The age-old question of how a good God can allow suffering is addressed by several authors in this compilation. The root of all suffering is explored, as is the way suffering is categorized and dealt with in Scripture. The final chapters, written from lessons learned in personal suffering, were of great value. Although this book can be a bit academic at times, it is a helpful resource for those desiring to give thought to this question. 

Throughout His life Jesus was perfectly and completely obedient to the will and law of His heavenly Father. Jesus also suffered the penalty of sin throughout His earthly life, which culminated in His crucifixion on the cross. This means that Jesus both suffered the penalty of the law and offers His perfect obedience to those who look to Him by faith. And Jesus was raised from the dead, which signaled that His perfect sacrifice was accepted by the Father, securing the victory over sin and death. [6]

Adam’s faith was not introspective—he did not look to himself to remedy his sin-fallen predicament. Rather, his faith was extraspective—he looked to another, he looked to the seed of the woman. [11] 

(Gen. 12:1-3) is a decided departure from what has happened before. No longer does God command His servants to multiply and fill the earth as He had done with Adam and Noah (Gen. 1:28, 9:1). Now, instead of a command, God Himself has promised that He will fill the earth through Abraham and his descendants. The global extent of God’s promise is evident when He says that He will make Abram a great nation and that through Abram all the families of the earth will be blessed. It is important to understand that God’s promise to Abraham is a continuation of His promise to Adam and Eve that the seed of the woman would conquer the seed of the serpent. Moreover, we see that God has taken up the failed work of Adam. What Adam and Noah failed to do, God will do through His promise to Abraham. [12]

Christ suffered not only on the cross but also throughout His entire life. He suffered the insults and rejection of His people, was falsely accused of sin and blasphemy, and lived in austere conditions. He suffered all of these things because of the sin of Adam. But He also suffered all of these things, and especially upon the cross, a cruel instrument of torture and execution, so that those who look to Christ by faith do not have to suffer God’s wrath. [20]

It is the doctrine of justification by faith alone that brought hope to Adam and Eve as they trembled in God’s presence, to Moses when he sinned and was barred from entering the Promised Land, to David when he fell into grave sin with Bathsheba, to Paul when he realized that he was persecuting the bride of Christ, and to every person whose eyes God has opened so they might realize their sin and see that the only remedy for their hopeless condition is in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, received by faith alone. [31] 

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