Spiritual Gifts part 69. The Spirit uses suffering to mature Christ's virtues in us.

Pastor-Teacher
John Farley
Wednesday,
January 5, 2011

Spiritual Gifts Part 69: The Holy Spirit uses our suffering to mature in us the virtues of Christ.

The Doctrine of Adoption

The most difficult philosophical problem out there is the question, “Why is there suffering”?

Physical pain is a signal from the body to the brain that something is not right. There is a problem going on somewhere in the body.

Consider what things were like BEFORE satan fell.

There had never been a problem!

There was no need for pain, because pain is a signal that there is a problem out there.

We know from Job 38 that there was a lot of joy and singing!

EZE 28:16
“By the abundance of your trade You were internally filled with violence, And you sinned;”

There was no outside entity that tempted satan to sin. He did it all by himself.

There was no suffering involved for satan in submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ.

The pain is a signal. It is a sign. It is a reminder that things are still not right.

When God takes things from “not right” to “right again”, there is also pain involved.

One of the things that is part and parcel of being a church age believer is conflict.

conflict equals pressure equals pain.

The ultimate issue is to have all creatures and things put back in the right order.

Obeying God’s will does result in suffering at times for God’s human children.

“The Son of God suffered unto the death,
not that men might not suffer, but that their
sufferings might be like His.”

George Macdonald,
Unspoken Sermons

He came and suffered in order to seek and save the lost, to destroy the works of the devil, restore His Father’s name, and reconcile all things to Himself.

We have the unparalleled sufferings of Christ, placed in the middle of a series of commands to the Church having to do with the basic authorities in life.

Christ at the cross was obedient to His Father’s will even though it meant suffering.

The issue is obedience to authority even when it hurts, 1PE 2:18-20.

Christ could not fulfill this as long as He remained in the Godhead.

For Adam it was a simple bite, but for Christ it was a lifetime of suffering punctuated by the horror of the cross.

No suffering to make the mess.
Suffering to make it right.