Wounds
Original Post from JD Greear's website
This subject is amazingly deep. God can not heal those who aren't wounded. Its in the midst of sufferings that God shows us his power and love.
Peter says the ultimate form of this happened on the cross "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24). If God is not afraid of wounding his own son for his glory, than how much more will he need to wound us for us to become dependent on him.
Its amazing to see Christians suffer victoriously. It was at the site of Stephen's execution that Paul saw Christ’s power and love before his own conversion. Tertullian says that “the blood of martyrs is seed for the church.” When Christians suffer victoriously to the point of death God is revealed in supernatural ways that cause those who watch to reflect on their own beliefs and some to question the claims of Christ.
I believe God may wound us for compound reasons. Its through common suffering that bonds and healing can be formed. When in a difficult situation you may believe you are all alone. By suffering in some of the same ways the world suffers, we as Christians can act as a bridge for someone to receive Christ. Someone going through death of a relative, divorced home, abuse, addiction, ect, is closed off to your advice unless you yourself has been there. Not to take Peter out of context, but to a lesser extent, by our wounds, our friends and family can see how we have been healed, and accept that healing for themselves.
The story of Job shows us yet another reason why God may wound or allow others to wound us. The story defies the idea that God only punishes the wicked, in case the testimony of Jesus nor Hebrews 12:7-8 doesn’t speak loudly enough. Job was a man considered righteous by God. God than allows Satan to destroy Job’s life. Satan takes his family, his earnings, his physical health, his friends; everything but his very life. What would be the purpose of wrecking a righteous man’s life. Through Job’s wounds, he proves that God by himself is enough to sustain him. Job never curses God but suffers victoriously.
For the glory of God, previous Judeo-Christian communities were demolished, so that other people would know that He was their God. Examples include the Israelites in captivity and exile being taken over so that the surrounding nations would have a chance to hear from God. Brutal wars in the old testament were fought for God’s glory. All those people died by the sword to destroy the God’s they worshipped and so that other nations would know that the God of the Israelites was the one true God. Jump past Christ’s life. The Barbarians took over the Romans, who were taken over by the Vikings all so that the conquering nation could have a chance to hear the gospel. These wars were fought by humans for earthly land and possessions. God allowed defeat and bloodshed, suffering and woundedness so that eventually more peoples would praise Him.
The crux of the whole issue is God being jealous for the glory He deserves. He will do anything He has to for personal relationship with His creation. He wounds us as individuals so that we may grow in our dependence towards Him, and others can watch with a strange awe. He may wound us as a people, as Americans so that the gospel will be carried to places who haven’t had an opportunity to hear of what He has done. When we go through these sufferings, their is comfort knowing that God’s purposes are holy and just, we know He is using us as His vessels to receive glory.
posted by Adam & Melissa Hoffman at 3:51 PM
2 Comments:
hey! wow what a big subject to attack haha. why is there suffering in the world? ah!
I realized recently that I have a tendency to think that suffering itself is a good thing. I realized this when I was talking to someone about how there was going to be no suffering in heaven and I said "i dont understand, i thought suffering was a good thing..."
What I'm learning now is that God uses suffering to bring about good things but suffering itself is not good... it sucks and we should feel like it sucks and we should have compassion on those who are in fact suffering and even weep with them.
Big lesson for me.
Yea that is definately a battle, God says all good things come from above which infers no bad things do. So is suffering from God? But does Satan have that much power over the world to cause so much pain. And where does our sin nature come into this equation (opportunities for bad + bad & stupid = never works out right)/God's grace.
One thing I have also been shown recently is no matter where these things come in, we have to evaluate them in light of the grace of God (which is infinante). While things may be painful for a short while God is big enough to deal with it.
In these unique situations, it is an opportunity to share the hope of which we have been given, and give people a chance to 1) become more like Christ themselves and 2) be the hands and feet of Christ on Earth. Think of someone handling a divorce who sticks with it and reconciles. Think of Job who had everything taken away and still praised God as his friends didn't believe that God was good. We all have a history of giving God the glory or turning selfish when [what we might think as] hardship comes.
Jenn, I can remember having conversations with you, seeing the grace of God transform your life and history and standing in awe saying to myself, "There must be a God, praise Him for the work He is doing."
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