THE VITALITY OF SUFFERING IN GOD'S WILL
"Even though Jesus was God's Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8) Wow! Isn't this an amazing, revealing passage! What is amazing about this passage is that we know our LORD JESUS CHRIST was GOD'S Son, meaning HE IS GOD, PERFECTLY HOLY JESUS descended to earth, He became flesh and made His dwelling among us (John 1:14) He came to take our sins away, to reconcile us with the FATHER Why does the writer of Hebrew begin by saying that "Even though He was God's Son" This was to let us know that there are glorious implications to being the Son of GOD; That is to be GOD GOD is Perfectly Holy and JESUS BEING GOD was perfectly holy and sinless when He came to earth And He lived His earthly life in perfect Holiness, sinlessness Though He was tempted in all ways as we were; Yet He didn't sin, NEVER (Hebrews 4:15) Our LORD was perfectly holy and never sinned, neither could He (1Peter 2:22) Furthermore, being perfectly holy, He was therefore perfectly obedient to the FATHER in all things But what is intriguing in the passage above is that, it tells us, despite our LORD being GOD, He nonetheless suffered in the flesh, so that He may learn obedience Wow! Can GOD learn? How does that even make sense, how can a perfectly holy GOD learn obedience anew? Brethren, this passage is not telling us that JESUS had to literally learn to be obedient; Rather it tells us that, being in the flesh, He allowed Himself to endure suffering as a means to walk in GOD'S will for His life Why? 1) First, in order to show us the way to walk in communion with our FATHER JESUS suffered and lived in perfect Holiness, in order to show us that pursuing Holiness and communion with our FATHER must come through suffering He being our Master is setting an example for us; because He really didn't need to suffer, since He was perfectly holy. It's the same reason why JESUS allowed Himself to be baptized by John the baptist; He was perfectly holy and didn't need to be baptized, but He did it that scriptures may be fulfilled and in order to show us the way by example. Think about the implications of the effect this will have had on all followers of CHRIST, if our LORD never suffered? What if our LORD faced no trials and temptations? Can you imagine if JESUS was a wealthy man who never suffered and never faced trials and persecution and lived in perfect ease and comfort? Well, that would send the wrong message to all believers who are to follow Him; Many would think it strange if they suffer and are persecuted for GOD'S sake, because they didn't see their Master being persecuted But brethren; Because our LORD, our Master lived a poor life, full of persecution and rejection, and yet was IN PERFECT COMMUNION WITH THE FATHER; We know that we must follow in His footsteps and learn to embrace suffering joyfully with peace and glory to our FATHER. We being His disciples need to constantly be reminded of that; We need to follow in the footsteps of our Heavenly MASTER We should embrace suffering and persecution in this world with joy and gratitude to our LORD that He has counted us worthy to endure shame for His Sake (Acts 5:41) And even if our suffering is due to our own sins and failures; We should still embrace it with humility and repentance; Thankful that our LORD used the suffering to chastise us, so that we may learn to walk in obedience and remain steadfast in His path of holiness Like our brother David said; He rejoiced that GOD afflicted him, so that he may learn obedience and not turn away and walk astray (Psalm 119:67-71) Brethren, are you suffering; Are you facing trials and persecution; And do you rejoice in the midst of your suffering? Do you remain faithful to our LORD and seeking His will even when you suffer? Suffering is one of the great tests of the genuineness of our faith in CHRIST (James 1:2-4) First, strive to suffer for a good cause; To suffer for the sake of CHRIST our LORD (1Peter 4:12-19) If you suffer for the sake of CHRIST, REJOICE Yes, truly rejoice, don't count it strange or be discouraged; It is a blessing to suffer for CHRIST'S sake And do not only rejoice, give thanks in worship and adoration to our LORD; For haven counted you worthy to suffer for His sake. When you suffer as a consequence of your own sinfulness and disobedience, be repentant and thankful that our LORD has chastised you lovingly, to bring you back in His path of righteousness (Hebrews 12:5-11) And you know also, that GOD'S Chastening is another major evidence of the genuineness of your faith; because GOD Chastises only those who belong to Him (Hebrews 12:8) GOD BLESS
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Today's Verse
“Behold you are beautiful my love, behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves” Song of Solomon 1:15 ESV Quotations"A word spoken by you when your conscience is clear and your heart full of God's Spirit is worth ten thousand words spoken in unbelief and sin." Archives
January 2023
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