The Glory of Suffering

Hello everyone,

For my next blog post, I have decided to attempt to tackle a topic that has been extremely intriguing to me lately, and one that is fairly controversial amongst skeptics and believers. The topic of this blog is that of suffering. Specifically, I will be dealing with what comes out of suffering, and ultimately why it is that humans are subject to it.

            First and foremost, we are told that all human beings are subject to suffering. In 2 Timothy 3:12-13, Paul states, “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.” We see that believers in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior are subject to suffering because they believe that Christ is the TRUE savior of all creation. Jesus Christ, the same man, who is fully God, who was rejected by all mankind and God himself, so that through his rejection, those who believe may all have life. John 3:19 claims, “the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.” These are the other people that Paul speaks of in 2 Timothy, the people who not only reject the followers of Jesus, but also reject Jesus himself. These are the people that will suffer because they will forever be wallowing in “the darkness,” constantly being deceived by Satan, and rejecting the Light that died for them. All mankind will reject God at some point, due to sin, because we are all sinful, and we all will suffer due to our sin. ALL SUFFERING ON EARTH IS DUE TO MAN REJECTING GOD, AND CHOOSING DARKNESS OVER LIGHT.  The difference comes either when you decide to accept God’s grace through Jesus’ sacrifice, or if you reject God, and dwell in the darkness.

            To deal with the topic of suffering, I have chosen three passages out of 1 Peter. Three passages that I believe can give believers a clearer picture of what exactly the purpose of suffering is, and why we must go through it.

            The first passage comes in 1 Peter 1: 6-7, which states, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” What Paul is stating here, is that many times, believers are put into trials and suffering as a way of polishing our beliefs and faith, so that we may come out as pure as gold. We are placed into trying times so that the genuineness of our faith can shine through. If you are put into a trial, and you totally turn away from God, it just goes to show that your faith wasn’t very strong in the first place. In turn, if you go through a trial, and rely solely on God and the community He has placed around you, then it proves that your faith is very strong, and that is a testament to everything that Jesus Christ did on the cross and in your life. In John 15, Jesus refers to Himself as the “true vine,” and that we are all branches of the main vine (himself), and that we will constantly be pruned. This goes to say that the dead, fallen branches will wither away with no faith, but the ones who are fruitful will stay and remain to bear fruit in His name. Elbert Hubbard states, “If you suffer, thank God! -- it is a sure sign that you are alive.” So in simple terms, if you suffer and continue to bear fruit, thank God that he put you through that, it a sign that He’s working through you.

            For my second passage in 1 Peter, we will look at verses 4, and 9-10, which states, “As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious…But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” This is saying that those who believe have been rejected by society, by those who dwell in the darkness. Believers, though rejected, have been chosen specifically by God to be the cornerstone that he builds his church upon. We who are chosen will suffer, so that in our suffering, we can proclaim the goodness of God, and all the he has done for us. If we remain faithful in our suffering, we will receive the mercy that God offers to us. Through our suffering, we receive mercy, come out of it shining like gold, and will be the people that God builds His earthly ministry upon. Jesus claims that through the Holy Spirit, we will achieve greater things on earth than He did (John 14). Thus, through our suffering, we will receive mercy, and achieve great things through his Spirit. Mercy can only come through suffering.

            For my third and final passage, we look to 1 Peter 2: 19-25, which states, “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 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. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”  What this passage is saying is this, “when we suffer, we are as close to feeling like God as we can possibly be.” I know some of y’all are thinking that this is heretical because we can never be like God. I do not mean “like God” in the sense that we somehow morph into gods, I mean that we get the feeling slightly of what God experienced on the cross. In his book A Reason for God, Tim Keller says of Christ, “Christianity alone among the world religions claims that God became uniquely and fully human in Jesus Christ and therefore knows firsthand despair, rejection, loneliness, poverty, bereavement, torture, and imprisonment. On the cross he went beyond even the worst human suffering and experienced cosmic rejection and pain that exceeds ours as infinitely as his knowledge and power exceeds ours. In his death, God suffers in love, identifying with the abandoned and god-forsaken. Why did he do it? The Bible says that Jesus came on a rescue mission for creation. He had to pay for our sins so that someday he can end evil and suffering without ending us.” This is saying that Christ experienced suffering further than anything we could ever imagine on the cross. He did it solely so that mankind could, through Him, someday live without pain or suffering. So we could live in a world free from sin, and dwell with the God who created and loves them more than anything. So when we suffer here on earth, it is the closest thing we can get to being like Christ. Especially when we suffer due to no fault of our own. Christ came to earth and lived perfectly, without blame. He suffered not only under human hands, but also at the hands of God so that we could be saved through His blood. Our survival of suffering is a testament to us receiving the grace of Christ that we do not deserve. Through suffering we have grace and salvation. Through suffering, we are close to God. Paul praises suffering all throughout his letters, because he knows that he is experiencing just a small fraction of what Christ experienced so we could have life.

            In conclusion, take heart in suffering, because in it, if you remain faithful, you are growing closer to God constantly. When you question suffering, remember, without it, we would have no salvation and no grace. Christ died for us, He died so that we could have life. He loves you more than anything, and he suffered for YOU. Don’t dwell in darkness, but hold fast to Him. He is unwavering. Remember that.

God Bless,

Trip Starkey