This is the third study in our guide based on the Cross and the classes we had last year. The Cross is the central theme of our faith – consequently it must be at the center of everything we are and everything we do.Suffering and the Cross
Read the following passages on suffering:
Romans 5:1-5
Isaiah 53
Philippians 3
Romans 8:18
2 Corinthians 1:5
1 Peter 2:21-26
2 Timothy 1:8
John 16:33
Acts 14:22
Romans 8:17
Philippians 1:29
After reading these scriptures do you feel encouraged or afraid? It is tempting to have a
very worldly view of suffering. God says we will not be abandoned in our suffering
(Hebrews 13:5). Our suffering will never truly compare with what Jesus went through
on the Cross. He was abandoned; he was innocent. We need to resist the temptation
to relive and constantly review our suffering. It won’t bring peace, rest or release.
Rather our challenges and difficulties should make us spend more time meditating on
the Cross and on God.
Hebrews 4:16 says that Jesus empathizes with my weaknesses – he understands my
suffering. He understands and “lives to intercede” for us. (Hebrews 7:25). Even today
Jesus’ wounds continue to heal us.
But suffering is real and often hard. Why is there suffering? We will probably never
completely understand it. Here are a few of the more obvious reasons there is
suffering:
- Suffering is an alien intrusion into God’s good world. God didn’t set up the world
originally with suffering but when sin entered the world changed. - Suffering comes from Satan – read the book of Job.
- Suffering is often due to our own or others’ sin. War, abuse, drunkenness, greed,
selfishness, the list goes on and on of the sin that hurts ourselves and others. - Suffering happens because we are sensitive to pain. Sometimes this isn’t a completely
bad thing – imagine what would happen to us physically, even emotionally if we felt no
pain. There are situations that we wouldn’t avoid if we didn’t feel pain. - Suffering comes when we mistreat the environment and how God set it up. (i.e.
floods, tornadoes, hurricanes made worse by overbuilding or living where people aren’t
meant to) - When suffering happens it can result in bringing glory to God – read John 9:1-5
Obviously this isn’t a comprehensive list and sometimes it’s hard to understand or
accept. The purpose of this study is not to discuss suffering and the reason for it as
much as it is to look at the relationship between Christ’s suffering on the Cross and our
suffering. The question for us is – “How does the Cross speak to me in my pain?”
What does it produce?
It produces:
- Patient endurance
1 Peter 2:18-23; Hebrews 12:1-3 The Cross shows us how Jesus dealt with suffering and when we imitate him we persevere and build character. - Mature Holiness
Hebrews 2:10, 5:8-9; 7:28 Jesus’ obedience became full-grown, mature because of the suffering he endured. James 1:2-4 We are to consider all kinds of trials with a joy because it produces perseverance and when we persevere we become mature. There are three consistent pictures in the scriptures that describe this maturing process that God puts us through:- A father disciplining his son – Hebrews 12
- A metalworker refining silver or gold – Psalm 66:10, Isaiah 48:10, Zechariah 13:9and 1 Peter 1:6-7
- A gardener pruning the vine – Isaiah 5:1-7 and John 15:1-8
Psalm 119:67 talks of affliction teaching us to obey God’s word.
Often all of this is simply a negative process producing a positive result. In the midst of our suffering God also wants to mature our humility. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 Paul speaks of his suffering producing a dependence on God and a humility that understands God’s power is enough.
Suffering is the occasion to grow. It is not the actual suffering that creates the maturity but what we do with it and what we allow it to produce that brings a mature holiness.What trials have you been through? What trials are you going through right now? Remember – it’s trials of many kinds – it doesn’t always have to be monumental to produce maturity in us. Do resent God’s discipline? How can the Cross help you in your attitude toward suffering?
- An Eternal Perspective
1 Peter 4:12 Suffering is not strange. It is inevitable (2 Timothy 3:12). It should help us to have an eternal perspective.
Read 2 Corinthians 3:17,18; Romans 8:18. What do these passages say about our difficulties and suffering? How is this the same or different from your daily attitude?
The hope we have in heaven should make suffering here on earth bearable. But so often we wish God would stop working on us – even for just a little while. When we wish that God would stop trying to change us to be more like his Son then what we really are asking for is less love, not more. God wants us to be with him; he wants us to be different than our ‘natural’ selves. That sometimes takes suffering because it is far from who we naturally are.
Read Romans 5:1-3 Cling to the cross and an eternity in heaven when the suffering seems too much.
We can have hope in trials because it is temporary. When we are too attached to the here and now it warps our perspective on our difficulties and suffering. - God’s Sovereignty
This is the lesson of the book of Job. Job struggled with self pity and self assertion. His friends were in to self accusation – saying that it all was the problem of Job’s sin.
God’s perspective was that it was all about SELF SURRENDER. God expected Job to trust him based on his wisdom, power, and omnipotence – all that he displayed in the last chapters of Job.
How much more reasonable for us to trust God, whose justice and love have been revealed at the cross? Read Romans 8:31-32 Really the question is how could we NOT trust God.The Cross doesn’t solve our suffering but we must climb up Calvary and look at EVERYTHING in our lives from this vantage point – our tragedies, trials, grief, suffering, blessings, joys, etc.
What are the most difficult circumstances for you to trust God? How does the book of Job and the fact of God’s sovereignty change the way that you look at those trials? Why does the cross show us that we can trust God? How does this practically play out in your life? What are the areas that you need to surrender to God at the Cross? What do you think God’s perspective is when we don’t trust him?
- The pain of God
The Cross shows God incarnate suffering for us. He was not an armchair spectator or dozing while we are here having a difficult time. The Cross smashes any notion of a distant God.
In Genesis 6 God’s heart was filled with pain because of the sin in man. When God came in the human form of his Son – he showed us himself – his grief, tears, distress, anger…
Hebrews 4:15 says that Jesus is not unable to sympathize with our weaknesses but was, in every way, tempted as we are. God is Love – therefore God is vulnerable to pain, rejection, insult. God laid aside his immunity to pain and entered our world of flesh & blood, tears and death. He suffered for us and our sufferings become more manageable in light of his.
