Our question in the Essentials class this week was " What does God do about suffering?"
As a reminder, last week we talked about how sin brought death, death ignites fear, and fear motivates us to sin...a vicious cycle that only God's prefect love can drive out in order to free us to live a life unbounded by the demands of this world and empower us to live out His commands.
But how can we reconcile His perfect love with the guaranteed suffering in this world?
My dad has this saying when we complain about anything we are "suffering" with in this world. He nonchalantly states, "yeah, life [stinks] then you die." Strangely it's comforting. I am not really sure exactly why, but I guess it puts into perspective how minor our issues can be in light of the fact that in the end we all end up as dust. In my walk with Christ I have learned to add a little to the statement to remind me of the perspective eternal life can bring. Humor me a little...
Life [stinks] then you die, BUT Christ came to live, die, and
raise to life in order for us to gain eternal life with Him.
You see, He has taught me that if my eyes are set on eternity (see Francis Chan's video from last week's post) it minimizes the struggles of this life and reminds me that nothing negates what Christ did to reconcile me to Himself. The consequence of sin is death and suffering in this life, BUT Christ suffered death to overcome the enemy of this world, that is Satan.
"God made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him
we might become the righteousness of God." ~2 Corinth 5:21
"The thief [Satan] comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
I [Christ] came that they may have life and have it abundantly." ~John 10:10
"I [Christ] am then Living One; I was dead ,and now look, I am alive forever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and Hades. I am the Living." ~Revelation 1:18
The other benefit believers and followers of Christ have is the gift of the Holy Spirit which produces fruit and grants us to ability to live like Christ in this world, obeying God's commands. We are able, by the Spirit, to know Christ increasingly more and participate in His work on earth.
"His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge
of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His
very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine
nature, having escaped the corruption of this world caused by evil desires." ~2 Peter 1:3-4
So then, how are we called to "participate" in God's plan for this world? There are many commands but this week we talked about how walking humbly and extending justice and mercy in this world both "judges rebellion while bringing renewal."
"He has sown you, O mortal what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." ~Micah 6:8
Justice and mercy must go hand in hand under the banner of humility (lifting God's will and wisdom above our own and never thinking we have it all "figured out") in order to display a shadow of what God did about sin, suffering, and death...He is the perfect mercifully righteous judge! Death was the payment required to atone for sin, so He took on all the sins of humanity (laying down His perfect divinity) and died a horrific death SO THAT we can be given His righteousness AND eternal life to spend with Him. He suffered OUR punishment so we can gain life and perfect communion with Him forever!
So what if we have some suffering in this life? We have the hope of eternal life apart from any suffering or pain or mourning. We have eternity to spend with God. We have perfect peace in knowing the suffering we have here won't last forever but will be swallowed up by the wave of God's love and grace that gives us freely what only Christ deserves. And so we walk as those worthy of the hope He has given us, set apart and different from the world!
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