THE GIFT OF SUFFERING

 

We are being transformed through the way we think (Romans 12:2). Consequently, our mind needs to be Biblically reoriented. We need to regard suffering as one of God’s gifts, as something we should welcome. Instead it has become a source of shame and failure that needs to be eliminated. However, once we begin to regard suffering as needful gift, we can begin to rejoice and even boast about our weaknesses, failures, and infirmities—the basis of self-acceptance:

·       Romans 5:3–5 …we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

God allowed Satan to afflict Paul so that he wouldn’t grow proud because of the revelations he had been receiving. He even refused to heal him of his “thorn in the flesh.” God explained to Paul:

·       2 Corinthians 12:9–10 …“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul even claimed that his weaknesses and infirmities had become the gist for ministry and ultimately community:·       2 Corinthians 1:3–5 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.

Suffering Grows Us into Christ-likeness: 2 Corinthians 4:8–11 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

Suffering Teaches Us to Trust in God: 2 Corinthians 1:8–10 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Suffering for Others: Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. The Martyrdom of the Apostles had proved that they truly believed what they had written. Even the Curse of the Fall was Intended to Serve God’s Loving Plan:

·       Romans 8:20–21 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Understanding suffering is needful in many other ways. It enables us to respond to the skeptic: “Your God is not love but of hate. Just look at babies dying of starvation.”

Often the death of babies is the cost of sin. Ultimately, the Christian trusts that, even if we do not have all the answers, God does.

Does this open us to the charge that we believe blindly? No! We don’t reject science even though it cannot answer the basic questions like, “What is matter, gravity, and light.” Why then reject our Biblical faith because it cannot answer every question!

The Bible even warns: Isaiah 55:8–9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

The Evangelist to the Samaritans

 

 

God is close to the brokenhearted (Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 66:1-2, Psalm 34:17-18, Psalm 138:6), but I rejoiced to see it clearly demonstrated when Jesus had encountered a broken, confused, and nameless Samaritan woman at a well:

·       John 4:25–26 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”  

What had led to this affirmation  about the coming Messiah, then followed by Jesus’s forthright disclosure of His Messianic identity,  “I who speak to you am he!” And why not to the learned Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, who had previously come to Jesus, looking for answers:

·       John 3:1–2 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Clearly, Nicodemus was a seeker, yet Jesus humiliated him:

·       John 3:10–12 “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.  If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

This made me marvel even more at Jesus’ words to the unnamed woman to whom Jesus revealed: “I who speak to you am he!”

Why had Jesus revealed Himself so plainly to the woman but not as directly to Nicodemus? At first, it hadn’t seemed that the woman amenable. After the woman complied and offered Jesus water from the well:

·       John 4:13–14 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman seemingly answered sarcastically: John 4:15 …“Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Rather than Jesus answering, “It’s not a matter of either living water or liquid but both,” He turned the focus on her:

·       John 4:16–18 …“Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

 

Initially, she must have felt embarrassed and exposed before Jesus and tried to change the subject:

·       John 4:20 “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

Jesus then corrected her misguided understanding of the Biblical faith: John 4:24–25 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth,” and not necessarily in certain location. The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

Jesus was now ready to make His most profound and stirring disclosure: John 4:26 “I who speak to you am he,” and with these words, this degraded thirsty woman was transformed into perhaps the greatest evangelist to the Samaritan people.

Why her? When we realize that we are nothing, we are enabled to see that the promised Messiah is everything, the understanding that is slowly made evident to all of His servants:

·       Galatians 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

What a blessing to know that, without the Messiah, we too are like this degraded Samaritan woman who had gone through five husbands! However, in the Messiah, we are co-heirs with Jesus:

·       Colossians 2:8–10 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.

Again, why her?

·       Luke 18:14 …For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Any who exalt themselves have fallen to self (or Satanic)-deception. However, this debased woman had little choice but to admit that she was a sinner, whose only qualification was that she had met Jesus.

THE INCREDIBLE MERCY OF GOD

 

I think we tend to minimize or overlook God’s mercy. Peter didn’t, but he did not mince words as he preached to the crowd about their sin of killing the “Righteous One.” However, then he said something that really surprised me. Peter softened the blow by claiming that they had acted in ignorance:

·       Acts 3:17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.”

Hadn’t their rulers acted in full awareness of the miracles Jesus had performed? Even after the rulers had seen Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, they had plotted to kill both Jesus and Lazarus (John 11). How could they have been ignorant?

Even during Peters first sermon, he reminded the crowd that they had been made aware of Jesus through the signs and wonders He had been performing (Acts 2:22). How could they have been ignorant?

It also seems that Paul too had hardened his heart against the evidences of Jesus’ Personhood. Yet he too had claimed that he had been forgiven because he had acted “ignorantly in unbelief” (1 Timothy 1:13).

Do these examples represent a contradiction? No! Why not? Because our God is incredibly merciful. He regards unbelief and ignorance relatively. In His mind, ignorance isn’t complete ignorance. Similarly, unbelief might not be regarded by Him as complete unbelief:

·       Hebrews 11:29 By faith the people crossed the Red Sea as on dry land, but the Egyptians, when they attempted to do the same, were drowned. 

Did the Israelites truly trust in God? As the Egyptian chariots approached them, they rebelled against Moses and God, claiming that they had never wanted to leave their Egyptian slavery. Nevertheless, stuck between a rock and a hard place, they ventured out through the pillars of water. Was this faith? Well, God regarded it as faith, even if it constituted the smallest measure of faith.

For another example, Jesus had warned that if anyone denied Him, He would deny this person before the Father (Luke 9:26). However, Peter had denied Christ three times, and yet, after His resurrection, He appointed Peter to oversee the welfare of His flock (John 21:15-17)

This very same paradox is found throughout the Scriptures, indicating that it is intentional. Lot had lived a very compromised life in Sodom. Even after witnessing the horror of its destruction, he had even allowed his daughters to get him drunk so that they could be impregnated by their father on two successive evenings. Yet, three times he is referred to as a righteous man:

·       2 Peter 2:7-8 “and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard).

Could this represent a contradiction or an oversight? It cannot. Instead, we encounter this same “contradiction” throughout. Let’s look at two more examples of “exemplary” faith, where we do not find faith when we examine the original accounts in Genesis and Exodus:

·       Hebrews 11:20 By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.

However, the Genesis account indicates that Isaac had been deceived and blessed Jacob rather than his favorite son Esau.

·       Hebrews 11:27 By faith he [Moses] left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.

However, the Exodus account indicates that Moses had fearfully fled Egypt. In the next account, in God’s eyes, Israel crossed the divided sea by faith:

These accounts and many others can be easily harmonized once we realize that our Savior is incredibly gracious. He sees faith and righteousness where we fail to see it.

I derive two lessons from this. God is more gracious with me than I can imagine. While I might see myself as a spiritual failure, my Savior sees me as a spiritual giant.

The second lesson is as the first. I must also regard God’s children as righteous men and women of valor, even if I don’t see them in this light.

However, after Peter extended to his audience God’s gracious judgment that they had killed Jesus in “ignorance,” he then delivered the needful warning to repent:

·       Acts 3:23 “‘And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet [Jesus] shall be destroyed from the people.'”

Peter demonstrated the principle that it is the graciousness of God that is supposed to lead us to repentance, without which we face destruction.

The History of Humankind

 

 

The history of the human race can be summarized in these three ways:

1.    We want to be exalted. However, we inevitably fail to achieve this.
2.    Instead, we realize that there is something terribly wrong for which we deserve punishment.
3.    We suppress this awareness by self-deception trying to prove ourselves worthy.

We find all three of these elements at play in the account of the Fall (Genesis 3). The tempter promised Eve (and Adam followed along) that they would become like God by eating the forbidden fruit from the forbidden tree of  “The Knowledge of Good and Evil.” However, instead of becoming God-like, they embarked on the path of death.

Ironically, God had intended to give them what they lusted after but in His way, by trusting in Him, according to His timing (Psalm 84: 11-12). However, by refusing to trust in Him, their sin had immediate and profound effects:

•    Genesis 3:7–8 …they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God...

Instead of confessing their sin, they foolishly believed that they could handle it on their own by merely covering themselves with fig leaves. We have been doing this ever since through pride, power, and possessions—all of which were denounced by Jesus:

•    Luke 16:15 And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Even worse, they could no longer face the truth about themselves and their sin. Their Creator gave them opportunities to humble themselves by confessing the truth, but instead, they blame-shifted:

•    Genesis 3:11–13 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Sin had taken charge of the human race, and we have been hiding from God ever since:
•    Romans 2:15 (NLT) They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.

Consequently, we feel guilty and ashamed of ourselves. Instead of confessing our sins, we try to justify them through many devious devices. Since God’s laws are written into our DNA, unless we find His mercy, we will continue to experience inner turmoil. Therefore, we resort to self-justifications:

•    Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart.

We suppress the truth about ourselves and cannot tolerate exposure by the One who judges us:

•    Romans 1:18–20 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

We have been running from God and His terrifying and revealing light ever since, covering ourselves with the fig leaves of money, power, attainments, and sexual conquests, whatever might make us feel worthy and entitled, while our conscience has been declaring the opposite. In view of this, Christ pronounced His condemnation upon humanity:

•    John 3:19–20 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

We are condemned by what we love—the darkness of self-deception—and we know it:

•    Romans 1:32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

We cover this awareness over with the fig leaves of self-righteousness and shake a defiant fist at heaven. Some will even punish or maim themselves to experience a brief reprieve from the punishment they know they deserve.

The Remedy—Reconciliation

We suffer from alienation from our Creator and need to be reconciled with Him. None of us can be good enough to earn anything good from Him. Our only hope is in His undeserved mercy. What then does He want from us?

•    1 John 1:8–9 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

We just need to be real with God and acknowledge our sins, trusting in His mercy through Jesus’ payment for sin on the cross.