It doesn’t take many years of living in this broken world for someone to ask why God allows suffering. And usually this isn’t an academic question—they’re asking because they’re suffering, sometimes intensely. So why does God allow death and suffering?

Well, the Bible’s history gives us the answer. God originally created a perfect world—there was no death or suffering. But this world was ruined by the rebellion of the first man, Adam. His sin brought an intruder into the world: death, the penalty for sin.

You see, we all sinned in Adam, who represented us. In other words—it’s really our fault the world’s the way it is!