The Cost of Freedom
Chris Holm | APR 26, 2026
Series: The Whole Story
Categories: Suffering and Trials, Hope and Encouragement, Easter and the Resurrection
Sermon summary
Why does God allow suffering? Before we can walk through the biblical story, we have to be honest about the hardest question in it. This week we looked at three layers of suffering: human freedom used destructively, spiritual powers working against God's purposes, and a creation groaning under the weight of consequences it did not choose.
We started with love. Genuine love requires genuine freedom. Freedom means the real possibility of choosing against love, and choosing against love is the root of evil. God knew the cost. He decided the world he was after, a world where love is real, was worth it. This is not a picture of God orchestrating evil. Scripture shows Jesus treating sickness and death as enemies, as things that do not belong in his Father's world.
So what does God do with a world in pain? He enters it. He took on a body. He suffered. He died. He rose. The resurrection is the first fruits of a coming harvest, proof that restoration has begun. Paul says God works for good in all things. He redeems. He transforms. Nothing is wasted.
We are not passive observers. We lament honestly, pray into the gap between heaven and earth, show up for one another, and carry the presence of the Spirit into a broken world. The tomb is empty. Suffering will not get the final word.