Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

It is necessary to distinguish between God's permissive will (things that God allows to happen) and His decretive will (things that God decrees or commands to happen).

Nothing on earth (even something as tragic in human terms as the death of a child) happens without God's knowledge and permissive will (Matthew 10:29). 

However, God also granted free will to humans to obey Him, or to disobey Him by committing sin. That free will, as well as human nature, became corrupted when humans first sinned, causing all subsequent humans to be born with a tendency to disobey God, and making them all subject to death as a result (although death may occur at varying ages). Death (at whatever age) is therefore ultimately the result of human decisions and actions in a fallen world for which God is not responsible.

However, God did not leave human beings to suffer the consequences of their sin (eternal separation from Him) without hope. He became truly human in the person of Christ, whose sinless life, sacrificial death, and resurrection paid the penalty for the sin of all those who would place their faith in the redemption that He achieved for them. Even though they still experience temporal death, their faith in Christ allows them to live and to be reunited with fellow believers eternally in God's presence.

May 02 2018 • 6 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Benjamin Dahoo

If we understand the concept of God's perfect will (this is what He wants) and His permissive will (this is not what he wants but He allows it), we will understand that all children dying is in the will of God but we can take the point a little further.

I believe that while some children die prematurely (permissive will), others die because they have accomplished their purpose on earth. It may seem cruel that God would give a child to parents only to take him away, but we must remember that we do not see all the picture. (Isaiah 55:8)

If we look at Jesus' example, was it the will of God that He should die at 33? I believe it was - Jesus had a mission which was to die for humanity. This was the perfect will of God. It is the same for the martyrs throughout history, starting with the prophets in the OT and the apostles and other disciples in the NT.

May 20 2018 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report