Suffering For God’s Glory

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.

From 1 Peter 3:18 to the end of chapter 4, the apostle Peter reveals the truth about suffering. Why do we suffer? Why did Jesus suffer when He could have miraculously prevented it? An answer is that suffering is an integral and essential part of this life. It is there to show us that the nature of life and living is dynamic and multi-faceted. It is therefore unpleasant and cruel at times, but without experiencing hardship difficulties and suffering, we could not fully understand or appreciate joy or kindness, love or beauty.

However, that answer is maybe simplistic, trite even, for — as Peter shows us — suffering is a complex subject and goes to the heart of life and why it is a cornerstone of God’s plan. We all go through suffering, and in a multitude of ways. This is part of our earthly life and we must recognise that. Peter begins by setting out the beginning, so that we may understand the end of the matter…

For [it is] better to suffer [unjustly] for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than to suffer [justly] for doing wrong.
For Christ [the Messiah Himself] died for sins once for all, the Righteous for the unrighteous (the Just for the unjust, the Innocent for the guilty), that He might bring us to God. In His human body He was put to death, but He was made alive in the spirit,
In which He went and preached to the spirits in prison,
1 PETER 3:17-19 (AMPC)

The implication here is that — in our suffering — we realise and follow our Lord Jesus Christ in this way, we too will be ‘made alive in the spirit’. We will be — as we read in Romans 8…

But if Christ lives in you, [then although] your [natural] body is dead by reason of sin and guilt, the spirit is alive because of [the] righteousness [that He imputes to you].
ROMANS 8:10 (AMPC)

Jesus Christ imputes righteousness to each one who accepts His life within. Why? Simply because it is His nature — God’s nature — to do so. Look at 1 Peter 4:1…

So, since Christ suffered in the flesh for us, for you, arm yourselves with the same thought and purpose [patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God]. For whoever has suffered in the flesh [having the mind of Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [has stopped pleasing himself and the world, and pleases God],
So that he can no longer spend the rest of his natural life living by [his] human appetites and desires, but [he lives] for what God wills.
1 PETER 4:1-2 (AMPC)

The essence here is — as for all things in Christ — is that He is ‘the Pattern Son’, that is He is the completeness of our experience in faith and shows us the joys, the life, the sadness, the exhilaration, the beauty, the hurt, the pain, the trials, the disasters, the sufferings and the complete spectrum of feeling that is to be had in our lives in this world.

He is who we must follow, for whatever we experience Our Saviour has been there before us and shown us the only sure way through to the glory of God.
That, dear ones, is our purpose and our fulfilment; to ask for, seek out and unwaveringly determine to find the glory of the Lord. That means suffering, just as our Lord Jesus Christ suffered.

All that sounds too much to bear, but we should look at what Peter means by suffering…

The word that this apostle uses is paschō. It translates as to be affected, to undergo. This experience can be good or bad; either to be well off, or in a bad plight. At root it comes down to whatever we experience — for good or ill. It means passion. It is what we suffer, what comes upon us. We can suffer great pain, or enormous happiness. Either way, our Lord Jesus is with us. Hallelujah!

YOU TUBE PRAISE VIDEO: MATT REDMAN — Son of Suffering

A CLOSING WORD from… TIM KELLER

"While other worldviews lead us to sit in the midst of life's joys, foreseeing the coming sorrows, Christianity empowers its people to sit in the midst of this world's sorrows, tasting the coming joy."

LISTEN TO ‘SUFFERING FOR GOD’S GLORY’ BY CLICKING ON THE LINK BELOW…

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COMING NEXT… #563 ACTS 8: CHRIST IS PREACHED