Where the Sufferer Is, God Is
Isaiah 53:4, Romans 5:8NLT
The biblical revelation neither explains nor eliminates suffering. It shows, rather, God entering into the life of suffering humanity, accepting and sharing the suffering. Scripture is not a lecture from God, pointing the finger at unfortunate suffers and saying, “I told you so; here and here is where you went wrong; now you are paying for it.”
Nor is it a program from God providing, step by step, for the gradual elimination of suffering in a series of five-year plans. There is no progress from more to less suffering from Egyptian bondage to wilderness wandering, to Kingless anarchy, to Assyrian siege Etc.
The suffering is there, and where the sufferer is, God is.
Isaiah 53:4NLT Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!
Notice Verse 4 again, …And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins!
Romans 5:8NLT Part of the text today straightens our confusion out, 8. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Wow, God sent His Son to suffer for us; in replace of us; however, He didn’t come to expel all your physical suffering, No, but He came to completely expelled your Spiritual suffering. Say, eternity.
One day every Saint will transfer from the land of the dying (Earth) to the Land of the Living (Heaven)!
Listen to Deuteronomy 7:7-8NLT “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.
And then William Tyndale, who later burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English, a winsome scholar whose life was changed by finding-
1 John 4:19NLT We love each other because he loved us first.
He called it the pearl gate through which I entered the Kingdom. Tyndale wrote, “I used to think salvation was not for me, since I did not love God; but those precious words showed me that God does not love us because we first loved Him. No, no; we love Him because He first loved us. It makes all the difference!”
Again, 1 John 4:19NIV We love Him because He first loved us.
“I’m totally convinced if you knew how free you were, and how Jesus Christ came to disarm the devil’s forces, while setting you free, you would continual to grow spiritually.” P.H.
Jesus said in John 16:33NLT I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”
Jesus Christ broke the back of death, hell and the grave. He came to set you completely free.
Recently, I read some real life warnings on products. The first one was found on a snow sled. It warned: “Beware: sled may develop high speed under certain snow conditions.” I wonder if that warning was for ignorant Floridian kids who have never seen snow. I mean when I was a kid we were looking for those “certain snow conditions” so that we could tear down the hills around Hartwell, Ga. That was a boys dream—not a legal nightmare.
On a package of fishing lure was attached the warning: “Harmful is swallowed.” Now that strikes me funny! Is that written to warn fish in the pond? Or can you imagine a fisherman in a boat getting hungry. He has been out so long on the water that he is starved. He looks down at the brightly colored lure and thinks: “that looks tasty.” He is about ready to pop that puppy in his mouth when he sees the warning label. I’m just not sure who they are warning.
A carpenter’s router carries a warning, “This product not intended for use as a dental drill.” I wonder if Sears has had too many dentists in their tool isle wondering if they could buy their routers instead of expensive dental equipment.
One company sells those cardboard sunshields used to keep the hot sun off car dashboards. One of their legal eagles is really concerned that someone might forget to remove their product before heading onto the highway. So the shield carries the warning, “Do not drive with sunshield in place.” Who could forget to remove the obstruction?
Life is full of warnings; eternal life doesn’t exempt you from warnings, suffering, or trails, but eternal life goes farther, it say’s, “Why worry, why get stuck, why allow trails to overwhelm you, Why give in to suffering.
Jesus cries, “I’ve come to give you real life; I’ve got you covered. (Abundant life)!
John 10:10TM A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.
Today, Jesus offers you several themes for you to follow, and live by:
1. The first one again, Jesus came to give you abundant life.
Zoe life- the life only God gives; Eternal life, God’s life- eternal life!
2. Jesus came to set you free from your past.
Paul wrote in Philippines 3:12-14NLT I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
3. Jesus lived, died and arouse so you could have peace.
After Jesus’ resurrection He went to meet with His fellow disciples.
Jesus approached the door where these disciples were gathered, and walked through the door, His first words were, “Peace unto you, be not afraid it is I.”
When will all suffering be put to death?
When we leave this body, however, all your spiritual suffering can end right now.
4. Before Jesus left the earth, He promised the Holy Spirit.
He stayed for 40 days to express His deity in many ways. Presently, when you give your life and sins over to Jesus Christ by faith, you automatically receive the Holy Spirit.
However, the Holy Spirit is all about you growing, so He gives you the ability to obtain unlimited spiritual gifts.
* The idea is that christian’s never stop growing.
Listen to Ephesians 4:11-16NLT Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
In closing, please remember, Where the Sufferer Is, God Is.
Benediction.
