07/06/2020
Are you suffering today? Were you afflicted at birth, or have you become ill, or tortured during your lifetime? Do you face the torment of men, through beatings, or other worldly punishments; then as a Christian, rejoice in them, because we are meant to count these things as good. Our pain should only increase us in faith, and bring us closer to Jesus by sharing not only in the suffering of Christ, but in the promise of His glory.
“But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.”
1 Peter 4:13 ESV
As men and women of faith we don’t suffer as those who are yet in the world suffer. Although they might hope that their suffering will fade, and resolve itself, we have the promise that ours will not only end by the mercy, and grace of God, but end in our glorifying Him, and rejoining Jesus before God in the light of His love and glory.
“But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.”
1 Peter 4:15-16 ESV
I used to hear people talk about having a fear of heights, and how it paralyzed them in its intensity, but even though I had faced some mild discomfort in high places, I really didn’t understand what that fear was until I rode in a Red Bus to Logan’s Pass along The Road To the Sun highway in Glacier National Park. With no firm guardrails, and looking down at the tops of clouds below me as we went around sharp corners... a sheer cliff Rising on one side, and a 900 foot drop on the other... until that moment I had no true understanding of their fear, but on that drive I was paralyzed, and felt a fear like I had never known before. Our suffering on earth gives us a taste of Christ’s incredible suffering during His final days... even if only in part.
Peter writes of our suffering like Jesus suffered not merely to encourage us as we imitate Him In our own tribulation, but to reveal to us that as we follow Him, we gain a hint of understanding in what He endured for us. Just like I had no understanding of the fear of heights until I had truly experienced it, so it is with a Christian’s understanding of Christ’s suffering.
“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.”
1 Peter 2:20-21 ESV
Our earthly suffering doesn’t gain us an ounce of forgiveness, nor does it move us a step closer to eternity with God, but when coupled with our faith in Jesus, and we increase in our understanding of His sacrifice, in this way we see the price that was paid for us. In this moment of realization our faith boils over the rim of our own cups as we read of Him partaking of His, and understand for ourselves.
“And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.””
Matthew 26:39 ESV
Jesus didn’t come to understand our suffering, or because we suffered. No, we suffer to understand His suffering, and to realize what He has done for us... in this way we taste the true gift of God’s grace that is found in our redemption. In this way we see clearly the promise of being glorified in Jesus, and the mercy of God. Our suffering is not an oversight, or a frivolously perpetuated trial, it is a lesson in God’s love, and how great grace truly is...
“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
1 Peter 5:10 ESV
So, let’s answer our opening question: “Are you suffering today?“, and the answer for each of us is yes, but now we have come to understand that we don’t suffer in the same way, or for the same reasons that the ungodly, or those without faith, suffer. We suffer to experience a small bit of the price that Christ paid to redeem us, and to see the power of God’s grace in each of our tribulations. We suffer to understand the obedience of Jesus, and the love of God.
“Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it”
2 Timothy 3:12-14 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the suffering of your Son Jesus Christ, and for His death, resurrection, and ascension. Thank you Lord for allowing us to experience a moniker of that suffering in our own lives, even after we have accepted Him as our savior, so that in this way we can understand the price that has been paid for us. We say the words Lord, but until we feel them, and come to realize what they represent, we can’t begin to appreciate the power they contain. We suffer Father, and now we see that our suffering and tribulation is not in vain. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who teaches us of your love and grace, even in the midst of your Son’s suffering. We praise your name Lord for the seasons of suffering we experience, and the knowledge of you, and Jesus, that we gain through them. Great are you in your love for us, and perfect are you in every lesson we are taught. Hear our prayers as we pray for relief from the pain we feel, the suffering of those around us, and for the tears of the martyrs. Lead us in our understanding of what Jesus endured for us, and teach us the lesson of your love for us... even while we are yet sinners. Forgive us Merciful Father, and pour out the cleansing blood of your Son Jesus upon us, revealing your grace through Him... now, and forevermore.
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Philippians 3:8-11 ESV
Rich Forbes