The Suffering Of Jesus Christ
Part 10

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“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me His prisoner; but join with me in suffering for the Gospel according to the power of God.”  II Timothy 1:8

“But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ; keep on rejoicing; so also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.”  I Peter 4:13

“More that that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish that I might gain Christ … that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death."  Philippians 3:8,10

When we discuss the issue of suffering or adversity in the Christian life, it all has to point to the idea of our suffering with Christ. As God talks about in Romans, our identity as a child of God and a co-heir with Christ is linked to our suffering with Christ. The end product of that suffering is to be glorified with Christ. There seems to be a connection in Scripture between suffering and glory, both for Christ and for us.

Timothy talks about suffering for the gospel. Very few of us in the United States have any experience in suffering for the gospel. Christians are being persecuted severely in many parts of the world worse than at any time in the history of our faith. One of the tragic stories that came out of the recent shooting in Littleton was that of a young Christian girl who was killed strictly on the basis of her faith. But some of our “suffering” does not come in the form of persecution or physical adversity; it may come in the form of living a different lifestyle than your peers. It may mean having the courage and strength to remain faithful to your spouse no matter what. It may mean living in a smaller house or driving older cars so that your family can live on one income and the mom can stay home with the children. It may mean giving up hobbies or jobs with long hours so that you can spend time with your family and know what is going on with your children. Suffering for the gospel includes living a radical Christian lifestyle. That lifestyle is what God is calling us into and is giving us His strength and His presence to live.

The verse that seems to bring suffering into a capsule form is Philippians 3:10. I can not honestly say that I grasp the depth of this verse. I do believe that the idea of sharing suffering between each of us and Jesus has a lot to do with knowing Him more intimately and experiencing His power. We will all face some kind of suffering in our life. Our choice becomes what are we going to do with our suffering.

In his book Abide in Christ, Andrew Murray says “In Him suffering is consecrated, and becomes the foretaste of eternal glory; in suffering it is that the Spirit of God and of glory rests on us. Believer! would you have comfort in affliction? -  Abide in Christ.” Few of us have gotten to a point of enjoying suffering in this life, but if we abide in Him, surrender to Him, we can get a taste of the glory of God. We can experience God’s comfort.

What does everyday life look like when we abide in Him in affliction? I think it means that we go to God just before we even turn to friends or family for comfort. It means we choose not to let our emotions dictate our decisions or our behavior. Our first objective is to run to God, not to run to seek relief from our pain in other places or ways. Abiding in Christ means that we seek Him and His guidance through prayer, through His Word, and through the presence of His Spirit.

As we share in His suffering, we share in His glory - praise God!

God’s grace, my surrender.

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