in the world to happen in the first place? Could it be that our God is indifferent to human distress? Is He perhaps simply callous or powerless to do anything about it?

Many people are bewildered and confused when faced with these questions especially when dealing with a close family member, relative, friend or acquaintance. Have similar questions troubled and perplexed you? Just what are the true answers?

Unable to find adequate and satisfactory answers, some became very angry at God. They accused and condemned God for such tragedies. Some became disillusioned, hardened, or embittered. Some, in turning against God has become rabid atheist. They have lost all faith and belief that here is such a good and kind God. They simply conclude that there is no God. They seem to have a good reason, but do they?

It seems to be more of a misconception. How about you? Do you know the answers to such perplexing questions? Do you know why such tragedies happen when there is supposed to be a loving and powerful God? You know, these are very logical, reasonable and intelligent questions that need to be seriously answered. In fact, these important questions have baffled philosophers, thinkers, and mankind in general for thousands of years. And in addition to these questions, here are additional ones that need answers as well.

If God is loving, why is it that there is lack of love and so much pain and crime? If God is merciful, why is there more of cruelty and little mercy on this earth? If God is just, why is there so much injustice and very little fairness and equity? If God is kind, why is there so much unkindness and bitterness and murders? If God is very good, why is there so much evil in this world? And if God is powerful, why can He not do something to stop tragedies and all evil? And even more importantly, we also ask, if God is all-knowing or as theologians say, omniscient, why does He not seem to know at least ahead of time or about all the bad things happening to humanity? And if indeed, God who can be everywhere or omnipresent, why does He seem to be absent when calamities and tragedies strike and when people need Him most? Yes, and if God is all powerful and almighty, why does He not do or it seems that He cannot do something to prevent, stop, or change the forces of evil for good? While asking these questions, we make many people uncomfortable and uneasy. These are also valid, logical, and reasonable questions that need to be honestly and correctly answered. These are the same questions which both atheists and agnostics have asked. And they are also the same questions which faithful Christians and theologians have in mind but are perhaps somehow afraid or embarrassed to ask. But we cannot and should not ignore them. If we have to maintain our strong faith, believe and trust in God.

Sadly, the conclusions reached by some is that there is no God, who is described to be what He is supposed to be by those who claim to represent Him. Others are more direct in saying that there is no God. Or that God, if ever He existed once has long been dead. In some circles of so-called higher learning, it is even questionable to say that God is dead.

What are the true answers to these difficult and disturbing questions? Because these have not been adequately or correctly answered, some have become atheists or agnostics. But let us come back to the main question: Why is it that if there is such thing as a good God, why does He not seem to come forward and be active? Why does He not seem to even exist? When we look at our world situation objectively, we see a mixture of good and evil. In the field of human inventions and great progress, we also see great pain, anguish, suffering and death. Why? Humanity seems to have lost its way. It seems to have been cut-off from contact with a good kind of God. Instead, it seems to be under a cruel, unkind, wicked, unmerciful and an uncaring kind of god, whoever that maybe. People on earth seem like abandoned and orphaned little children looking for their true parent who loves them dearly. These children keep calling for their loving parent while they blindly grope about trying to find them but could not find them.

Some people accuse God of hiding especially in times of tragedy when people desperately need Him most. It is a very sad observation but such scenario is true to some extent and accurately represents humanity's perception. At the same time, many people want complete and absolute freedom. They do not want anything or anyone trying to meddle with their own private affairs or their lives, not even God. They want to be able to tell God to mind His own business so that they can do their own thing.

Nobody it seems has a believable explanation as to why human misery persists. But we all deserve an answer. Believe it or not, there is a source of an overlook, that provides a convincing and perhaps a surprising answer. That source is the Bible. It describes why so much pain, adversity, and heartache affect us today. It also plainly shows how God can help lighten our personal burdens now and those of all people in the future.

Meanwhile, there is a fundamental key to help us understand the true answers and it is quite simple. Like most complex questions, we need to know and understand what has happened before because this will give us a basis to understand what is happening on this earth now. It is indeed a truism that for every effect, there has to be a cause. Our present dilemma is just like arriving at the movie toward the end of the show. Naturally, we will be led to ask a lot of confusing questions simply because they are formulated in the context of ignorance or limited knowledge and understanding, with absolutely no background of the past events. Perhaps some of you have experienced that. I have.

Interestingly, in logic there is such a thing as asking a wrong question which of course will naturally produce a wrong answer. This is quite common and we want to avoid that. In our program, I presented much of the commonly asked questions but we need to put those questions in their proper perspective. Therefore to avoid this pitfall, we need to go through the correct procedure which means we have to start at the beginning.

Since we need to find the cause, we have to go back to the beginning of humanity, literally, back to that Garden of Eden incident. It's important that the Bible should be the foundation of our knowledge since none of us have the mind, the wisdom, and the perspective of God's plan and purpose for mankind from the beginning up to the end. What many do not quite understand is that the Garden of Eden incident where Adam and Eve were deceived by Satan is more than just a nice story for children. That account is full of meaning and significance in history of mankind as it affects and extends to our day even into the future. That foundational account is found in Genesis 3 in the Bible. What is most significant in that account is the presence of two very special and symbolic trees: the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Mankind's future, direction, and status were to be determined by our first parents' choice on which of the two trees they would choose to eat from.

As our first parents, Adam and Eve were given the responsibility to exercise their god-given free moral agency in making a very important decision for the rest of humanity.

Choosing to eat from the Tree of Life symbolized that the generations of humanity represented by Adam and Eve was willing to be guided exclusively by God--their Father, their Maker, and Creator, and they will also receive the Holy Spirit of God with the added privilege of enjoying peace, love, and comforts of such paradise in the Garden of Eden.

On the other hand, choosing to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil symbolized their rejection of God's direct rule and exclusive guidance over their lives. It symbolizes choosing independence from God and following instead their own human but carnal mind in determining what seems to them as good.

Perhaps some of you will recall the verse in the Bible which says, "There's a way which seems right to a man but the end thereof are the ways of death." Of course, that's quoted in Proverbs 14:12 and in Proverbs 16:25. And that is what exactly our first parents Adam and Eve did when they disobeyed the command not to eat the forbidden fruit. Since they rejected God by the choice they made, they automatically came under the influence and direction of that other god whom they chose to obey, Satan as a talking snake or dragon then.

Therefore, Satan became their master and their lord and their god. Believe it or not, Satan since then became the god of this world. Let us read that passage where it says that Satan is the god of this world. Please open with me to 2 Corinthians 4:4. For those who don't have a Bible, please note this down and look it up in your own Bible as soon as possible. It says here, "In whom the god of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them." Did you notice the words, god of this world? This is in the King James Version. The context of the surrounding verses here refers to Satan's works. Does Adam and Eve fell under the influence of the wise deceiver called Satan whom they obeyed rather than God? As a result, humanity to this day is simply reaping the consequences of going the way they once determined to go, that of independence from their very Creator God. That is how and when humanity was cut-off from the true, loving, merciful, and wise God. Remember that after they sinned, they were driven out from that beautiful Garden of Eden. Not only that, but to prevent their access to what represented the way of God through the Tree of Life, Cherubs with flaming swords were assigned to guard the gates of that garden.

Therefore in effect, God has cut-off humanity through Adam and Eve from Him except for a very select follow whom God by His grace, mercy, and will has chosen to call and work with at this time to be part of His first calling to salvation. Now, that's a very important point which we have to remember that God has cut off humanity from Him because human being decided to cut themselves off from God in the very first place. Because humanity has been cut off from the true God, Satan was just too happy to take-over the controls over this earth and over all of humanity. He has temporarily usurped the authority of the true loving and merciful God, replacing it with his own evil nature and character. That is why this world is now characterized by deception, lies, ignorance, hate, violence, strife, cruelty, injustice, murder, greed, ungodliness, violent competitions, vices, immorality, poverty, incurable diseases, death, destruction, misery, unhappiness, etc. All these descriptions are simply a reflection of the true character of the real ruler of this present world, Satan himself, the Devil. Now, I know many of you don't realize that. Yes, unknown to most of humanity, he is presently the supreme god of this world which humanity ignorantly obeys and worships.

The fruits, evidences, and characteristics of this world are undeniably his. And true enough, it is a mixture of good and evil, just as the forbidden fruit.

As the god of this present world, Satan has definitely had a hand in all the problems, all the evil, and all the calamities affecting mankind. Yet in his great ability to deceive man, Satan managed to throw out the blame from him and put all the blame instead for all the bad things to the good and great Creator God. That is why we were led to ask all those questions in the beginning and attributed it all to the great God when in fact, it is Satan himself who is the orchestrator of all of these.

Now, you can see how the great deception has happened to mankind. That is why he is called the great deceiver. His work of deception is not just a small scale or localized one. It is not just among pagan minorities as some might supposed, it is actually universal. The Bible says Satan has deceived the whole world. Let us see what the Bible really says on this regard whether it really says that Satan has deceived the whole world or just partially. Please open with me to Revelation 12:9. This is a basic scripture which all of us, radio listeners, should bear in mind. It says here, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

Thus, when it says the whole world, it obviously would include the top religious leaders and founders of various religions and rulers of governments. Most people may not believe that this could happen. But let us look at the example and precedent on Jesus day on earth. The Jewish religious leaders and the people of His day thought that the Creator God was their true father. Did you notice Christ answer? Let's open to John 8:44. Jesus Christ Himself said, "You [Jews, religious leaders, Pharisees and scribes] are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it." Did you realize that? Christ said, the Jews of His day including the religious leaders were the children of the Devil. Since most people in this world have Satan as their spiritual father, it is no wonder that we have this kind of evil and calamitous world in which we live in. In fact, sadly and surprisingly, one of the biggest problems in this world is actually religion. There is hatred, animosity, and bitterness. Surprisingly, the greatest wars have been influenced or fought in the name of religion. Unbelievable, but true.

And how does the Bible describes this present world of Satan? Let us open to Galatians 1:3-4. It says here, "Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, (4) who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age [or evil world], according to the will of our God and Father." Did you notice how God describes this world through the apostle Paul?

There's another writer in the Bible who described the nature of this world. Please open with me this time to 1 John 5:19. John, the half brother of Jesus Christ wrote this. He said, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." Did you get that? He said, "The whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one." And that of course refers to Satan. Therefore this world is not under the influence of God; It is under the influence of Satan. God is not the god of this world; Satan is the god of this world. And Satan is the one to be blamed for all the problems and the calamities and the difficulties we now suffer as a people of this world. So you really notice that the whole world lies under the sway of Satan, the wicked one. Because the Bible confirms that this whole world is under the influence of Satan, we find all kinds of evil in this world. This is, therefore, not presently a world governed or ruled by the great loving God but rather by that wicked Satan. Simply because this present world is not yet governed by true loving God, people who do not understand what is happening on earth have condemned the true God.

The good news is that the time will eventually come when God will demolish the rule of Satan on this earth. Then this world will be physically and spiritually transformed. Satan will be removed from his influence on this earth.

Please read with me the prophetic statement of that event in the last book of the Bible. It is in Revelation 20:1-4. It says, "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. (2) He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; (3) and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while." In other words, friends and listeners, God has a master plan for everything which includes the deposing of Satan. The good news is that in the face of this world's present troubles, there is great hope for a bright and happy future when Satan will no longer have any influence on this earth. Rather, Jesus Christ will rule this world in unheard of peace, prosperity, and happiness.

Finally, let's get back to our original question, where is God when tragedy strikes? The answer is that the god of this present world is not the true God, but Satan and he actually has a role in those calamities. He even could be the mastermind of those calamities as in Job's time, the trial of Job. You would notice that one of Satan's name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon or in Greek Apollyon. And both of these names mean 'destroyer' or 'killer.'

For those who are interested where this verse can be found, it is in Revelation 9:11. Revelation 9:11 refers to this destroyer who is Abaddon and Apollyon. And you would remember that Jesus said about Satan, he is a murderer from the beginning. The true loving and merciful God is not yet ruling this world. He will rule when He comes back with great power and glory to raise the dead in Christ first and to rule over all nations on this earth. Hundreds of prophecies in the Bible predict about this wonderful event and finally, in the end of those days, the prophecy will be fulfilled which says in Revelation 21:3, 5, it says here, "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle [or the dwelling] of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. (4) And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. (5) And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful."

Yes, this is the great hope of all humanity. We look patiently to that day and may it come soon. Yes, God's rule on earth at this time is generally for those He has called as part of the first fruits of God's calling only. In their lives, He actively blesses and intervenes. But over the whole earth, God the Creator is not yet ruling. Rather, it is Satan the Devil who is ruling this world. The conditions of this world obviously are of Satan's nature and character. God has allowed Satan and humanity cut-off from God for 6,000 years to learn its bitter lesson and write it in blood, suffering, and death. When Christ comes, humanity hopefully will be more willing to listen then.

For greater understanding on this eye-opening subject, please request for our free booklet titled, Why Does God Allow Suffering? It clearly examines and explains from a biblical perspective the underlying causes and cures of human suffering. It also shows how you can more effectively deal with the various afflictions and obstacles you encounter daily. This booklet titled Why Does God Allow Suffering? is free for the asking with absolutely no obligation or follow-up. Along with the booklet, we also offer you a free subscription to The Good News Magazine.

[Until next time and same station, in behalf of the Good News of the World Tomorrow, this is Ed Macaraeg, saying thank you for listening.]