THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST(IANS)

Romans 8:17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. 

2 Corinthians 1:5 For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ. 

1 Pet 4:13 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.

The Bible repeatedly says that we Christians suffer with Jesus.  We participate in Jesus’ suffering.  Jesus’ pain is our pain.

How is that even possible?

In the past, Christians have misunderstood this concept to refer only to Jesus’ physical pain.  Some went so far as to whip themselves and physically nail each other to crosses in order to partake of Christ’s suffering.  We have to admire their commitment to the process, but they missed the point.

Jesus’ suffering didn’t begin with physical torture and crucifixion, and it didn’t end there (Hebrews 6: 6).

Every day that Jesus walked in a world that He had created and loved and experienced rejection (Luke 13: 34) ----- He suffered.  Every time Jesus told people the Truth, the liberating, soul-saving, life-abounding Truth, and they called Him crazy (Mark 3: 20, 21), and they called Him possessed (Mark 3: 22), and they talked about His mama (John 9: 34)----- Jesus suffered.

The sufferings of Christ were not limited to the excruciating physical pain of the Passion.   They hurt Jesus’ feelings.  They broke Jesus’ heart.  They betrayed Jesus.  They refused to receive Him.  They cut Him off from the support of the established institutions of worship.  And it hurt because He loved them.

Most Western Christians won’t ever have physically suffer for the gospel, but  to the extent that we expect to participate in Jesus’ glory, we should expect to also partake of Christ’s suffering (1 Peter 4: 13).

Today, Christians generally understand that they don’t have to be physically beaten or fed to lions in a coliseum as a condition of church membership.   But somehow we have adopted the incorrect idea that the absence of physical suffering means also the absence of ANY suffering. 

It’s an enticing view.  The problem is that it’s exactly the opposite of what Jesus said.

Jesus said In the world you will have tribulation (John 16: 33).

He promised that we would overcome this world and it’s tribulations, but in the meantime---- it would still hurt.

Paul preached that There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8: 1).  Believers are exempted from eternal condemnation.   We are not exempted from earthly pain.

Isaiah declared that no weapon formed against us can shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment has to face the condemnation of God.  But read the rest of Isaiah and see that the weapons will strike you.  Read the rest of Isaiah and see that those hateful tongues will speak their hateful words.  Those words and those weapons will hurt.

In Christ, we cannot be defeated.  But we can be wounded.

In Jesus there is no condemnation.  But, there is suffering.  

The power of the Christian life is that though we suffer from time to time, we have consistent, crazy, doesn’t-make-sense-to-feel-so-good-while-things-are-going-so-bad peace that passes understanding.

The power of the Christian life is that though bad things happen to good people, good people do not have to become bad.

Our victory is already assured, but so also is our suffering. 

When we misunderstand the Biblical truth of suffering then we force ourselves to live lies of self-inflicted suffering or self-deluding denial of suffering .  The Lord does not want you to hurt yourself.  It is not piety to make yourself miserable.   But the Lord does want you to endure suffering when it comes instead of blaming yourself for not being invulnerable to it in the first place.

It’s O.K. to hurt. It’s Christian to feel pain.  Stop pretending it doesn’t hurt “in the name of Jesus.”  Jesus wept.  It’s all right if you want to do the same.

Two truths that are true at the same time:

     Weeping does endure for the night.
     And JOY DOES COME IN THE MORNING.

As Paul wrote,
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed;

We are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken;
Struck down, but not destroyed—
Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
(2 Corinthians 4: 8-10)

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
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To hear sermons, read devotions, and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

You can read more on Pastor Graves's personal blog at www.andersontgraves.blogspot.com  .

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