Goodness is not equivalent to kindness, for "if goodness meant only kindness, a God who tolerated pain in his creatures when he could abolish it would not be an all-good God" (Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli, Handbook of Christian Apologetics [Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1994], 140).

Because His nature is perfectly good and just, however, God cannot tolerate sin. Having sinned and turned away from God, we are subject to His divine wrath. And since our souls are alienated from God, our bodies, too, are alienated and no longer under His protection. God gave humankind authority over nature (Gen 1:28), but when humanity rejected God’s authority, we rejected the authority He gave us. Therefore we suffer both physical evil from the natural world (disease, famine, earthquakes) as well as moral evil from the sins we commit (hatred, envy, deceit).

Yet the suffering of this world is only temporary for those who put their trust in God. If we believe in Jesus, one day our imperfect bodies will rise to enter into that perfect kingdom He has prepared. There, "He will wipe every tear from our eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain" (Rev 21:4).