1 Peter 2:20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be
buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well,
and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us
an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his
mouth:
23 Who,
when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not;
but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously….
To not sin, to not return evil for evil, to commit
yourself to God’s righteous judgment when you suffer, this is to suffer like
the Lord. And this is what it is all about.
God is shaping your life to reflect the life of His Son. When we study the lives of the Old Testament
prophets, prophets like Joseph, Moses, and David, we see things they endured
that foreshadow what our Lord would endure on this earth. We call these prophets “types of
Christ.” We could spend a lot of time showing you examples of this. But just
as the Lord was making types of Christ out of these prophets in the things they
suffered, so is He making you a type of His Son in the things you suffer. By this means this world may see Christ in
you.
To suffer like Jesus is to experience “the fellowship of
his sufferings.”
Philippians 3:10 That I may know him, and the
power of his resurrection, and the
fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the
resurrection of the dead.
Suffering is something you and the Lord Jesus share
together, if you follow His example of suffering with patience. In his book Where Is God When It Hurts, Philip Yancey wrote: “Suffering can never ultimately be
meaningless, because God himself has shared it.” Between the present suffering
and the final deliverance, it is comforting to know that God indeed understands
our pain and suffering having Himself suffered in Christ. Some who bear a grudge against God for the
unfairness of life think that God should suffer. He did!
Philip Yancey also wrote: “The
evils and sufferings that afflict our lives are so real and so significant to
God that He willed to share them and endure them himself.” If you truly trust in and love the Lord Jesus Christ,
then it should give you no little comfort to think of Him as sharing your
suffering with you. And you can be sure
that there is nothing but nothing that you suffer in this life but what He
suffered the like when He walked amongst us on this earth. This is why Paul could write these things
about our Lord:
Hebrews 2:17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in
that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that
are tempted.
Hebrews 4:14 Seeing then that we have a great high
priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast
our profession.
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be
touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of
grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
Never let the
devil convince you that Jesus does not understand what you are going
through. Rather, boldly ask the Lord to
help you through the tribulation believing that He will, and He will help you. You can count on that! Because, you see, God is pleased when you
process your life through your relationship with His beloved Son. It honours Christ when you seek to pattern
your life after Him and to relate the whole of your life to Him. When you
honour Christ, you honour His Father God.
And when you honour God, you will be honoured.
John 5:22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath
committed all judgment unto the Son:
23 That all men should honour the Son, even as
they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father
which hath sent him.
1 Samuel 2:30 … but now the LORD saith, Be it far from
me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be
lightly esteemed.
Great honour awaits those who presently have part in the
fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Think
of your sufferings as not only something you suffer for Christ, think of them as something you suffer with Him. And thinking of it this way, let your
faith grab hold of this promise and not let it go:
Romans 8:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of
God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
Never forget, first the cross then the crown! As certain
as you bear the cross here, you will wear the crown there. Keep your sights on
that crown.
However, too many times, instead of patiently bearing
our suffering, we let our suffering be an excuse to lash out at someone or to
manipulate them to get what we want. This is not suffering like our Lord! Suffering does not give us a license
to be unkind to others. It is
interesting that when Paul lays out the characteristics of charity, he begins
with this: “Charity suffereth long and
is kind” (1Corinthians 13:4). Note
that the first characteristic of charity that is mentioned connects it with the
issue of suffering. Suffering crosses our will and when our will is crossed we
often respond with anger, or discontent, or yielding to some sin because we
think we deserve a break. But charity is
longsuffering,
which is defined as patient
endurance of provocation or trial. The
Greek word translated suffereth long is elsewhere translated have
patience, patience, be patient, had patiently endured. One way we know we are patiently enduring our
suffering is when, as we suffer, we treat others with kindness rather than lashing
out at them or abusing them. Of course, none is so kind as our dear Lord
Jesus. Consider the kindnesses wrought
by our Lord whilst He suffered. On the
very eve of being betrayed by one of His friends, He washed the disciples’ feet
(John 13:1-5). In Gethsemane when Peter
in blind zeal severed the ear of the servant of the high priest, Christ healed
that servant (John 18:10; Luke 22:50-51).
While on His cross, He prayed that those who mocked Him might be
forgiven (Luke 23:34), He comforted the penitent thief (Luke 23:40-43), and He
provided for the care of His mother (John 19:26-27). Therefore, when we patiently
suffer and are kind while we suffer, we follow the example set by our Saviour.
Now go with me to dark Calvary. At Calvary the powers of darkness seemed to
prevail for a time. The Messiah was hanging nailed to a cross and God did
nothing to bring Him down (Matthew 27:39-43). This seemed to justify the
unbelief of Christ’s enemies. They said they would have believed Him if He came
down from that cross, although His other miracles had not convinced them. Yet
God’s purposes were being accomplished through all this intense suffering and
seeming defeat. Now think of the greatest disappointment in your life when you
staked everything on something within God’s power and that something did not
happen. Then think of Calvary. Calvary
was the time when God did not deliver the Sufferer. And just as God’s purpose, even our
salvation, was being wrought at Calvary, so a purpose is being wrought in your life beyond
your disappointed expectation. And one purpose that we know is being wrought
through your suffering is God’s purpose to make you like His Son. So instead of just asking God to remove your
suffering, which you may indeed do, also ask Him to use it to teach you and to
make more like Jesus so that you may say:
Psalm 119:71 It is
good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.
Psalm 119:67 Before
I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept thy word.
Remember this and don’t forget it:
the most important thing in all our suffering is that we follow Christ’s
example and thus become more like Him.
To have the life of Jesus manifest in your body while you live on this
earth is the greatest honour that you can possibly aspire unto.
2 Corinthians 4:8 We are troubled on
every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast
down, but not destroyed;
10 Always bearing about in the body the
dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
11 For we which live are alway
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that
the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
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