Why do Innocent Children die?
Children die every day all over the world. The number of deaths is particularly high in countries in Africa or Asia that are af-fected by great poverty. In some cases the children die before or shortly after their birth. The suffering and death of small children particularly affects us very much. Accordingly, many people ask them-selves, without understanding, why God al-lows something like this and what happens to these young people after their death?
Even if this sensitive topic is very emotio-nal - especially for affected parents and relatives - it is important to also deal with this question. In this context, we must un-derstand that suffering, illness and death are part of this fallen world. While God originally created the earth as a paradisia-cal place without suffering and death, as man turned away from his Creator, it in-creasingly became a place of indescribable misery. The death of children and infants is just one of many tragic consequences of this development, which we humans have caused ourselves by violating God's com-mandments....
On the other hand, we must be aware that our life in this world is fleeting and that every person - no matter whether old or young - has to die sooner or later. Given this fact, a person to whom God grants a relatively long life has no advantage over other people who die earlier. In this rela-tively short earthly life, the sole question is whether or not we will receive the eter-nal life that God promises to us humans. That's all that matters. The precondition for being saved is faith in Jesus and turning away from our sins.
However, there are people who are unable to willfully choose Jesus and who also lack awareness of sin. These include, among others, infants, children of legal age and people with mental disabilities. Since God is just, we can assume that God will not ex-clude these people from eternal life. This means that they too - like everyone who believes in Jesus - will be resurrected to imperishable life when he returns.
Even people who live in fear of God are not generally spared from suffering and perse-cution. But their firm trust in God and his promises gives believing people strength and courage to live, and helps them to en-dure painful experiences such as the death of their own child and to withstand all adverse circumstances in this world. Through Jesus Christ, God gives us the hope of an end to all trouble and the prospect of a future in a world in which no one will ever have to suffer or die again.