GLORIFYING GOD: (cont’d)
9. Through our suffering – The ninth and final way we glorify God is through our suffering. I saved suffering until last because, not only is it a hard study to explain, it’s also my least favorite way to glorify God. I love God with all my heart and I want to glorify the Lord as much as possible but if I can avoid suffering I will. I’m just not really keen on the idea of suffering. I wouldn’t mind passing on the cup of “suffering” if it’s passed to me. My wife says I’m a hypochondriac because I run to the doctor every time I get the least little health problem. However, I am mentally, physically and spiritually prepared to suffer for Christ if it’s God’s will for me. I can say that without any reservation or worry because I know in the end my God loves me and anything God does is for my benefit even though I may not understand it this side of heaven. I trust in God the way a small child trusts his father.
1 Peter 3:18 – For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.
That brings me to the age-old question Christians have asked for 2000 years. Why would a just and loving God allow suffering in the world? Why are believers and nonbelievers treated alike when it comes to suffering by allowing them both to suffer equally? Why do some people suffer a lot and others appear not to suffer at all? We really don’t know all the answers. We have more questions than answers. God is not clear on this subject in the Bible. However, God does give us a number of Scriptures that shed some light on the subject. We are told in the Bible that our suffering here on earth glorifies God and as a result of our pain and suffering we also will receive praise, honor and glory in heaven the more we suffer for Christ.
1 Peter 1:10-11 – Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what , or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.
I know God sent Jesus, his beloved and only begotten Son, to suffer and die a terrible death on the cross in our place. Because Jesus suffered for us he received praise, honor and glory in heaven from God and all the angels. My question is, was it really necessary for Jesus to suffer that much pain and suffering before and during his crucifixion? Would our sins still have been forgiven if Jesus had died a little less painfully? If Jesus had died an easier death would it still have appeased the wrath of God against all sinners?
1 Peter 2:21 – For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps.
Luke 24:26 – (Jesus speaking) – Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?
God has perfect knowledge and he wants what’s best for us in every circumstance so we have to trust God, even when we do not fully understand everything that is happening. There’s a lot about God and the spiritual world that we don’t know, don’t need to know, and we may never know. That’s okay. What’s important is we know that God is never arbitrary. God never does anything without a good reason. God doesn’t owe us an explanation for any of his actions. God does as he pleases. What I do know for sure is that God is good and God is great. We need to remind ourselves that every day and then just relax and put our trust in the God who made us and who loves us dearly. You would not be cruel to your children and neither would God. We are, after all, God’s beloved children. God dotes on us like we do our grandchildren.
1 Peter 4:14 – If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
Luke 24:46 – (Jesus speaking) – Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day.
God loves Jesus dearly yet Jesus was made to suffer the pain and agony of a death by crucifixion, the cruelest method of death ever devised by man. Crucifixion was such a cruel way to die that no Roman citizen could be put to death in that manner. Death by crucifixion was so heinous that it was only used about 200 years before the Romans abolished its use. In the Bible it’s obvious Jesus’ death brought praise, honor and glory to Jesus and God the Father. It’s also obvious Jesus’ sacrificial death removed our sins so we could have eternal life in heaven. This may be hard to believe but God loves us ever bit as much as he loves his Son Jesus because we are also sons of God and co-heirs of heaven along with Christ.
1 Peter 4:12-13 – Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you: but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
Jesus died on the cross for us because there was no other way to save us from eternal death in the lake of fire. Jesus suffered and died a painful death because there was no other way to fully appease the wrath of God for the sins of man. The wages of sin is death and a just God demanded that the debt be paid in full with a blood sacrifice. Since we could not save ourselves God came off his throne and came to earth in the incarnation of Jesus Christ to pay our sin debt with his own precious blood. That’s how much God loves us. We have no idea how much God hates sin.
1 Peter 4:16 – Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian. let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.
Jesus died by on the cross to fulfill the prophecies of the Bible. God’s Word must come to pass. The Scriptures cannot be broken. We don’t have to understand it all. We just have to accept what we know to be true and trust God with what we don’t know or what we can’t fully understand. Everything will be revealed to us in heaven one day. Just know that if Jesus suffered for us then we believers will also be called upon to suffer for Christ in return. By God’s will some will suffer more than others. However much we suffer and whatever fate befalls us we are to bear it with dignity and perseverance while continually giving praise, honor and glory to God in every circumstance. In heaven we will be rewarded for being faithful servants of God.