Pain in Paradise

Scripture

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Romans 5:12 KJV

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Big idea

Summary

Graham traces the origin of suffering back before human history, to the rebellion of a once-glorious angelic being whose pride led him to challenge God's authority and seek God's own throne, and who was ultimately cast out along with the angels who joined his revolt, becoming humanity's chief adversary. He then paints a picture of Eden as an entirely unspoiled paradise, describing perfect fruit, unpolluted skies, and clear waters, along with the first and only truly ideal human relationship between Adam and Eve, a companionship no couple since has ever fully matched. He emphasizes that God gave this first couple genuine freedom of choice rather than programming them for automatic obedience like puppets, which meant that even paradise, for all its perfection, contained the real possibility of choosing wrongly.

He then walks through the mechanics of the Fall itself: the serpent's tactic of first casting doubt on God's word and then appealing to Eve's desire to be like God, the couple's resulting disobedience, and their immediate instinct to shift blame onto someone else rather than accept responsibility, a pattern Graham says has continued in human behavior ever since. He describes the resulting condition as a kind of three-part death, spiritual, physical, and potentially eternal, and uses the story of two surveying crews who ended up thirteen feet apart while building a bridge, because each used a different reference point, to argue that without one fixed, absolute moral standard, human ideas of right and wrong will inevitably drift and collide with one another.

Graham insists that present-day suffering is the direct result of sin's entrance into the world rather than proof that God is unjust or indifferent, and he rejects the idea that God causes suffering while still refusing to simply explain it away with easy answers, offering instead the picture of God supplying a costly remedy rather than a superficial one. He closes the chapter by describing how Jesus entered fully into human vulnerability from the very moment of His birth, faced suspicion, rejection, and outright violence throughout His public ministry, and was ultimately handed over to a shouting crowd demanding His death, showing that God did not merely observe human suffering from a distant heaven but chose to personally enter and experience it Himself, sharing our condition rather than remaining above it.

Key points

• Suffering was not part of God's original design for creation; it entered through Satan's rebellion and humanity's own choice to sin.
• Genuine freedom, as given in Eden, necessarily includes the real possibility of choosing wrongly.
• Satan's basic strategy has not changed: casting doubt on God's word and appealing to human pride.
• Blame-shifting for wrongdoing began with Adam and Eve in the garden and remains a basic human reflex today.
• Without one fixed, absolute moral reference point, human standards of right and wrong inevitably drift and conflict.
• God did not remain distant from human suffering; in Christ, He entered it personally, from a threatened infancy to a violent death.

Illustrations & stories

• The prophet Isaiah's description of a proud angelic being determined to 'ascend to heaven' and sit enthroned above the stars is used to explain the origin of Satan's rebellion against God.
• Graham asks readers to imagine Eden's flawless fruit trees, unpolluted skies, and crystal-clear waters, helping picture a world entirely free of decay, blight, or pollution.
• The serpent's approach to Eve, first questioning whether God really said what she thought, then appealing to her desire to be like God, is described as the same two-step tactic still used against people today.
• Two highway construction crews building a bridge from opposite sides of a waterway discover they are thirteen feet off from meeting in the middle, because each crew used its own reference point, an illustration Graham applies to moral relativism.
• The Gospel account of Jesus's birth and public ministry, threatened from His first cry, rejected by His own hometown, and ultimately handed over by an angry crowd, is used to show that God fully entered into human suffering rather than observing it from a distance.

Notable line

God does not offer Band-Aids when you are bleeding to death

Billy Graham Hope for the Troubled Heart, ch. 4, on God's response to human suffering

For reflection and discussion

1. Graham insists suffering was never part of God's original design for the world. How does that shape your own answer to the question of why God allows suffering?
2. The serpent's tactic in Eden began with a simple question casting doubt on God's word. Where do you notice similar doubts being planted in your own life?
3. Adam and Eve's instinct after disobeying was to shift blame rather than take responsibility. Where might you be tempted to do the same?
4. Graham uses the image of surveyors needing one fixed reference point to build accurately. What serves as your own fixed reference point for right and wrong?
5. How does it change your view of suffering to consider that God, in Christ, entered fully into human vulnerability rather than observing it from a distance?